What is Shared Web Hosting?

A Shared Web Hosting service is a form of hosting where you share a server with multiple other users. Sharing a server is a great way to reduce hosting costs for personal, hobby or business sites.

When you sign up to a Shared Web Hosting package you will be given space on a server which will be shared by a number of users. To keep all of the different users sites separate each user will be given a partition on the hard drive. As the server is shared the cost is distributed between all of the users giving you a much cheaper hosting option.

Using a shared web hosting service gives less experienced users the opportunity to have their server space run for them. This means they don’t have to worry about maintenance, settings, security or general upkeep, which can be expensive. The server will generally be located in a secure and controlled environment with many companies offering data backups.

When using a shared server you will have less access to change the server settings which may mean you miss out on your optimum set up. When changes need to be made you can either do it by using a remote control panel or by having the changes managed for you. As the server is shared you may have also limited web space and bandwidth.

For a list of Shared Web Hosting providers please visit our Shared Web hosting Spotlight Category page