What Is Cloud Hosting ?- Tech Guide

If you’re new to the industry and you want to find out what is Cloud Hosting, then, you are just in the right guide! In this guide, we will go through the most-asked questions about cloud hosting that beginners to surface-level users ask!

Prepare and buckle up as we are about to overload your knowledge on cloud hosting!

What is Cloud Hosting?

Cloud hosting is simply the process of using virtual servers or “the cloud” in hosting, maintaining, and safekeeping websites. Simply speaking, you can use cloud hosting, like regular web hosting for hosting webpages and websites, distributing applications, maintaining and modifying data, and other services.

Unlike traditional web hosting services, cloud hosting does not rely on hardware. They can rely on resources such as memory and cores, which can be configured, changed, and modified with operating systems and software.

No one really understood what “the cloud” is. So, we went ahead and did our best to give you a better and more concrete idea of what it is and how it has changed the path and value of technology forever.

Understanding “The Cloud”

It literally has nothing to do with the sky…

You’ve been into tech long enough if you’ve heard the phrase “no one really ever understood the cloud.” There are a lot of misconceptions about what it is, when, in fact, it’s a simple idea about something physical being available virtually.

Cloud refers to any server that is accessible via the internet –whether public or private use –that is also part of a lease or is paid. In other words, it’s like a server that does not have any physical requirement to be able to use – that can be accessed through the internet, running on databases and software.

There are quite a few different typesand kinds of cloud-based services and they can take on many different forms, which can include storage, web hosting, sharing, file hosting, and others.

Brief History of Cloud Hosting

All these commotion about cloud computing started back in 1996 from an internal document made by Compaq, an American Information Technology (IT) company, the prominent first-ever maker of IBM-compatible computers.

However, the word cloud was primitively linked and connected to the concept of distributed computing in the early 1990s. J.C.R. Licklider, the first director of Information Processing Techniques Office at the ARPA Division of the Pentagon was the one that initially discussed its concept.

Soon enough, the concept of cloud computing came to what we know of it today – being used as SaaSor Software as a Service.

In 1999, Salesforce transformed and became the company to offer internet-available and eligible applications, trailblazing SaaS. After that, the Platform as a Service or PaaS and Infrastructure as a Service or IaaS industries grew rapidly, too.

Over time, it developed, improved, and enhanced according to the needs of businesses, as well as how people took and used it for their businesses and innovation.

Now, “the cloud” has expanded and is being used by millions of people every day, may it be for storage, for hosting, for applications, and for platforms!

How Does Cloud Hosting Work?

If we were to summarize the idea of how cloud hosting – or cloud computing, in this matter – works, we can do it in a single word –virtualization. It’s not like you wouldn’t need a physical server for it, because, you would!

The idea of it is that it splits, divides, distributes, whatever you want to call it a physical server into different virtual machines. Then, it creates a network for websites to use it for hosting.

To understand and have a better grasp of it, let’s break it down into two components: Physical Hosts and Virtual Servers.

Physical Hosts

The physical hosts are the resources that have been allocated by the physical server where it’s hosted on. Typically, these hosts use a hypervisor or a software that’s main use is to deploy, manage, allow, and distribute more resources to virtual servers under its umbrella of control.

Furthermore, hosts are usually the ones in charge of CPU cores, memory allocation, network connection, and even distribution when the server is up and running.

NOTE: Hypervisors are the physical hosts where the virtual servers (and other hypervisors) are installed and are running on.

Virtual Servers

VPS, short for a virtual private server, is what’s commonly known and used today as cloud hosting. These act like real computers that have its own operating systems. Typically, virtual servers share resources with other servers, and the allocation would be by that of the host.

The resources are then managed by the physical host or the hypervisor (which also is a part of the physical host).

So, that is the basic or the fundamentals of how cloud hosting – or cloud computing – works. It’s just like having a piece of hardware, allocating its resources to create multiple other sources, virtual sources that are then distributed and offered to website owners and web masters.

What Are the Different Types of Cloud Hosting?

Cloud-based hosting is not limited to a single type. Through the years of innovation, it has improved, developed, and enhanced based on the needs and wants of specific websites and webpages.

Different websites and owners are driven to different goals when it comes to their hosting plan. So, it is imperative that you know and understand the various kinds and types of cloud-based hosting services available.

Public Cloud

Public cloud hosting is actually one of the most common types of cloud-based hosting there is. In traditional web hosting, it is the equivalent of using shared web hosting or shared hosting as it is shared between different virtual servers and machines.

The difference, though, is that a public cloud or a public virtual server would have its resources protected from other accounts and users. Factors like disk space, processing power, and other things that should be kept confidential will be.

Private Cloud

The counterpart of public cloud hosting is private cloud, and this is the type of hosting where you won’t be sharing anything with anyone in a given virtual space. Websites that require higher degrees of security and confidentiality would be more attracted to private cloud hosting.

In this setting, everything is kept separate up to the physical host or the hypervisor.

Compared to public cloud-based hosting, private cloud hosting is more expensive, just like how dedicated hosting is compared to shared hosting.

Managed Cloud

Typically, cloud hosting will require an intense amount of experience and knowledge in Information Technology or IT functions, especially when it comes to infrastructure and key components. This includes the management of the account, the toggling of applications, as well as having knowledge in solving surface-level support.

Managed cloud hosting is like the basic form of cloud hosting where almost everything will be set up for you. They’re perfect for startup businesses or website owners who don’t have an IT staff that’s able to host and manage a website.

Hybrid Cloud

Last but most definitely not least of the types of cloud hosting is the hybrid cloud. This is the type of hosting where it integrates the use of a public and a private cloud with on-premises computing capabilities.

The flexibility is what makes a hybrid cloud standout among the rest as it offers management and application in orchestration.

You can think of it as a type of cloud-based hosting where businesses and organizations can use and run traditional/conventional and cloud-based workloads altogether.

These are the different types and kinds of cloud-based hosting. As you may have noticed, all of them are unique and have their own use. So, before you step into cloud-based hosting, it’s important that you know and you’re sure of the specific type of cloud-based hosting you’ll get.

Cloud Hosting vs. Other Hosting Types

It’ll be difficult and quite complex to grasp full knowledge on cloud hosting. So, for you to gain a better understanding of it, we’ll go ahead and give a comparison of cloud-based hosting with other web hosting types.

Cloud Hosting vs. VPS Hosting

VPS is a shortened term for Virtual Private Server. A lot of people think that it is the same as cloud hosting because of the keyword “virtual,” but it’s not. It uses the same technology as cloud hosting yes, but they’re not entirely the same.

A Virtual Private Server or a VPS is hosted on one (1) physical server without sharing any of its resources to anyone. It’s like a dedicated server for a webmaster or a website owner, whereas a cloud-based server stands on a virtual distribution of resources, which are made up of multiple physical hosts and servers.

VPS hosting has its fair share of greens and reds and here are some that are worth mentioning:

Pros of VPS Hosting

• This offers reliable and accountable performance, ensuring that one website’s dilemma won’t be shared to other websites.
• They give full root accesses to each of the websites hosted, which experienced and technical users and webmasters would truly enjoy
• They have dedicated IP addresses. This means that they are safer, more secure, and more convenient to use than other types of hosting because it protects your identity, your reputation, and your entire website from threat and risk

These are just three of the benefits of VPS hosting. In comparison to cloud hosting, they are not actually that special as cloud hosting can offer these advantages, too! Nevertheless, it’s still something worth knowing.

Cons of VPS Hosting

There are also a couple of drawbacks to VPS hosting and they are:

• Technical expertise and skills are required for the management and the further adjustment of settings.
• Compared to shared hosting (but not cloud hosting), it’s typically more expensive and costlier.
• They are secure to an extent, but they are not as secure as dedicated hosting. You won’t have to worry about sharing, but the control you have is only within the partition you are granted. Anything outside it would already be an invaluable variable.

Cloud Hosting vs. Shared Hosting

Now, let’s go to the type of web hosting that is gotten by many people because of how common it is, how easy it is, and how straightforward it’s like.

Shared hosting, for the benefit of everyone – including beginners and first-timers, is the type of hosting where a single server is shared by multiple people and webmasters. For instance, server 1 in New Jersey is able to accommodate up to 20 different accounts with 2 websites each.

From this alone, the problems and dilemmas are already evident, but here’s a comparison of what they’re good for, and what you should look out for.

Pros of Shared Hosting

The pros of shared hosting might not be that many, but they usually include:

• Shared hosting is extremely affordable and cheap. You can get it for as low as $1 per month.
• Beginners will enjoy shared hosting as it is easy to set up with a lot of already-done or DFY (done-for-you) settings
• Maintenance is easy – you rarely have to do anything spectacular for it
• Great for simple websites like blogs, forums, etc.

Cons of Shared Hosting

The drawbacks or the opportunities of shared hosting are:

• Little-to-no reliability as everyone in the same server will experience the same thing regardless of location and website type
• Scaling the resources could be difficult since everything is shared across all accounts and webmasters
• Uptime is not guaranteed. The more traffic a server has, the slower it gets

Advantages of Cloud Hosting

Cloud-based hosting has many advantages – these are, of course, the reasons why companies and businesses choose it over other types and kinds of hosting. Concretely, there are a few different sweet spots of cloud hosting, and they are:

Higher and Better Uptime and Availability

Traditional web hosting requires the physical server to be at its best state more than 99.9% of the time because that is everything that the system relies on. The environment where the server is in, the amount of data it’s holding, and its durability and overall reliability are the main factors, not in cloud hosting.

Cloud-based hosting services are known and considered the best and highest uptime because of how the servers are built and structured. Thanks to the accommodation of multiple virtual servers, when one (1) server is down, it will have little-to-no effects on the availability or uptime because of other servers being active.

The only time it’ll be down is when all servers communicating with each other goes down – which is near impossible

Easier to Scale

Resources aren’t restricted to a single physical host – the dashboard will be easy, workable, and user-friendly, and you will have the ability to manage it on your own!

From here, you can easily scale the resources of your server to whatever you want it to be! And what we mean by “scaling” is by either increasing or decreasing the allocated resources depending on what’s needed.

Unlike traditional web hosting, you don’t need to wait hours just for the approval of the hosting provider – you can do it on your own!

Pricing is Flexible and More Manageable

The pricing structure of cloud-based hosting is more flexible and manageable than other forms of hosting. Other hosting forms and structures would require you to pay monthly rates regardless of how much storage you use, of how much applications you do, etc.

With cloud hosting, you’ll usually just have to pay for what you have used! Yes, you read that correctly. Commonly, cloud hosting services give you the ability to make use of resources, and those resources would be the only ones you need.

NOTE: The majority of cloud-based hosting providers and companies even offer hourly rates for cloud hosting. So, for the days that you think your website can catch Zs, you wouldn’t have to pay for it.

Fast Server Setup

Most entry-level and beginner cloud hosting setups won’t take you days to do – it can be summarized in just a few hours, sometimes, under an hour! Setups that are too advanced and technical are those that can take a few days, but if you are far from that, then, you shouldn’t have any problems with it.

Conventional or traditional web hosting takes much more time to set up because there are several other factors involved, whereas in cloud-based hosting, the timer is on you.

Better Website Performance

Last but most definitely not least among the pros and advantages of cloud hosting would be the website performance. People will tell you of their experience to be somewhat “blazing-fast,” especially when it comes to their website, but, that’s not always true.

It is fast, but that simple fact doesn’t mean that it’s immune to throttling and sluggish connections.

The speeds of a website will still depend on the hardware foundation and the infrastructure. So, you can’t always blame it on your internet connection. Nevertheless, with a fast and speedy internet connection, you can always be assured that you will have a reliable and stable hosting service.

Disadvantages of Cloud Hosting

Cloud hosting isn’t all rainbows and butterflies. As a matter of fact, there are a couple of downsides to it, too.

More Expensive

The better quality of a product or service, the more likely it’ll be expensive. That’s just how the world works. The more value of something and the more demand it yields, pricier it becomes.

Cloud hosting is a premium service that is not actually desirable or recommendable for first-time users, why? Because of how complex it can be (as you will do it on your own) and how expensive it can get.

It is cost-efficient in the long run but it is going to cost more initially.

Cyber Attack Vulnerability

Since your resources are available online or on the internet and how your website or webpage is hosted is deliberately distributed to specific servers, they are not safe from cyber-attacks, threats, and risks involved in hosting a website.

Just like how a physical server is, cloud hosting services aren’t safe, too. They could be safer depending on the layer of security the hosting provider has set up, but that does not erase the fact that it can be dangerous, too.

Speed Throttling

Do you know how torrents work? They are supplied by a peer-to-peer (P2P) set up. The more people who have it available (seeding it), the faster a torrent becomes available for download. Cloud-based hosting or virtual hosting is ultimately dependent on the speed of the internet connection of the service provider.

Most, if not all providers are ready with a back-up, in case the connection drops or falls. Nevertheless, this is the factor in which it gets its speed and reliability from.

Requires Technical Experience

Of course, we all know the complexity of hosting, in itself – what more if it’s done through a series of servers and virtual hosts? When you have a full understanding of hosting, what’s happening, how it’s managed, and what things are needed, you will find it easy like the back of your hand.

On the contrary, if you are a beginner – more so, a first-time user, you can be drowned with all the information, as well as the things you need to learn and find out to maximize what you’re paying for in hosting.

FAQs on Cloud Hosting

Don’t worry if you don’t get cloud hosting 100% yet, we were so much worse back then. That is why we prepared a list of some of the most frequently asked questions about cloud hosting that you should have an idea on before you tackle it!

What Do You Mean By Cluster Server Hosting?

Cluster server hosting or cloud hosting is like traditional web hosting but instead of connecting to a physical location or a physical server directly, the link is to a cloud resource, a resource that is a product of physical servers.

Just because it’s “cloud hosting” doesn’t mean that it does not use any physical hardware or infrastructure to serve as a base for the service.

When Should You Use Cloud Hosting?

Cloud hosting can be great for everyone – regardless of the type of website. However, based on recent data, the type of websites that use and take advantage of cloud hosting are organizations, businesses, and companies that are looking for near-to-perfect uptime of their servers.

Since the hosting service runs on multiple virtual servers (coming from a single hardware or server), some servers are designed to act as a backup or as a contingency plan in case the original physical server or one virtual server encounters problems and dilemmas.

Which Hosting is Best For Beginners?

In 2023, there are a lot of different hosting plans and providers considered to be the best for beginners and those who are first-time website owners. Out of all, the best ones are:

• BlueHost
• HostGator
• Hostinger
• Site Ground

All these are hosting providers that offer low and basic rates for shared hosting and conventional web hosting.

If you are interested to know the best hosting type, then it would be shared web hosting or shared hosting, for short. This is because they don’t necessarily need fully-advanced specifications and configuration. Almost everything is given and set up before they’re even offered.

What is the Benefit of Cloud Hosting?

There are a ton of benefits in using a cloud hosting service versus a traditional web hosting one but the main reason why big businesses and organizations get them is because of the minimal downtime experienced. With a minimal downtime, your website becomes ultimately reliable, it improves the performance of your website, helps in better and higher SEO ranking, and makes sure that the services don’t just go off randomly.

Cloud Hosting Pricing?

If you’re already hooked and you’re now interested to know more information about cloud hosting, the next question would be in terms of price. Cloud hosting is considered to be one of the most, if not the most expensive type of hosting because of its elevated benefits; the rates and prices for cloud hosting average at $19.99 per month to $32 per month.

These rates vary depending on the hosting provider as well as the inclusions of the service. Some services even go as high as $100 per month, which is $1,200 per year, but those would usually be the most advanced and most technical settings and types of cloud hosting.

The Bottom Line

So, in case you were wondering, what is cloud hosting and how can it benefit my business or my website? The answer is right in front of you. Cloud hosting may be more expensive, costlier, and more requiring, but it actually is the type of hosting that is meant and engineered to be used for more micromanagement.

Check this guide out first before the time you choose from the last list you have for cloud hosting. You never know what you may have missed especially if it’s your first time!