What is?
Shared Web Hosting Service
A shared web hosting service or virtual web hosting service refers to a web hosting service where many websites reside on one web server connected to the Internet. Each website "sits" on its own partition, or section/place on the server to keep it separate from other websites. This is generally the most economical option for web hosting as many people share the overall cost of server maintenance.
What To Look For
The web hosting service must include system administration since it is shared by many users; this is a benefit for users who do not want to deal with it, but a hindrance to power users who want more control. In general, shared web hosting would be inappropriate for users who require extensive software development outside what the web hosting provider supports. But on the other hand, shared web hosting is cheaper than other types of web hosting such as dedicated server web hosting.
Shared web hosting typically uses a web-based control panel system, such as cPanel, DirectAdmin, Plesk, InterWorx, Helm, H-sphere, Ensim, Sphera or one of many other control panel products. Most of the large web hosting companies use their own custom developed control panel. Control panels and web interfaces have been causing some controversy lately as Web.com claims that it holds patent rights to the web hosting technology with its 19 patents. Hostopia, a large wholesale host, recently purchased a license to use that technology from web.com for 10% of retail revenues. Web.com recently sued abtinfo.net as well for similar patent infringement.
In shared web hosting, the provider is generally responsible for managing servers, installing server software, security updates, technical support, and other aspects of the service. Most servers are based on the Linux operating system and LAMP (software bundle), which is driven by the low cost of open source software. But some providers offer Microsoft Windows-based or FreeBSD-based solutions. For example, the Plesk and Ensim control panels are both available for two operating systems, Linux and Windows. Versions for either operating systems have very similar interfaces and functionality, with the exception of operating systems specific differences (for example, ASP.NET or Microsoft SQL Server support under Windows, and typically greater security and stability under Linux).
There are thousands of shared web hosting providers in the United States alone. They range from mom-and-pop shops and small design firms to multi-million-dollar providers with hundreds of thousands of customers. A large portion of the shared web hosting market is driven through pay per click (PPC) advertising or Affiliate programs.
Shared web hosting can also be done privately by sharing the cost of running a server in a colocation center; this is called cooperative web hosting.
Colo enjoys the reputation of having one of the best online full service colocation server storage and data center operation networks and provides its clients a wide variety of secure web hosting and server services including daily backups no matter what web hosting plan feature you choose for your business or personal use. Call toll free at 1-866-316-2656 or email us through our request a call back form on this page (top right).
Implementation
Shared web hosting can be accomplished in two ways: name-based and IP-based, although some control panels allow a mix of name-based and IP-based on the one server.
Name-based Web Hosting
In name-based virtual web hosting, also called shared IP web hosting, the virtual hosts serve multiple host names on a single machine with a single IP address.
When a web browser requests a resource from a web server using HTTP/1.1 it includes the requested host name as part of the request. The server uses this information to determine which website to show the user.
IP-based Web Hosting
In IP-based virtual web hosting, also called dedicated IP web hosting, each virtual host has a different IP address. The web server is configured with multiple physical network interfaces, or virtual network interfaces on the same physical interface. The web server software uses the IP address the client connects to in order to determine which website to show the user. The primary reason for a website to use a dedicated IP is to be able to use its own SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate rather than a shared certificate.
Disadvantages
Name-based virtual hosts have some disadvantages:
- They will not work with browsers that do not send the host name as part of requests. This is true for older HTTP/1.0 browsers that have not retrofitted the host field feature from the HTTP/1.1 protocol. (The "Host" header that distinguishes between various Domain Name System (DNS) names sharing a single IP address was optional in HTTP/1.0; it is mandatory in HTTP/1.1, issued in 1999 as RFC 2616.)
- They do not properly support secure websites (HTTPS). All name-based virtual hosts using the same IP address must share the same digital certificate. This is because the SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and TLS (Transport Layer Security) handshake takes place before the host name is sent to the server. Thus the server doesn't know which encryption key to use when the connection is made. An extension to the TLS protocol, part of RFC 3546 - Transport Layer Security (TLS) Extensions, specifies a way for the client to provide the requested host name as part of the handshake, but it is not yet widely implemented. Some of the shared web hosting providers require their customers to get Unique IP in order to properly set up HTTPS.
- If the Domain Name System is malfunctioning, it is harder to use a name-based virtually-hosted website. Ordinarily, in this case, the user could fall back to using the IP address to contact the system, as in http://127.0.0.1/ (invalid IP for example only). However, the web browser doesn't know what host name to send to the server, but a name-based virtual host requires it. In this case, the default web host is sent back to the browser for that IP address.
Colo provides a secure full service network operation center with 24-7-365 on location remote hands to keep your business' mission critical services online.
You can read further about Colo’s Virtual Web Hosting Services Features here or call toll free at 1-866-316-2656 and we will help you select the services that best meets your needs. If short on time but have further questions, we’re ready to help. We’ll be happy to answer any questions that you might have. Please email us through our request a call back form on this page (top right).