Cloud Hosting: All you need to know

 Advantages of cloud hosting over other methods of hosting

         Cloud hosting is the latest form of hosting that has become extremely popular over the past few years. The main concept of cloud hosting is Divide and Rule; the resources required for maintaining your website are spread across more than one web server, and are rendered as per need basis. This greatly reduces chances of any downtimes in case of a server malfunction. Another noteworthy aspect is that cloud hosting allows you to manage peak loads easily, without facing any bandwidth issues, since another server can provide the additional resources in such a case. Hence, your website does not rely on just one server, and rather a cluster of servers that work together, termed as the cloud.

      If you are looking for a real-time example of cloud hosting, what better example can someone give other than Google itself? The king of search engines has got its resources spread over hundreds of servers on the cloud, no wonder you have never seen Google.com facing any downtimes over past several years. Each server in the cloud helps in carrying out a particular set of tasks, and in case of failure of any of the servers in the cloud, other server or servers temporarily kick-in as a back-up to render the required resources. Something similar happens in case of an overload condition too. However, usage of low quality server hardware can significantly hamper the performance, and such implementations are not worthy of being tagged with the cloud moniker this is typically the case with cheap hosting providers.

      When you provide enterprise level hosting services, it goes without saying that quality needs to be the prime focus! So, high quality enterprise cloud providers make use of VMware, and deliver extremely reliable cloud services, which are even better than dedicated servers. Now, it is good to compare cloud hosting with dedicated hosting, and other traditional forms of hosting. When you compare dedicated servers to cloud hosting, the reliability factor is quite case in the latter case, since you have got multiple servers at your disposal as opposed to a single dedicated server that allows you to cope-up with any emergencies without breaking a sweat. However, the pricing varies depending upon your actual usage – in case of heavy usage; cost factor associated with cloud architecture may be slightly higher, though so is its resilience too.

     When you come to VPS and traditional shared hosting, the cost factor is extremely low is this case quite obviously, but again so is the reliability too. In case of VPS, a single server is divided into multiple chunks, and each portion is managed by a particular user, so the capital investment is reasonably low. VPS is the ideal choice for those who are not actually looking out for the reliability aspect of cloud hosting. Cloud hosting has come a long way, and several large enterprises have been using it for years together, but for the small business owners to be able to look at it, pricing will have to come down further. However, the pricing has considerably come down over last 4-5years, and folks have learned the advantages of cloud hosting, which is compelling the mid-size organizations to make a move to the cloud arena.

     Many businesses have made a worthy investment by moving to cloud, while others have not yet gotten the infrastructure required to make a transition to cloud. The main reason why cloud computing is not as popular as it could have been, is that the cost factor is still a concern for small businesses. But, one can definitely expect to see more and more businesses making a shift to cloud as new low-cost cloud implementations continue to be developed.

      With normal hosting, you get a machine that gives you resources, like memory and CPU time. With Cloud hosting, you do not have a machine. Your hardware is virtual, which brings a whole host of cool benefits. It is pretty advanced and can be pretty cost efficient when compared with the other types of hosting, but it is definitely something that is trending on 2016 and beyond. Of all the hosting options available so far, cloud hosting is by far the most scalable and efficient. With cloud hosting, you only pay for what you use. So for instance, if your blog had a fantastic month where you got double or triple the traffic than it usually does. The server starts slowing because it can not handle that much loading. With cloud computing, the server does not just pack up and run. You can simply ask for more server space and bandwidth. It is flexible, and that makes it very cost effective. Rather than paying X amount each month for an amount you may never even reach, depending on your goals, simply pay for cloud hosting and only pay for what you use. It is similar to pay as you go compared to a monthly phone contract. Pay for the minutes you actually use, not a big bundle that costs a lot more.

       On the other hand, there are negatives to this option as well. It takes advanced knowledge in terms of IT, so be aware of that when considering cloud hosting. Unless you know what you are doing, it could get pretty confusing.  The other negative, which is widely discussed, is that cloud hosting is potentially insecure. Hotly debated, there is the consideration that your servers are all hosted in the cloud, meaning in virtual space. That could leave it open to cyber-attacks, some suggest. It is a strong point, one to be considered when choosing hosting.

       Dedicated servers are always located in a secure and stable data center saving you from infrastructural investments. You have complete control over the server, and hence you can customize the performance levels of the server completely. However, in case of any mishaps, then complete set-up goes for a toss. Secondly, if your requirements grow, you need to rent/lease a bigger dedicated server, and bear higher cost. In case of cloud hosting, you pay as you use, and you can always make changes to your requirements. 

          Additionally, you can add up other servers in the network to tackle downtime, or to expand your existing bandwidth/storage space without affecting the existing set-up even for a moment.