Most applications and websites are hosted on one server in one location. But, with cloud hosting, businesses can spread out their web hosting across multiple machines and interconnected dedicated servers worldwide to better suit their needs.

Cloud hosting offers a wide range of benefits and allows organizations to access features that wouldn’t be possible with traditional web hosting methods.

In this article, we’ll go through all the basics of cloud hosting, what it is, and what benefits it offers to its users.

Cloud Hosting – What is It?

In the past, businesses that wanted to host their app or website had to do it on a single machine.

During the early days of any app or website, people would usually begin by hosting it on a shared server and slowly upgrade it to a single dedicated server once the website started to grow. But with cloud hosting, your business doesn’t have to follow this path.

When hosting single or multiple websites and apps through the cloud, applications and solutions are deployed by the network as opposed to a single on-premise machine.

Cloud hosting also allows multiple users to divide a single server across different machines for increased scalability and reliability.

Cloud hosting is a great option for most businesses as it offers a pay-as-you-go model where you only have to pay for the storage resources used within a specific timeframe.

In this day and age, cloud based applications are the norm, especially as many employees have started to work from home.

Integrating the cloud into your workplace is a great way to future-proof the IT operations within your organization.

And by using a cloud hosting system as opposed to a traditional single-server, you open up your business to a wide world of possibilities.

Types of Cloud Hosting

If you’re considering cloud-hosting for your business, website, or application, then it’s important to know that there are different types of cloud hosting services available.

Each one offers its own unique set of advantages, and it’s very important to choose the one that fits your business needs best.

Public Cloud Hosting

A public cloud is delivered through the internet and is shared across many organizations. Public cloud computing is the most popular choice for most websites as this hosting solution offers high availability and lower costs compared to other types of cloud hosting.

Since the public cloud is the most popular and common model of cloud computing, there are a wide variety of resources and solutions that are designed to handle many business-specific needs.

The primary characteristics of public cloud systems are high elasticity and low cost.

With public cloud web hosts, you only pay for the services you use as opposed to paying for the entire server even if you’re not using it to its maximum capacity.

However, it’s worth mentioning that public cloud systems offer less security than the other models available.

On top of that, you don’t have as much control over the system, which is a major drawback for organizations that desire a control panel with complete control over their entire web hosting operations.

Private Cloud Servers

Unlike traditional shared hosting, a private cloud is only used by a single organization.

The system is specifically designed for a specific business, which means that the company will not share disk space and data storage, processing power, and other computing resources with anybody else.

The major benefit of dedicated single-server private cloud systems is exclusivity and greater security.

Since the system is organization-specific, none of the sensitive data or resources are shared with anyone else, making it a more secure option.

These private systems are fully customizable to your organization’s specific needs. When you opt for a private cloud server, the entire web hosting process is more transparent, which allows you to view every single parameter and conduct comprehensive data analysis.

With a private system, the cloud is either hosted on an on-site dedicated server or by a third-party cloud hosting provider.

The major drawback of a private cloud server is the price, which is significantly more expensive than a public cloud-hosted environment.

Hybrid Cloud

As the name suggests, a hybrid cloud system combines both private and public cloud features. This is the most versatile model for cloud computing, wherein the resources are arranged as an integrated cloud infrastructure environment.

An example of a hybrid cloud hosting system is an organization using private cloud systems for their IT critical workloads while using public cloud systems to complement the system whenever there’s a spike in network traffic.

Another way to integrate a hybrid system into an organization is to simply use a private cloud for all the sensitive data and a public cloud for everything else.

Hybrid systems offer the most versatility compared to other cloud hosting systems. However, since this requires the use of two different systems, it can be quite complicated.

One major drawback is that it can be hard to accurately calculate the price of using a hybrid cloud system, which may not be ideal for organizations that are trying to keep their running costs to a minimum.

On top of that, you have to make sure that the two systems are strongly compatible in order to prevent any further complications.

What are the Benefits of Cloud Hosting?

For many starting businesses, especially start-ups, cloud hosting is the most suitable hosting solution. And while the traditional hosting model works well, it can be fairly restricting.

Cloud hosting offers much more versatility, simplicity, security, and other features that make it a more lucrative choice.

Here are some key benefits of using cloud hosting for your website or application;

Scalability

One of the main benefits of cloud hosting is how easy scalability can be achieved.

When using traditional hosting methods, resizing the server or reallocating resources is incredibly complicated and, in some cases, impossible.

With a cloud hosting system, you can do all of these things on demand and pretty much right away without any delay.

If you need to reallocate resources, increase data storage, or upgrade your hosting architecture, you can do all that very quickly when using the right cloud hosting service provider.

Fees can be calculated on an hourly rate or weekly, or even monthly basis. This gives you much more freedom and flexibility with the server; you can delete the server anytime and change it up as needed, all in a matter of seconds.

Reliability

Since a cloud hosting server is spread out over a wide network of virtual machines, it is far more reliable.

In the event that one virtual server fails within the cloud system, the other servers and virtual machines in the network can make up for it.

That way, your website isn’t completely reliant on one single machine. With traditional systems, if the server fails, your website goes down with it too.

Besides, with more machines and computers running the server, the workload is spread across a wider area. That way, if you experience high spikes in traffic, you don’t have to worry about the server crashing.

Versatile

Another big advantage to using a cloud hosting system is versatility.

As we mentioned earlier, if you use a traditional server such as a VPS device, you don’t get much versatility.

Thus, if you need to make changes on demand, you need to take out a lot of time to do it. With cloud hosting systems, you can do the very same job in a matter of seconds.

With an IBM cloud-based system, for example, it will be much easier to make changes to your server, which can save you money and time in the long run.

If you aren’t particularly tech-savvy, don’t worry. The cost of IT support for small businesses in the UK is fairly affordable, which is why so many organizations have begun taking advantage of such solutions.

Security

Cloud servers offer much more security than standard servers. Since the computing power is spread over different machines, your server is more secure and safe against breaches and hacking.

This is especially true if you use a private cloud, which is more expensive but can be tailored to the specific needs of your app, website, or business.

Spreading the processing power and responsibility across multiple servers and systems also protects you from physical malfunctions.

As we mentioned earlier, if one server malfunctions, there are other virtual servers in the network that can keep your website afloat.

Most cloud-based systems come with a load balancing feature.

This feature spreads out the load of the server evenly across the network, which can prevent DDoS attacks and keep your website running in the event of high spikes in traffic.

Hyperscale Cloud Hosting – Unlocking the Full Potential of Cloud Hosting

We’ve talked about the key types of cloud hosting, but we left one of the newest and most innovative models out.

This model is called hyperscale cloud hosting, which has the potential to make the hosting of a website, app, or virtually any digital tool or software a much easier and smoother process.

With this model for cloud systems, it’s easier to scale resources as needed.

A great example of hyperscale cloud hosting helping businesses is when your website traffic increases.

As the number of visitors rises, you can scale particular aspects of your site as needed with zero disruption.

With hyperscaling, you do not need to purchase a dedicated hosting cloud infrastructure as you need more resources, which means that you’ll save quite a decent amount of monetary resources.

All the resources you need to host a website are available on the internet, and hyper scaling gives you complete access to that.

For relatively large companies with a steady growth rate, hyperscale cloud hosting is a great option.

However, keep in mind that this isn’t a private cloud system. So, you don’t get as much security, which is why this isn’t recommended for those that need more control over their hosting system.

Should Your Organization Use Cloud Hosting?

Cloud hosting is a great choice for many businesses, however, there are some instances where traditional shared hosting methods are the more suitable model.

When deciding whether or not to use a cloud hosting system, here are some things to take into account;

Company Size

If you have a large organization, hyperscale cloud hosting is your best bet.

With this type of hosting, you get access to additional resources such as extra disk space, a data center, cloud backup, and various other features. Besides, you also have much more flexibility to make changes as needed.

For smaller companies, cloud hosting systems could still be the optimal choice. That way, you don’t need to have dedicated hardware in the office to host your own server.

And with the flexibility and versatility of cloud-based systems, it’s much easier to host websites, apps, and other digital resources when building your online presence.

Needs

Another consideration is your company’s needs. If you need to save on time and running costs, then cloud-based systems are a great option for you.

Moreover, if having your own firewall, data center, and unlimited access to your virtual servers is important for your day-to-day operations, then cloud-based hosting systems are again, a suitable choice.

Control

Unless you use a private cloud network, then you won’t get as much control over your hosting architecture and cloud technology.

Before deciding on using a cloud-based hosting system, try and consider how much control you need over the same server you’re going to be using.

From there, it will be easier to decide if cloud-based hosting is the right pick for you as well as the type of cloud system you need for your organization.

Conclusion

And with that, our quick guide to cloud hosting comes to an end. When setting up an app or website for your business needs, it’s very important to consider how to host it.

In the past, you needed a dedicated machine to host the server of your app or website, which was often quite costly and difficult to maintain.

GRIT Consultancy can provide great cloud hosting services. We will keep your data protected and your business productive with our managed cloud hosting solutions. Flexible and affordable – all tailored to your specific business requirements.

If you need to enquire about cloud hosting with us, please contact GRIT Consultancy to know more.