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As well as sharing
server resources, all websites also share same IP. This can be important in some cases as some websites can get banned by search engines for improper behaviour such as SPAM or illegal activities. When a website is banned, search engine will block IP address which means all other sites on web server may also be affected. It is therefore important to ensure that web hosting company careful monitors activities of websites they host or state what kind of sites are appropriate for that server.
Virtual Private Server HostingVirtual Private Servers (VPS) share some of same characteristics as shared hosting but it provides you with a bit more control over your own destiny. Like shared hosting, a web server is divided up and server's resources are split between clients. What makes this different is that each partition is given its own IP address and generally, there are a very limited amount of users on each server, ensuring that you get a good share of server's resources.
Dedicated HostingDedicated Hosting means that entire web server is 'dedicated' to one website, or one client. A client can host a number of their own websites if they choose to do so. The benefits of this are that you control server, and can be assured that no one else is doing anything on their website that will affect your site. It also means that all systems resources are geared to your site which will boost speed and reliability of your site. On downside, having your own dedicated server incurs a much bigger investment and you are responsible for ensuring that server is always running.
This can be a great option if you run a large site that will cover these costs and you have technical expertise to manage server.
Summary
I hope that after reading this you'll have a better idea about what kind of web hosting plan best suits your particular needs. Remember to look around. There are lots of very good companies out there but there are also a lot of bad one's. It pays to do some research about company you choose before purchasing your web hosting plan.
Steve Ashton is a programmer and web developer. He runs two popular websites, Web Hosting Guide and Domain Names Center.
