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So, you want to set up a website. Your first decision is to chose between buying a web server and all the supporting equipment along with a network technician to run it for you, or to find a company whose business is to run websites and pay them a monthly fee to host your website on their equipment. This question, at least is a no-brainer: unless you are a big company going online for the first time (almost unheard of these days), you can't afford the capital investment to set up your own web server infrastructure. So you chose to rent server space from a web hosting company. Simple, right?
If you think it is simple, just go through the number of options available for you to choose from. Before you actually decide the company, you have to decide if you want to go for a shared or a reseller web hosting service. Read on to find out the difference between the two.
In a nutshell, the difference is scale. In shared web hosting, you rent server space for a single website with a single domain name. You would pay a separate monthly fee for each additional website you set up. In reseller web hosting, you rent a large amount of web hosting server space, divide it up among as many websites as you need, and then have the option to resell the left over server space to other people to set up websites-essentially making you a web hosting subcontractor. So which option should you choose? There are advantages and disadvantages to both, and we'll examine each below.
The simplicity, efficiency and the low cost are the three main features of shared web hosting. If you require it for personal use or for running a small business website then this is perfect for you. Along with one website and one domain name, you will generally be allowed to set up sub domains for different parts of that website. You pay them the rent for the space on their web server equipment and you get their support as well. In a way they become responsible for making sure that your website is not only accessible all the time but also that it is running without any problems. They will be ready with their technical support whenever you require it. This takes care of a very important aspect for any businessperson. This option also requires less expenditure (5 -20 times less than reseller web hosting) as you may have to spend around $5 or even free.
Now some disadvantages of the free shared web-hosting sites. It is not very reliable. Imagine the site going down for some reason, you can't do anything but wait. Since you have not paid so there is no guarantee that your problem will be solved on priority. This kind of service is all right for a personal website but for someone running a business, it is not a safe option. You need a reliable support system to make sure your website is accessible 24/7/365 and solve all your technical problems without any delay. This makes paid shared web host a better choice. You will have to pay the amount depending on the size of your website as well as the traffic expected towards it. Hostgator is one such web hosting company that gives you an option of selecting one of the three packages varying from $4.95 to $12.95 per month. Another problem is that if you decide to set up another website, your expenditure will double as you will have to buy another shared web hosting plan.
The main advantages of reseller web hosting is flexibility and economies of scale. If you are running a fast-growing company, or are an entrepreneur running multiple businesses, then the cost of multiple shared web hosting every month can quickly add up. With reseller web hosting, you can set up as many websites as you need, and reallocate resources among them as they grow over time. Of course, you can rent out or resell and left over space to other individuals or small businesses to run their websites. If you juggle the finances well, reseller web hosting can be much cheap on a large scale than shared web hosting.
Reseller web hosting also has some drawbacks. It is more expensive. The Hostgator shared web hosting is available between $5 and $15 per month but for their reseller packages, you will have to spend around $25 to $100 per month as per the size and traffic or your website. You can do make up these costs if you sell the leftover space to others but you cant be too sure of getting a customer for that. It is not necessary that you will find a suitable customer. Even if you don't use the entire space, you will have to pay for it too.
The second problem is that, as a web hosting subcontractor, you are now responsible for maintaining support to all the people you resold web hosting space to-except that you actually have very little power over such technical problems. Although you often have some limited administrative functionality, all you can do for serious technical problems like an internet outage is pass the information on to your web hosting provider. Once your customers realize you are essentially just a near-powerless middleman, they may lose confidence in you and switch to a different web hosting provider. It doesn't take much to ruin your brand name, and once that happens, your monthly reseller web hosting costs will rise and you lose customers to offset those monthly costs.
If you think it is simple, just go through the number of options available for you to choose from. Before you actually decide the company, you have to decide if you want to go for a shared or a reseller web hosting service. Read on to find out the difference between the two.
In a nutshell, the difference is scale. In shared web hosting, you rent server space for a single website with a single domain name. You would pay a separate monthly fee for each additional website you set up. In reseller web hosting, you rent a large amount of web hosting server space, divide it up among as many websites as you need, and then have the option to resell the left over server space to other people to set up websites-essentially making you a web hosting subcontractor. So which option should you choose? There are advantages and disadvantages to both, and we'll examine each below.
The simplicity, efficiency and the low cost are the three main features of shared web hosting. If you require it for personal use or for running a small business website then this is perfect for you. Along with one website and one domain name, you will generally be allowed to set up sub domains for different parts of that website. You pay them the rent for the space on their web server equipment and you get their support as well. In a way they become responsible for making sure that your website is not only accessible all the time but also that it is running without any problems. They will be ready with their technical support whenever you require it. This takes care of a very important aspect for any businessperson. This option also requires less expenditure (5 -20 times less than reseller web hosting) as you may have to spend around $5 or even free.
Now some disadvantages of the free shared web-hosting sites. It is not very reliable. Imagine the site going down for some reason, you can't do anything but wait. Since you have not paid so there is no guarantee that your problem will be solved on priority. This kind of service is all right for a personal website but for someone running a business, it is not a safe option. You need a reliable support system to make sure your website is accessible 24/7/365 and solve all your technical problems without any delay. This makes paid shared web host a better choice. You will have to pay the amount depending on the size of your website as well as the traffic expected towards it. Hostgator is one such web hosting company that gives you an option of selecting one of the three packages varying from $4.95 to $12.95 per month. Another problem is that if you decide to set up another website, your expenditure will double as you will have to buy another shared web hosting plan.
The main advantages of reseller web hosting is flexibility and economies of scale. If you are running a fast-growing company, or are an entrepreneur running multiple businesses, then the cost of multiple shared web hosting every month can quickly add up. With reseller web hosting, you can set up as many websites as you need, and reallocate resources among them as they grow over time. Of course, you can rent out or resell and left over space to other individuals or small businesses to run their websites. If you juggle the finances well, reseller web hosting can be much cheap on a large scale than shared web hosting.
Reseller web hosting also has some drawbacks. It is more expensive. The Hostgator shared web hosting is available between $5 and $15 per month but for their reseller packages, you will have to spend around $25 to $100 per month as per the size and traffic or your website. You can do make up these costs if you sell the leftover space to others but you cant be too sure of getting a customer for that. It is not necessary that you will find a suitable customer. Even if you don't use the entire space, you will have to pay for it too.
The second problem is that, as a web hosting subcontractor, you are now responsible for maintaining support to all the people you resold web hosting space to-except that you actually have very little power over such technical problems. Although you often have some limited administrative functionality, all you can do for serious technical problems like an internet outage is pass the information on to your web hosting provider. Once your customers realize you are essentially just a near-powerless middleman, they may lose confidence in you and switch to a different web hosting provider. It doesn't take much to ruin your brand name, and once that happens, your monthly reseller web hosting costs will rise and you lose customers to offset those monthly costs.
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