Hosting Comparison
Table of contents
Introduction
This page is intended to help clarify the differences between each type of hosting. First we will explain what each one is and then we will break it down into specific details.
We recommend you visit our help me choose page as this will help you make a decision about which hosting option would best suit your requirements. This pages is meant to help you understand the differences.
Shared Hosting
Shared hosting is a great way to get started with web hosting. It is cheap and it allows you to have a presence online.
With shared hosting, our server is set up to host several web sites. Each web site uses up a portion of the server's resources. In other words, they share a server.
Read more about our shared hosting.
Virtual Private Hosting
Virtual Private Hosting is a good middle ground. It is a relatively new type of web hosting and it is quickly growing in popularity.
With Virtual Private Hosting, we divide one server into a few virtual servers. Each virtual server acts as a completely independent server. The virtual servers share the physical server's hardware, but they are each configured independently and run their own software.
Each virtual server is allocated a specific minimum amount of the real physical server's resources. This acts as a guarantee of a specific amount of resources.
Read more about our virtual private hosting.
Dedicated Hosting
Dedicated hosting is the fastest, most secure and most reliable type of hosting.
Dedicated hosting means your web site uses its own dedicated server. There is no sharing at all. You have 100% of the server's resources available for use.
This is the most expensive web hosting option.
Read more about our dedicated hosting.
Custom Hosting
Our custom hosting package is not meant for web site hosting. It is an option where we host other types of servers and services for you. You tell us what you need and we configure and host it for you.
Read more about our custom hosting.
Comparison
Security
The chart to the right represents how secure each option would be on a scale of 1 to 10. 10 being the most secure.
The essential message of the chart is that dedicated hosting is most secure, then virtual private hosting and finally shared hosting. With most hosts, there is a big difference between shared hosting and the other 2 options. At ManicaNet, we secure all our hosting options and we reduced the difference between shared hosting and the other hosting options.
Speed
The speed of each hosting package also differs greatly. Speed refers to the speed at which the server will display your web site.
The chart to the right represents a relative speed. It is only meant to compare the difference between hosting packages. To compare it to other web hosting companies, it depends on the speed of the server chosen. In theory dedicated hosting and virtual private hosting should be the same speed with us as it is with other hosts assuming you choose the same speed server.
For shared hosting, the difference would be more noticeable. We constantly verify the actual speed web sites are being displayed on our shared servers to ensure web sites are coming up quickly. We also have much smaller limits for number of web sites per server.
As you can see, dedicated hosting is the fastest, followed by virtual private hosting and finally shared hosting.
Cost / Price
The cost of hosting is often the number 1 deciding factor when choosing hosting. For this reason, shared hosting is very popular. It is a good way to start, and if later your web site becomes very busy, that is when you should consider upgrading.
The chart on the right is just a relative comparison in price between the hosting options.
Shared vs Virtual Private Hosting
The difference between shared and virtual private hosting can be difficult to understand. Shared hosting has one server with only one system installed in it and that one system is configured to host several web sites. Virtual Private Hosting has one physical computer with a few virtual computers inside it. Each of those virtual computer behave just like a regular computer. They each have their own system and software installed this allows for finer control over your web site's server software as well as more private environment.
Summary
| Feature | Shared | Virtual Private | Dedicated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux Hosting |  |
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| PHP and MySQL | |
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| Shared hardware | |
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| Guaranteed speed | |
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| Shared server configuration | |
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| Private web sites | |
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| Free software tools | |
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| Can install other software | |
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| Security | Good | Great | Best |
| Speed | Good | Great | Best |
| Cost / Price | Best | Great | Good |
