What is shared (virtual) web hosting?
Shared (or virtual) web hosting is the most fitting way of hosting for 99% of web sites. It means that a web hosting company will have one or more servers (computers constantly connected to the Internet that run a web server software such as Apache or IIS) that will be running multiple web sites (it will be shared). Unless a web site is exceptionally busy or requires a lot of bandwidth, this is the least expensive way to go to get a real web site. You can still have your own IP address with virtual hosting and the site won’t look any different to users. Other options are dedicated, co-location, or doing it yourself web hosting. In those options you have the whole computer to yourself and you can do things like install your own software.
Shared or virtual web hosting is the most common way to host websites. It means that a web hosting company will have one or more servers serving multiple websites. This allows the web hosting company to use resources more efficiently and provide cheaper rates. The downside of this is that if one website is constantly using a large amount of resources, the other websites on the server will not receive the same amount. Alternatives to shared web hosting are: dedicated, co-location and serving the WebPages off of your own computer.
Shared (or virtual) web hosting is the most fitting way of hosting for 99% of web sites. It means that a web hosting company will have one or more servers (computers constantly connected to the Internet that run a web server software such as Apache or IIS) that will be running multiple web sites (it will be shared). Unless a web site is exceptionally busy or requires a lot of bandwidth, this is the least expensive way to get a real web site. Shared hosting typically uses a web-based control panel system, such as cPanel, DirectAdmin, Plesk, InterWork, H-Sphere or one of many other control panel products. Most of the large hosting companies use their own custom developed control panel. Control panels and web interfaces can cause controversy however, since web hosting companies sometimes sell the right to use their control panel system to others. Attempting to recreate the functionality of a specific control panel is common, which leads to many lawsuits over patent infringement. In shared
