When you’re thinking about building a website for yourself, you’ll have a lot of different hosting options to choose from. However, not every type of web host will be the best fit for your needs. This is a good thing because it helps you narrow down some of your options.
Choosing the right web hosting plan for you should address everything about your needs. You need to take the time to figure out the best web hosting approach that will support your website goals.
When you choose a shared hosting environment, many of the hardware components will be the same that serve you and the other sites you share and share all the server resources with you, but if you are responsible for running a larger site, you will need to focus on the scalability of the server resources in the future.
Below we go over common server hardware resource specifications that you’ll need to look for when choosing a web host, including how much RAM and CPU you’ll need.
What is RAM? And how much do I need?
RAM is a form of memory that holds temporary data when your site is running multiple processes at the same time, such as when your site’s scripts are executing. The more processes running at once, the more RAM it will take to execute the processes.
If your website does not have enough RAM to handle the load of browsing and opening site components and plugins to be accessible to all users at the same time and for all the time, this will result in the error message “500 Internal Server Error” being displayed to your site visitors.
If you have a small website, you won’t have much of a problem with RAM. But if your site receives a lot of traffic and needs to keep up with all the requests, it’s best to upgrade your RAM or choose a hosting plan that gives you more memory.
Below are some site and server specifications that will help you determine whether you need more or less RAM:
- If your site receives a lot of traffic, you will need more RAM.
- Some server operating systems require more or less RAM.
- Dynamic sites require more RAM than static sites.
- CMS interfaces like WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla require more RAM.
- If your site uses cache, you can get lower RAM requirements.
What is a CPU? And how many do I need?
The server that hosts your website is made up of multiple CPUs, much like a home computer. The larger the CPU, the more information it can store and process before it harms
your site’s performance.
If you are using a shared hosting package with other sites, these CPU resources will be divided. These processors will process requests coming from visitors to the shared sites on the same server in the order in which they are received. However, the CPU will be able to process multiple requests at once, and very quickly.
However, if there is a significant increase in traffic or a large number of scripting requests, your site’s performance will suffer.
If you have a site that is experiencing a lot of traffic, we recommend choosing a hosting plan with a higher CPU such as a VPS or dedicated server plan.
What are the specifications of other hosting plans?
Aside from RAM and CPU, there are a few other things you’ll consider when choosing a host for your website.
Below we learn about the importance of hard disk space and scalability for traffic.
On shared hosting plans, most hosts will allocate a certain amount of hard disk space on the server for your site. Some hosting companies will provide unlimited disk space.
If you have a large website, you’ll want to make sure you have enough storage space for all of your site’s files. This is especially true if you plan to store all of your site’s media files on your server as well.
Finally, it’s important to consider how easy it is to upgrade your site in the future by adding new server resources to accommodate future expansions and anticipated traffic. Some hosting options, like Cloud Flare hosting, give your site unlimited freedom to grow. If you have a peak traffic day, the server load will be balanced across multiple servers, so your site won’t go down. However, if you’re on a limited shared hosting plan, your site may be down, so it doesn’t impact other sites on the server.
When choosing the right web host for you, you’ll need to determine the overall needs of your site. Both now and in the long term. You want to choose a host that meets your current technical requirements and can expand with you in the future as your site receives more traffic.
