If you are a website or an online business owner, chances are you may have heard of cloud hosting before, as this type of hosting solution has been growing in popularity over the last couple of years. But what makes cloud hosting different from ‘standard’ hosting? And perhaps the more pertinent question is: why would cloud hosting be the better choice for your website or online business? In the world of websites and e-commerce, cloud hosting is the perfect compromise between shared hosting and a dedicated server. Shared hosting is particularly popular among blog owners and start-ups because of its affordability. However, as your online business is growing, the limitations of shared hosting will soon be apparent and disadvantageous. Dedicated servers, on the other hand, require you to dish out some serious cash, which may not be the wisest financial decision for your company at the moment.
With a managed cloud hosting solution, you can host your websites and applications online with far more flexibility and features than shared hosting, but with less cost than having a dedicated server. Cloud-based hosting does not only run on one physical server; instead, it runs across multiple cloud configured servers; pooling resource from several data centres. And because cloud hosting does not rely on one machine, a failure on a hardware won’t affect your website or online application. You can also demand extra resource for your hosting platform in real time because cloud-based hosting is not reliant on or limited by the capacity or physical capabilities of one server.
But what do you mean when you say managed cloud hosting? To answer this question, you first need to know that a single server hosting service package can come unmanaged. This means that you are only renting the hardware, but you’re not paying a third party to manage it. Sure, most hosting companies offer basic standard day-to-day services, but if some major issues arise, you have to deal with them and not the server company. But with all the complexities and challenges of running a web business, many entrepreneurs and SMEs find it hard to find the time, energy, and money to manage their own servers. This is why top hosting providers offer fully managed hosting solutions.
Managed cloud hosting providers take care of all operation and maintenance issues related to your server. These issues include but are not limited to regular scanning of servers for irregularities and potential system failures, optimising server security, creating backups, and managing storage and database. By having the same cloud hosting provider fully manage your hosting, you won’t have the need to hire an in-house system administrator, and thus reduce operating costs for your business. You can also save precious time, which can be better spent developing your core business.
But be aware that not all managed cloud hosting providers are created equal. You need to scrutinise the quality of their technology as well as the reliability of their service. Each web business/application has different hosting needs like extra-large bandwidth, faster connections, and 24/7 online assistance. Thus, the perfect cloud hosting solution must be flexible enough to cater to your particular needs and offer great value for your money.