After registering your domain name (house number), you need to find a “home” for your website, and that home isServersThe type of “home” you choose will directly determine how comfortable your website will be. The type of home you choose directly determines how comfortable your site will be, how many visitors it can handle, and how difficult it will be to expand in the future.
I. What is a server?
- Simple to understand.A server is aHigh performance, never shuts downof a remote computer. It7x24 hoursConnected to the Internet, it is dedicated to all the files, images, data and programs of your website and is always ready to respond to access requests from visitors from all over the world.
- A metaphor.If yournodeanMobile AppSo.ServersThat's what runs the app.cell phone. The performance of the phone (CPU, RAM, storage) determines how fast and smooth the app can run.
If a server is a computer, why are there so many types? Which brings us to the core topic of our day.
II. Three mainstream “homes” (server types)
Imagine you have to solve a housing problem and there are three options:
1. Virtual hosting
- Metaphor. A single room in a shared apartment.
- Technical Explanation.The service provider takes a powerful physical server and splits it into hundreds of small, separate spaces through software technology. Each small space is a web host, rented to a single user.
- Pros.
- Cheap.The cost is minimized because it is multiple people sharing the cost of one server.
- Easy to use.The service provider has already configured everything in the environment (e.g. PHP, MySQL) and you hardly need any technical knowledge to upload the website files and use it.
- Maintenance saving.The security, maintenance, and updating of the server is the responsibility of the service provider.
- Drawbacks.
- Sharing of resources.A neighbor you “share” a room with who has heavy traffic or is under attack may affect your site's performance (just as a neighbor having a party may affect your rest).
- Restrictions are strict.There are strict limits on traffic, number of databases, software that can be installed, etc., with minimal customization freedom.
- Good for the crowd. WordPress newbies, personal blogs, and very little visited business showcase sites.This is the best option for the vast majority of newbies starting out.
- View Recommended Web Hosting
VPS
- Metaphor. Bought a home in a townhouse.
- Technical Explanation.Again, multiple spaces are virtualized with a single physical server, but the technology is more advanced (e.g. KVM). Each VPS hasSeparate operating system, separate CPU, memory and disk spaceThese resources are exclusive and will not be used by other users.
- Pros.
- Resource exclusivity.Performance is more stable than web hosting, and is not affected by “neighbors”.
- Higher Freedom.You have root (administrator) rights to the server and are free to install any software and environment you need and customize the configuration.
- Scalability.When resources are not enough, you can upgrade the package to get more CPU and memory.
- Drawbacks.
- Technical knowledge is required.It requires you to manage and maintain the operating system, security, backups, etc. yourself, or pay extra for managed services.
- Prices are higher.More expensive than web hosting.
- Good for the crowd.Small and medium-sized websites that have a certain technical foundation, require a specific server environment, and are no longer satisfied by the performance of web hosting.
- View Recommended VPS Hosting
3. Cloud servers
- Metaphor. Electricity on demand from a huge power company.
- Technical Explanation.This is not a standalone physical server. It is a pool of resources from a huge cluster of servers (thousands of servers). Your website resources (CPU, memory, hard disk) can be dynamically allocated and scaled on demand from this huge pool.
- Pros.
- High reliability and resilience.This is the biggest advantage. If one piece of hardware in the cluster fails, your services are automatically migrated to other machines with little to no downtime. When traffic spikes, you can scale resources instantly (elastic scaling).
- Pay-as-you-go.Many cloud providers support paying for actual traffic and computing resources used, which is more flexible.
- Drawbacks.
- Configuration is complex.Purchasing and configuring options can be very complicated for novices.
- Higher costs.The combined cost is usually higher than VPS, especially for managed (hosted) cloud services.
- Good for the crowd.Medium to large enterprise websites, e-commerce platforms, high-traffic applications, and projects that require extreme stability and resilience.
- View Recommended Cloud Hosting
III. A chart to understand the difference
| characterization | web hosting | VPS | cloud server |
|---|---|---|---|
| parables | share a single room (in a restaurant) | townhouse | grid electricity |
| resource (such as manpower or tourism) | Shared, unstable | enjoy exclusivelyStabilization | Elastic ExclusiveUltra High Availability |
| control (e.g. win control) | Very low, can only manage site files | HighYou have root access to install software. | supremeFull control |
| technological needs | practically nilNewbie friendly | needServer Administration Knowledge | needHigher technical competence |
| safety | Relying on Service Providers and Neighbors | take responsibility for sth. oneself | take responsibility for sth. oneself(High platform base security) |
| Prices | cheapest(3-10/month) | Medium (10-50/month) | More expensive (¥50+/month by configuration) |
| Stage of suitability | novice in the field | Technology enthusiast/business growth period | Enterprise/Large Scale Applications |
Fourth, to the WordPress newbie's advice
Start with [web hosting] without hesitation!
The reasons are as follows:
- The cost is extremely low.Allows you to trial and error and learn at a fraction of the cost.
- Save your mind and energy.You don't have to worry about any server technical issues and can100% focuses on learning WordPress itself(themes, plugins, content creation).
- Performance is adequate.Quality web hosting (e.g. SiteGround, Bluehost's WordPress program) is perfectly capable of running an initial WordPress site smoothly.
When should I upgrade?
When your website traffic continues to grow and web hosting has become a frequent performance bottleneck (slowdowns, frequent error reports), it's not too late to consider upgrading to a VPS or Managed WordPress Hosting.
Don't.Buying a VPS or cloud server because of “better performance” when you don't know anything about it will only get you into a technical maintenance quagmire, and you'll forget the original purpose of building a website.
draw attention to sth.
While the price is low, the technical barriers and maintenance costs behind it are real. For the novice.The early stage of building a website, “save heart” is more important than “save money”.Web hosting is still the safest place to start for WordPress newbies.
Recommended Hosting Service Providers
LikaCloud has collected recent hosting events and shared them in the hope that it will save you some time in duplicating information.
English