When it comes to maintaining a business website, many businesses choose the economical option of having their sites hosted via cloud hosting in Singapore. Not only does it save on the high upfront costs of the hardware, but it also generates savings in the long one because it eliminates recurring overhead costs from maintenance and upkeep.
With key features such as flexibility and scalability, it makes sense why web hosting is the preferred choice. Organisations can choose the best plan for their needs and adjust accordingly when their requirements change over time.
Below, we cover why businesses may need to scale up to a more feature-packed web hosting and why a Virtual Private Server (VPS) is the ideal upgrade.
A brief overview of a VPS
Before touching on the details of a VPS and why it is the best of both worlds, we must first understand what shared and dedicated hosting are. Shared hosting is the most common type of hosting service that works perfectly well for new site owners.
As implied by its name, shared hosting entails sharing software and hardware resources, such as RAM, storage, and CPU processing, with others on the same server.
An excellent real-life analogy would be a co-living space where residents share utilities and resources in a single housing unit. Since everything is shared in this hosting plan, owners enjoy significantly lower subscription costs due to licensing and maintenance fees being shouldered by everyone.
The drawback is that if one user encounters issues like a traffic spike on their website, the server’s other sites may also get affected.
In contrast, dedicated hosting means website owners get access to a server reserved solely for their use. They get to enjoy full control over the resources and have the freedom to install custom software according to their business’s needs.
This type of hosting is ideal for when companies receive large amounts of web traffic daily, need their own operating system and custom software, and handle numerous financial transactions. However, since ownership belongs to one entity only, they have to bear all the costs that come with it and thus pay higher fees.
VPS hosting is a mix of the two in terms of infrastructure and benefits. Simply put, a VPS utilises virtualisation technology to provide website owners with dedicated resources despite sharing a physical server with other people, similar to shared hosting.
Although the sharing aspect remains, the best thing about VPS is that others cannot access the resources allotted to every virtual server on the same machine. This means owners can enjoy the benefits of dedicated hostings, such as installing their operating system and getting reserved access to resources at a more affordable price.
Reasons to opt for a VPS
1. Security concerns
Businesses looking for features such as enhanced security, better and more advanced monitoring capabilities, increased backup storage, and enhanced website reliability can get them with a VPS.
With better security features that may be strengthened depending on the provider and dedicated resources, a VPS is an optimal plan that offers such needs without committing to dedicated hosting.
2. Increasingly higher traffic volumes
Shared hosting is generally not suited to handle higher traffic since the sharing aspect means that other websites on the server will suffer performance issues whenever one or two sites need to consume more resources to keep up with demand.
Once businesses gain traction and continuously grow their web audience, upgrading to a VPS hosting plan that can handle the higher traffic is a must to provide customers with a quick and snappy experience.
3. Constant sluggish performance
If your website is not experiencing higher traffic volumes, then the others on the server may be the ones that will, ultimately affecting yours. Slow load times or, at worst, connectivity errors are certain to put off the company’s customers and possibly drive them to seek other alternatives, which means a loss in business.
To ensure that the worst-case scenario does not happen, securing website reliability is indispensable.
4. e-Commerce requirements
Businesses whose website is geared toward online commerce must have a secure and dedicated server environment that will help them pass the Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance test. Major credit card brands created the PCI Data Security Standard as a measure to protect their clients from cardholder data theft.
Since e-commerce platforms will incorporate some form of payment gateway, businesses that deal in online retail must guarantee the safety of their consumer’s financial data. A VPS offers significantly enhanced security compared to shared hosting and is thus the better option for e-commerce sites.
5. Custom software is needed
For website owners who primarily rely on Content Management Systems (CMS) in building their sites, shared hosting works best due to the integrations that are typically already built in.
Nevertheless, as businesses continue to grow, there will come a time when they will have to install custom software, use customised server configurations, or do any other advanced programming. A VPS provides significantly more control over these aspects.
Moreover, several business programs that handle tax, bookkeeping, and billing all need server availability 24/7 and a high-speed connection to work well. Running these programs will require either a dedicated hosting plan or a VPS.
Conclusion
As businesses grow, the assets that directly affect them, such as their web hosting subscription, should also follow. By scaling up to a Virtual Private Server, companies can gain access to more features and controls that can better improve their website and their customers’ user experience.
At CLDY, we offer a full suite of cloud hosting plans, including web hosting and branded email hosting, designed to perform and fit your needs and budget.
