Cloud hosting has several advantages over traditional web hosting and is the buzzword that’s increasingly gaining prominence. Below, we discuss why we love cloud hosting, and you should, too.
What is Cloud Hosting?
The cloud is a network of servers housed in warehouses across several geographic locations. It refers to many servers (connected through the Internet) that are available for use as part of a service.
Cloud hosting allows you to host your website across several such types of servers joined in a cluster (i.e. the cloud). In cloud hosting, the resources required to maintain your website are spread across more than just one server. Because it operates through the cloud, cloud hosting provides many benefits over traditional hosting that you’ll find hard to ignore – whether you’re offering professional services, or an SME (or a Fortune 500 company).
Why Use Cloud Hosting?
People all over the world are moving to cloud hosting because it allows them to:
– counter the limitations of traditional hosting
– meet the growing needs of their customers more efficiently and cost-effectively
We love cloud hosting for the benefits it provides – and so will you after you’ve read through them (below).
1. Increased Server Uptime
The performance of your website depends on server uptime. If your website goes down for even a few minutes, it could cost you dearly in terms of sales and reputation. Cloud hosting provides the maximum network with no single point of failure. If any server fails, the workload is automatically shifted to another server by default.
However, in traditional web hosting, a single faulty server can increase the risk of failure and downtime for your website – and cost you dearly in terms of lost business and data loss.
2. Easy Scalability
Cloud hosting allows you to instantly ramp up your resources (CPU, Storage, RAM, etc.) in real time whenever you need them, and cut back when the demand slackens. So if your website needs extra resources due to a spike in seasonal traffic or the implementation of a new functionality, cloud hosting lets you do it seamlessly with just one click.
However, in traditional hosting, you’re generally limited to the physical constraints of one server. This means you cannot scale up your resources immediately when the need arises and cut back when there’s no need. This can be both inconvenient and costly – because it entails having to pay for additional resources in advance even though you may not utilize them.
3. Cost-Effectiveness
Unlike as in traditional hosting, with cloud hosting you don’t have to worry about investing in (or maintaining) expensive hardware or software, or pay for professional support or for license renewals every year. Simply pay on a monthly, quarterly or annual subscription basis.
Moreover, in cloud hosting, you only pay for the resources you actually use – and not for the (additional) resources you don’t. However, in traditional hosting, you will typically need to pay a fixed amount for the resources and you can upgrade your website as your business grows.
4. Faster Speed
A cloud hosting platform distributes the workload among several servers, and therefore significantly enhances computing power compared to traditional web hosting. This allows your website to load lightning fast.
As shown in the box below, cloud hosting can improve your rankings (and therefore traffic) and also:
– improve your conversion rates
– reduce website abandonment
– enhance user experience on your website
Why you should care about page speed
According to surveys[1]:
– A 1-second delay in page load time can cause a 7% reduction in conversion rates
– 40% of online visitors will abandon sites that don’t load within 3 seconds
– 79% of online shoppers who have trouble with website performance won’t return to buy again
Moreover, Google now considers page speed as a ranking factor. This means that (all things being equal) if your website loads faster than your competitor’s website, it will rank higher. Therefore, having a faster website can improve your rankings (and your traffic).
HostGator India’s servers are located in India – as close to your website (and users) as possible. This means:
– You get up to 2X faster speed
– Your customers will not abandon your website (due to slow load times)
– Your online revenues will most likely increase
5. Improved Security
From a physical perspective
A cloud-hosted website is generally safer than a traditionally hosted website. Good cloud hosting companies provide more robust security methods than a typical SME can devise, thereby giving your cloud-hosted website added levels of protection. For example, good cloud hosting providers house their physical servers in extremely safe data centers with professionally managed intrusion detection mechanisms to prevent unwanted people from accessing or disrupting them on-site.
From a software perspective
In cloud hosting, there is no single point of failure. If software problems arise, they remain isolated within the hosting environment. This means your website will stay safe from compromised cloud servers. And even if other users overload their cloud servers, your website will not be affected because your resources will always remain for your exclusive use. But the same can’t be said for a traditionally hosted website.
6. Latest Technology
Cloud hosting (from a reputed hosting provider such as HostGator India) offers you the latest in technology and computing power. This means:
– Your systems are up-to-date with the latest upgrades and fixes
– You use the latest, proven technology
– Your systems stay current with the fast-changing technology landscape
With traditional hosting (or your own private server), this may not always be the case.
7. Storage Space & Performance
Unlike traditional web hosting, cloud hosting allows you to upgrade anytime from anywhere. This means never having to worry about running out of server space.
Cloud-hosted websites generally perform better than those hosted on a traditional server – in terms of speed, resource allocation, data recovery, and performance.
HostGator India allows you to upgrade easily with just one click — without any data migrations, downtime or reboots.
8. Disaster Recovery & Redundancy
Cloud hosting automatically distributes mirror copies of your data across multiple devices. In the event of a failure or disaster, it will automatically point to the mirrored copy – which means that:
– your website will not suddenly disappear from the Internet
– you can immediately restore your entire server to how it was without having to manually configure everything from your backup files
At HostGator India, you can restore your entire website to how it was (prior to the failure or disaster) with just one click via CodeGuard.
Although traditional servers also allow you to back-up and mirror your data, you will typically have to spend a lot of time to get everything back online in case of major hardware failure.
9. Great for Startups
Most startups don’t have the resources to invest in expensive hardware and the latest infrastructure. Cloud hosting lets you hit the ground running without having to buy any expensive equipment. Instead, you can now focus on investing in the mission-critical resources you need to grow your business.
Cloud hosting is awesome because it’s so simple and effective. Imagine experiencing all the benefits you’ve just read above.
