Virtual Web Hosting - What Is Virtual Web Hosting?

If your web site has outgrown its shared hosting solution, it may be time to move it to virtual hosting, which is often seen as a low cost alternative to getting your own dedicated server. A virtual server gives you most of the advantages of a dedicated server at a fraction of the price. The web hosting service takes advantage of the fact that few small to mid-size web sites need the full resources of a machine and puts several web sites on the same server.

But, you're thinking, that sounds like the shared hosting plan I'm using now. What's the difference, and why do I pay more for a virtual server?

While there are some similarities, there are also marked differences between shared web hosting and virtual server hosting. While a web hosting company puts multiple accounts on the same server in both kinds of hosting, the resources of the machine are portioned out differently.

On a shared hosting server, generally the cheapest kind of web hosting available, all the server resources go into a common pot. If one account gets 'greedy' and scoops out more than its share of CPU time, for example, every account on the server is affected.

When you're on a virtual hosting account, that can't happen. All the resources of the server are portioned out and assigned to each account in the amounts that they're allowed to use. Rather than every web site reaching into a common pool and grabbing what they need, each one is handed a 'bowl' of CPU, server space and traffic. When they use it all up, they can't just grab more.

In addition, each web site is set up with its own operating system and assigned an isolated segment of the disk that's separate from other web sites on the same disk. In some cases, each may even have their own hard drive on the server. If something crashes one web site on the host server, it doesn't affect any other web site.

Having your own operating system also means that you can make changes to it that you may not be allowed to make on a shared server. This allows you to customize the way your web site behaves almost as if you were on a single dedicated machine without worrying about affecting other customers on the same machine. To go back to our bowl of soup analogy, if your next door virtual neighbor decides to add extra salt to his bowl, your web site visitors aren't stuck with over-salted soup.

Prices for a virtual server range from about $35 a month to $99 a month and up. Your own dedicated server will run several hundred dollars a month, depending on the options that you choose for it. Overall, it's an excellent web hosting choice for a small-to-mid-size web site that needs more flexibility than shared server hosting allows without overstretching their budget.

To view our top recommended companies for web hosting, visit: Recommended Web Hosting Companies Online.

Carrie Reeder is the owner of eZerk, an informational website with articles and the latest news about various topics including web hosting.

Vital Areas For Goal Setting American Chronicle, CA - Nov 23, 2008 Goal setting has proven to work for people who take the time to do it correctly. For others it has been a waste of time, and in this article we want to talk ... Maximize Your Results With Personal Goal Setting American Chronicle all 2 news articles

Gary Ryan Blair - Goals: The Heartbeat of Success By: Chris Attwood Healthy Wealthy n Wise, WV - 14 hours ago With the philosophy 'Everything Counts', Gary Ryan Blair is one of the leading authorities on strategic planning and goal-setting initiatives in the world ...

Ten Goal Setting Areas of Life by Gary Ryan Blair American Chronicle, CA - Nov 25, 2008 One of the great strengths of The GoalsGuy Planning Model is that it offers you the flexibility to explore and set goals in ten critical areas of your life. ...

Goal Setting Tips That Work Well American Chronicle, CA - Nov 23, 2008 Here are four goal setting tips to help you set meaningful goals, and to follow through and actually achieve them. 1. You must understand the reason why you ...

Is Goal Setting Holding You Back? RisMedia.com (press release), CT - Nov 24, 2008 The truth is, the traditional goal-setting method is no longer effective, even though most teachers, books, trainers, coaches and schools are still teaching ...

New faces on Council discuss goal setting Ypsilanti Courier, MI - Nov 12, 2008 With Council's goal setting sessions beginning Saturday, many members - old and new - said Water Street is first on their agenda. ...

Today is goal-setting day at Whole Child summit Tallahassee.com, FL - Nov 17, 2008 By Jennifer Portman • DEMOCRAT SENIOR WRITER • November 18, 2008 Since its inception in 2004, Whole Child Leon has spent most of its time helping to build ...

Should We Set Goals Or Achieve Results? LDPBusiness, UK - 8 hours ago Effective goal setting is a powerful way to achieve results in your business life and your personal life. But don’t take my word for it. ...

Routt to hold goal-setting meeting Jacksonville Journal Courier, IL - Nov 18, 2008 31 date for a goal-setting conference at the school, when parents, teachers, volunteers and others interested in the school will meet at Routt and spend the ...

Strategies straight from the horse's mouth The Coloradoan, CO - Nov 30, 2008 For more tips on goal setting and attainment, register for the free "2009 Career Goal Setting that Works!" workshop from 1:30 to 3 pm Dec. ...