Mun Yin Liu| Business2community
In today’s world, your website should work. Plain and simple, it should be accessible at all hours of the day, and should load quicker than the time you need to even think about it. This combination of reliability, speed and durability can be easily achieved with a little bit of help from good quality cloud hosting. Cloud computing isn’t exactly new, and it is estimated that around 80% of all businesses are using some form of it, although not everyone knows that they are. However, what is unclear is how many websites are still stuck on using traditional web hosting.
Whilst many businesses may well be taking advantage of cloud storage, the hosting part of their website may not be so advanced.
Short Explanation on Cloud Hosting
The key to understanding cloud web hosting is the fact that clustered servers are making use of virtual resources from other interconnected servers. In contrast to more traditional web hosting where data is rendered from one dedicated physical server located in your office, your website’s resources will be spread over a number of servers instead.
As a result of the way it works, one of the biggest advantages is the scalability of the technology. This means that the right amount of bandwidth is always allocated to your site, never too much or too little. Should there be a need for more resource, it is provided and then dispersed when finished with. For the end users, there is no breakup in the service, so if more users come to your site, more resource gets allocated and they all enjoy the same seamless experience.
The end result is that website owners only pay for whatever they use. This is ideal for small businesses that have tighter budgets and may only see huge traffic during isolated peak periods. They would be able to accommodate the extra traffic as and when needed, whilst returning back to their usual bandwidth for the rest of the time.
Why is it Essential?
Other than efficient billing, there are a number of other benefits to cloud hosting. Although traditional shared hosting can be incredibly low cost in comparison to private cloud hosting, it’s also infinitely more restrictive to growth. Any website that is serious about growing quickly will need to seriously consider alternatives. Cloud hosting can do that.
As explained in the scenario above, you’ll only end up paying for what you use. This method of “pay-as-you-grow” allows for a website to gain additional users – and conversions – before spending money on the hosting. Essentially, you only spending money that you can afford to, provided that your additional conversions can cover that cost, of course.
Smaller websites can also rest assured that all the technology will be handled by professionals elsewhere. There’s usually no need for any further outlay when it comes to support and fixing problems. In addition to this, updates will usually happen automatically, without you knowing.
What to do next?
So now that you’re keen on the idea of using cloud hosting to grow your website, it is vital that you choose your vendor carefully. There are loads of options to choose from, and a quick search around for some of the best vendors will lead you to many brands.
As you can see, there are plenty of options. For anybody with a mind of growing, I would plump for Rackspace cloud hosting. If you’re finding that your site has reached a plateau and you’re looking to go to the next level, this is perfect. You’ll need some technical expertise to move your domain over, but once it’s done, you’ll get access to their renowned customer support, and true “pay-as-you-go” usage. Depending on the state of your website, you could have world-class hosting at a very low cost.
Of course, this isn’t the only solution. Many other hosting companies will be able to perform the same basic job, but you might find that they will be somewhat more lacking on the support side. If you have little or no IT resource, you’ll probably find Rackspace’s support one of the biggest draws.
I would encourage anybody who is looking to improve their website to seriously consider moving away from any traditional or shared hosting that they may be using. Cloud hosting will, in the long run, prove to be more flexible and cost efficient for you, meaning that you can focus on growing your audience rather than worrying about whether or not you website can handle the extra traffic.
