When your websites have outgrown the resources of their existing shared hosting provider, then upgrading your plan to cloud hosting might be a solution.

With cloud hosting, you can cover the problem with dedicated hosting which is the limited resources. However, you should get to know more about cloud hosting before using it. 

Cloud hosting can give you many advantages compared to shared hosting, however, it requires a certain level of IT know-how and of course a more expensive price. 

In this article, we will summarize everything about Cloud Hosting. 

What is Cloud Hosting?

Cloud hosting (cloud server hosting) is hosting that uses the resources of several clustered servers. Basically, this means that your website uses the virtual resources of several servers to accommodate all the aspects of hosting your site. 

That’s why it can offer high levels of performance, security, and unlimited scalability. By running your website on a cloud host, you have the ability to scale up server resources at a moment’s notice in order to meet demand. 

To summarize, the main benefits of cloud hosting include a major focus on uptime, isolated resources, easy scaling, and a dedicated IP address. 

Cloud Hosting vs Shared Hosting

Cloud hosting and traditional web hosting aka shared hosting are significantly different from each other. Each of them has a number of advantages and depending on the needs, each will have the best option. 

We will review each difference based on their controls, resources, scalability, security, and cost. 

How is the Architecture of Cloud Hosting?

The architecture of cloud hosting differs from the setup used in regular web hosting:

• Most shared hosts use a centralized approach where one server holds multiple websites. But if that server goes down, so does every account in it. 
• On the other hand, the distributed approach of cloud hosting solves this problem. Since each website is “distributed” across multiple servers in a data center, you’ll get no downtime in case a server in the cluster experiences a problem. 

Large websites such as search engines and social networks use the distributed approach, as no single server could handle such a load. 

Big projects like these either build their own cloud hosting architecture or hire resources from a cloud hosting provider. 

What Kind of Websites Need Cloud Hosting?

Cloud hosting is an extremely flexible hosting solution. It supports companies like Netflix, which are in need of high performance, big bandwidth, and 100% uptime website. Compared to shared hosting, it offers more scalability and flexibility at a higher price. It’s appealing for you who want to easily scale your website in case you need more power. 

So what kind of websites need cloud hosting? Who should use cloud hosting? Is it right for you? 

If your site is currently running on a shared hosting plan and you never exceed the limits of your service or run into any issues with website performance, then you can probably stay put. Just stick with your current hosting. 

However, if you have a website that receives a high volume of traffic and wants a host that’s flexible and transparent with its pricing, all while being very secure and high performing, then cloud hosting is right for you. 

In most cases, the types of websites that need cloud hosting are those that have busy traffic or are expecting surges or huge numbers of clicks on their posts. We can say that cloud hosting is suitable for growing websites like:

• e-commerce stores
• lead generation sites
• corporate websites
• high-traffic projects
• news agencies
• publishing firms 

Why Should I Use Cloud Hosting?

There are many reasons why you should use Cloud Hosting judging from its perspective in security, scalability, flexibility, data backups, cost, convenience, and collaboration. 

Protect Your Data at All Cost

Storing a company’s data in the cloud can protect it against accidental loss and malicious activity as well as from events such as fire, floods, and earthquakes. 

Moreover, it allows you to add protection with your own systems for preventing cybercrime and other security threats. Besides, overall data protection of cloud hosting is handled by experienced engineers. They install interconnected security tools, can scale resources as needed, and may offer additional layers of security at login, such as 2-factor authentication. 

Easily Add Resources Whenever You Need

One of the biggest advantages of cloud hosting is its scalability and flexibility.

Cloud service options range from basic public cloud packages to fully managed custom cloud solutions designed to meet specific needs, and these can be scaled to meet your changing priorities and ongoing growth. 

As your business grows, you can scale your cloud service plans to include more resources like storage, RAM, applications, and services on your site immediately. 

Therefore, you can upgrade or downgrade as needed and pay only for the services you need at any time. 

Backup & Access Your Data Anytime Anywhere

Since cloud hosting stores your data in the cloud, you can rest assured knowing backups are ready and allow you to access your data easily.

Data backups are automated and usually take place daily. So, it won’t be the end of the if you forget to create a copy of your data at the end of a long working day.  

Pay for The Resources You Need

Along with cloud hosting features of flexible scalability, you only pay for what you need in resources. This also means money-saving! 

Enhance Collaboration 

When your data and applications are stored in the clouds, it erases time and location constraints, so that data and services are available anytime and anywhere. 

Any user with permissions and a connected device can access your data in the cloud, making it possible to collaborate across time zones and borders, provide round-the-clock customer service and respond quickly to any situation. 

With uninterrupted hours of operation and constant access to relevant data/software, documents can be shared and edited in real-time, and projects can be completed from remote locations all over the world.  

Is Cloud Hosting Right For You?

Cloud hosting isn’t suitable for everyone. To put it simply, cloud hosting is right for big websites with high traffic and not for small websites that do not receive over 100,000 visitors per month. 

For example, if your site is currently running on a shared hosting plan and you never exceed the limits of your service or run into any issues with website performance, then you don’t need to upgrade to cloud hosting. 

However, if you do receive a high volume of traffic and want a host that’s flexible and transparent with its pricing, all while being very secure and high performing, then cloud hosting could be a great match. 

Which Providers offer Cloud Hosting?

Most hosting providers are offering cloud hosting plans. We have reviewed some of them, you can read them here.

• HostGator – Best for Linux-based Cloud Hosting
  
  
• Hostwinds – Best for Large RAM Capacities
  
  
• DreamHost – Best for Windows-based Cloud Hosting
  
  
• Liquid Web – Best for Managed Cloud Hosting
  
  
• Hostinger – Best for Cloud Extras
  
  

Conclusion

Cloud hosting uses the resources of several clustered cloud servers that give many advantages over traditional shared hosting. You can easily upgrade or downgrade resources for your websites. Also, it’s followed by flexible costs as you only pay for the resources that you added to your site. Therefore, we recommend you whose websites receive a high volume of traffic and want a high performing website to use cloud hosting 

References

• What Is Cloud Web Hosting and Will It Work For me – Web Hosting Hub
• When Should You Use Cloud Hosting – HostGator
• Web Hosting vs Cloud Hosting: What Is The Difference? – Cloud Academy
• 5 Reasons to Use A Cloud Server – Summit Hosting
• The Best Cloud Web Hosting Services – PC Mag