Every online business needs a good web host to keep their website from underperforming during traffic spikes. It’s not something every web host out there can do. Over the years, web hosting evolved in a spectacular fashion especially with the advent of cloud technologies.
 

Will the cloud impact the future of web hosting as well?

 
It most certainly will. Back in the days, large websites with growing traffic had to resort to a dedicated server with powerful hardware and abundant resources to sustain website performance. This was an expensive option for many small and medium-sized online businesses. However, as cloud technologies evolved, new hosting options emerged.

Cloud hosting is just as good as a dedicated server but with a pay-as-you-go pricing model where the tenant only needs to pay for the resources they use. And when they require more resources, the cloud host scales. Essentially, the website gets everything it needs from the cloud environment, and the website owner pays only for what the website consumes in order to sustain performance. This can however vary depending on the nature of the web host and the hosting package.

The bottomline is that cloud is indeed transforming the concept of web hosting.
 

Trends to watch out for in 2018

 
Demand for comprehensive hosting packages

Users no longer see web hosting services as a service that hosts their website on a server. They now expect more solutions in a single hosting package. The modern-day hosting approach is all about getting a comprehensive hosting package with web design, search engine optimization, eCommerce, and email hosting services.

They essentially get their website designed, search engine optimized, and secured with SSL for eCommerce transactions in addition to getting their email hosted by the web hosting provider. The one-stop shop approach would only become more demanded this year according to experts.

Dwindling numbers of hosting data centers due to Autoscaling

Last year, many surveys found that over 80% of IT managers use cloud technology instead of data centers. Based on the findings, experts predict that corporate data centers or hosting infrastructures would eventually go obsolete with the cloud’s rapidly increasing momentum.

Cloud computing is only getting cheaper while offering improved performance and robust security. The cloud’s autoscaling feature allows the number of servers in a data center to scale automatically depending on the varying computational load.

The cloud’s many benefits also led to an increase in cloud hosting resellers, which is only expected to grow exponentially in the next decade.

Advanced forms of security

Despite the cloud’s rapid growth, many are still concerned about having their personal data stored in the cloud questioning the extent of security cloud can offer compared to a private dedicated server. There’s some validity to such concerns. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link after all.

Cloud’s security is still not evolved yet to have no ‘weak links’. There are vulnerabilities. Quite recently, even Amazon suffered serious security breach. However, this only served as a wakeup call and cloud security only advanced further since then. This year, we will be witnessing much more advanced forms of cloud security.

Green hosting

Green hosting is not exactly a new trend. The concept of green hosting stemmed from the fact that servers that power millions of websites in the internet consume an immense amount of energy. To reduce such power consumption, many hosting companies went the eco-friendly way minimizing the impact of web hosting on the environment.

They instead use renewable energy, carbon offsetting, energy saving technologies, and even plant trees around their data center. Green hosting appeals to people who are concerned about the environment. We may see it in a different form this year, and web hosting is expected to consume a lot less energy in the coming years. Green hosting in 2018 is also expected to be part of eco-friendly initiatives by many tech companies.
 

Conclusion

 
The evolution of web hosting from a big picture view has always been consistent. It only gets better over time. Now with the cloud taking matters into its hands, we can expect more stable, high-performance, and well secured hosting solutions to come out this year in more than one form. The trends mentioned above are just a few of the ones worth noting. Nevertheless, nothing will be driving web hosting irrelevant for a long time for sure. Websites will always need a home.

Generally, most web owners choose a shared hosting solution to host their websites, and upgrade later when it’s necessary. Regardless of the web hosting provider, every shared hosting server will have multiple tenants. These tenants will be sharing the server resources. But if even one website consumes too much resources at some point, it’ll affect the performance of other tenants in the server.
 

When should I think about an upgrade?

 
When a shared server is no longer capable of providing the desired website performance or resources the website needs, it’s a cue to upgrade the hosting solution. An upgrade could be anything from dedicated hosting to cloud hosting. A growing website with a consistently increasing amount of traffic would need robust hardware to sustain its performance and not slow down when there are visitors.

When the need calls for powerful hardware and great availability of resources for impressive website performance, the most apt solution is a dedicated server hosting.

If you are unsure of whether or not it’s time to move to a dedicated server, the points below may help you make a choice.
 

When should I think about an upgrade to a dedicated server?

 
Performance drops

Comprehending the website traffic is considered to be an initial estimation to decide whether to move to a dedicated server. If the website contains a large amount of dynamic webpages, with growing traffic its performance may go down in a standard shared server. Slow-loading websites deter most visitors which is a big no-no for businesses.

Need for enhanced security and privacy

The fact that you have your website hosted on a shared server along with many other websites obviously raises security concerns. The other website owners could be capable of hacking into your website which is in the same server. Those websites might also have vulnerabilities that could be exploited by cyber-criminals. This subsequently compromises the server itself and its tenants.

If you are concerned about the security of the server, you can switch to a dedicated server where only your websites will be hosted. The server will be constantly monitored for security risks and vulnerabilities by the web hosting provider’s tech team thus ensuring great security and privacy.

Lack of control

In the event that your shared host does not permit you to utilize scripts and software developed specifically for your website, it’s another sign for you to upgrade to a dedicated server. A dedicated web hosting plan gives you absolute control over the server allowing you to use whatever plugins, scripts, and software necessary to augment your website.

Failure to keep up with growing demands

If your business is growing at a fast pace, you may need your website to reflect that growth and improve progressively with the growth. To facilitate this, you may need to update scripts and software in the server. This may not always be possible in a shared server.

In addition, you may not get necessary technical support when you need it. A dedicated server gives you adaptability, and because you are the only tenant, it’d be faster and easier to have your website keep up with your business’ growth.
 

Conclusion

 
There is still an alternative of building an infrastructure, purchasing a server, and hiring a team to manage it. However, this could cost you considerably. When you purchase a dedicated server hosting package, you will have a team monitoring the server and ready to help when necessary.

The scenarios mentioned above should make it easier for you to choose a migration to a dedicated server. Considering its many benefits, it’s a worthy investment to consider.

There is a reason why managed server hosting is considered one of the best web hosting solutions for medium to high traffic websites. The website owner gets a server fully managed by a team of expert technicians in the hosting company. The web owner would then won’t have to bother with the technicalities of the hosting package. Every technical and network-related issues will be dealt with by the hosting provider.

However, despite its demand, there still seems to be a lot of misconceptions and myths about managed hosting, particularly managed dedicated hosting.

Here are a few popular myths busted.

#1. Managed dedicated hosting is too expensive

Considering the fact that dedicated hosting solutions are comparatively more expensive, it’s obvious that people think a managed hosting service would be even more expensive. Managed hosting is certainly going to cost more than unmanaged hosting. But when considering the benefits of such a hosting solution, the extra cost is totally justified.

The web owner won’t have to worry about server maintenance, server upgrades, uptimes, downtimes and technical issues. The team managing the server would be monitoring it 24/7 and performing all the updates and security checks while the owners go about with their business. They won’t have to pay for extra staff or rent space for setting up a server either. Ultimately, it does save them time and money.

#2. Managed hosting is only for people who are not tech-savvy

Though it’s the ideal option for people who are not very keen on technologies, it can also be of great benefit to tech-savvy web owners as well. If it’s managed, the web owners, tech-savvy or tech-not-that-savvy, would be from the hassles and challenges of maintaining a redundant server setup.

Technical issues, should they appear, won’t be interrupting their work or taking their time. The service essentially saves time and effort while providing a plethora of benefits.

#3. You don’t get to choose the software

This used to be the case in the beginning. And many hosting providers offering dedicated servers design their packages to meet business needs. Reputed providers would be using the most reliable and secure software in their servers promising the best performance. However, you will still be able to install custom software that you require after discussing with your web host. But in most cases, it’d be better to trust in your host’s experience and expertise when it comes to software choices.

#4. For that cost, the data will always be safe and secure

This is why people are willing to go that extra mile and pay more for a better hosting solution. Renting a dedicated server means only their websites would be on the server, and they get more control. A reliable hosting company would guarantee the safety of the machine as well. However, the hard truth is that no matter how good the provider is or how secure the hosting server, there are always risks.

A managed hosting server set-up will be constantly monitored to ensure that there are no failures at any time. However, there are circumstances, though very rare, that could result in a short server downtimes, outages etc. even if it’s a cloud hosting solution.
 

Conclusion

 
Not many web owners choose to spend time researching a web hosting provider before purchasing a hosting package. Most of them tend to approach popular hosts and make the deal in a jiffy.

Because web hosting is a diverse and competitive sector, as a web owner, you need to be aware of the various myths and facts associated with hosting. These are just a few of the most popular misconceptions on dedicated hosting. Hopefully the article would help you find a better hosting choice.

Switching to a new web hosting service is a last resort measure for most website owners. Such a decision might be due to many factors from frequent server downtimes to poor customer service. But even so, many website owners still do not prefer switching to a new host because they presume this migration to be a difficult and time-consuming task.

Ironically, it isn’t.

Migrating to a new host’s server isn’t what you should be concerned about. The host you choose to migrate to should be the concern. Finding the right host requires you to do some research. The services offered by various hosts may differ in nature. For instance, only a few hosting service providers offer domain registration services and support. If you need some pointers to choose the right web hosting service for your business, check out this blog.

That said, let’s get on with the topic at hand.

Once you home in on a reliable web host, you need to do just a few simple things to make sure there would be no issues after the migration.

Make sure your visitors know that your website may have downtime during migration

 
You can post a message on your website to let your visitors know that the site may go down for a short while during the transition to a new hosting service. Letting them know beforehand also conveys to them that you care enough to not trouble them. It’s a better approach than having the visitors come to your website during the downtime and become disappointed.
 

Perform a website backup

 
Migrating your website to a new hosting service can be risky, as in there’s a chance for loss of website files including images, scripts, plugins, HTML files etc. Therefore, it’s a good idea to secure the files by taking a backup on a different computer just in case. You can use an FTP to download the files and secure them.
 

Check email configuration

 
Once the migration is complete, you need to make sure there aren’t any changes in your email configuration. If the migration reconfigures your email, your email hosting service may fail when you least expect it.
 

Update the DNS

 
The migration will not be complete till you update your DNS and register it for the new hosting service. The new service provider will issue a temporary IP address for you to use till then. This IP address can also be used to check the functionality of your website, and whether it has kept all the files after the migration.

To change the domain name, you need to contact the domain registrar.
 

Check internal links

 
The next step is to ensure whether your website retained the internal links. All the links should work like they did before the migration. This is also a good time to check the log files to see if there are any errors.
 

Deactivate your old account

 
Once you have gone through all the steps above, test the website to see if it’s running exactly like it was before with all apps, plugins etc. in check. After this, you can deactivate your old account with the previous hosting provider. The account only has to be kept safe till the migration is successfully complete.

Building the business online is every entrepreneur’s concern now. The internet is what’s presenting them with opportunities to do just that. It allows you to capitalize on various things to grow your business. But to do that effectively, the business needs to have an identity online – something that defines them. And that is a website. Businesses won’t come alive online without a website.

With a website, a business gets to reach out to people, and connect with potential customers on a local or global scale. It’s their online presence that gets people interested. The overall experience a website offers, among many other things, influences the decisions of its visitors – to purchase or not to purchase. It’s why this ‘online presence’ should be as good as possible if you wish your business to succeed online.

Tracking campaigns to increase online visibility and search engine optimization are vital to ensure that the website fulfills its purpose. A truly powerful, professional and visually appealing website can work wonders for small, medium, and large enterprises.

However, we still don’t see the real backbone of the internet – web hosting.

Without web hosting, there will be no websites. Internet wouldn’t have become such a powerful tool if web hosting had not been there.

This brings us to our topic at hand.
 

Hosting providers can help

 
A reliable web hosting provider can help a business build a great website that won’t slow a business down in the long run. Sure their primary purpose is to host and manage websites. But good web hosts would likely know the latest trends in the ever-expanding world of internet.

They clearly understand their role, and possess the expertise and experience to help businesses grow online by leveraging websites. They can recommend what a website needs to feed a specific business type, small or big. They can recommend the type of hosting solution that would be apt for the website so it doesn’t impede the business’ progress in any way. Essentially, a good web hosting company can guide entrepreneurs in the right direction to take their business higher.
 

How they do it

 
A ‘hygienic’ website is crucial. For instance, a website may experience degrading performance and other issues when traffic increases. They may need a more powerful server to maintain the performance during traffic spikes. Too many programs and apps in the hosting server may also affect the website’s health. There are many other factors.

A web host knows the importance of website hygiene. But only reliable ones constantly monitor the health of the website. They make sure everything’s running optimally, and also identify issues that consume a lot of resources. A slow-loading website can irritate visitors. A visitor once annoyed is less likely to return, according to studies.
 

Conclusion

 
In addition to constant monitoring and reliable technical support, a good web host can help you get in touch with capable web developers and designers who can give you the perfect online identity for your business. As for the web host, they can host it and make sure it does what’s meant to do always. Now you know why it’s a good idea to approach web hosts who are also knowledgeable when it comes to websites and their traits.