If your website is on Shared Hosting and you have started experiencing slower website loading time, then it may be signaling that you have outgrown the benefits of a Shared Hosting plan. Although Shared Hosting is the go-to plan for new website owners due to its lucrative price, it has its own set of limitations. One of the major issues with hosting your website on a shared server is the interference of other websites on your performance. If a website on the server is experiencing a high volume of traffic inflow, it may have an adverse impact on all other websites on the same server. This is due to the fact that all the resources are being shared by multiple websites hosted on that server. To an extent, website owners find the resolution of this problem by migrating to VPS/Cloud Hosting.

Before we delve deep into the fact why VPS /Cloud Hosting is a good alternative for a high-traffic website, we need to first understand the underlying mechanism of a VPS/Cloud Server.

What is VPS Hosting?

VPS Hosting works on the principle of virtualization, where a single physical server is split into multiple virtual machines with the help of a virtualization software called the hypervisor. Each virtual server is allocated dedicated resources based on the requirements of the user. However, unlike a Shared Hosting plan, the performance of each virtual server is independent of other servers.  Also, as they do not share the same IP address, any security compromise of a website does not adversely affect other websites on the same server. This makes it an ideal up-gradation from Shared Hosting and is rightly called the natural successor to it.

As for the VPS architecture, VPS/Cloud Hosting offers easy scalability by giving its client the option to scale resources at any point of their subscription.

Advantages of VPS/Cloud Which Make it a Better Choice for High Traffic Websites

1. Increased Reliability: A Shared Hosting server may start to lag or experience downtime if the traffic inflow increases. VPS/Cloud Hosting has a better capability of handling a surge in traffic. VPS/Cloud Hosting gives the appearance of a Dedicated Server to the client as all the resources, allocated to the particular virtual server, are used by a single website. Thus, it puts a lesser strain on the server and as a result, provides improved reliability for your website as compared to Shared Hosting.
2. Software freedom: In Shared Hosting, your choice of software and operating system is limited to the preference of the hosting provider. But with VPS Hosting, you can install the operating system of your choice. Also, you could opt for a Managed VPS/Cloud Hosting plan if you do not want to get into the technicalities of managing a server. The hosting provider assigns experts who can take care of the configuration and the software needs, which can enable your website to handle high traffic inflow.
3. Take total control over the server: In addition to the software freedom with VPS Hosting, you get complete root access for your virtualized environment. This is crucial for people who are looking to tweak their server and install additional applications that are required to handle high traffic. Also, security applications are an important part of managing traffic management.
4. Availability of dedicated resources: Unlike Shared Hosting, where the resources of the physical server are shared between the websites hosted on that server, VPS Hosting allows a dedicated environment with a fixed amount of resources for a single website. Although the resources can be scaled up or down as per the requirements, the resource utilization of other websites does not impact your website in any way.
5. Better security: Cyber attackers and spammers usually target websites with high traffic inflow. The virtual environment and account isolation of VPS Hosting makes it less vulnerable to cybersecurity threats. Also, VPS Hosting offers full root access which gives you full control of your server, as well as, allows you to install security applications of your choice and customize the server to further fortify the security.
6. Seamless Scalability: If you are running an e-commerce website, you would have experienced a traffic spike during the sale period. And at the time, it would have come to your mind if only you had the option to scale your resources. VPS Hosting can solve this issue with ease. With VPS Hosting for your website, you can easily scale up your resources as the server is a virtual environment pooled from a physical server.
7. Affordability: VPS is rightly considered the mean between Shared and Dedicated Hosting. It offers dedicated resources, account isolation, full root access, and high customizability, which makes it a cost-effective option and a natural successor to Shared Hosting.
8. Customer support: While VPS Hosting plans come with full root access, managing it can be difficult for users with no prior technical knowledge. This is where round-the-clock, dedicated expert support comes into the picture. VPS Hosting providers understand that a majority of their users may not know the intricacies of server management and therefore, offer 24×7 customer support.

Conclusion

VPS/Cloud Server Hosting offers the much-needed customizability, flexibility, control, and scalability that high-traffic websites need. These features, along with, cost-effectiveness and security, make VPS/Cloud Hosting the viable choice for high-traffic websites. Assess the specific needs of your website and choose the perfect VPS/Cloud hosting plan that meets the dynamic needs of your website.