What You Need to Know About Shared Hosting Plans and Website Downtime

When looking at hosting options for your website, you can go with shared hosting or you can go with dedicated hosting. The difference is that when you opt for a shared hosting plan, you share the server that your site is hosted on with other websites. When you go with a dedicated hosting plan, your site is the only site hosted on the server. While shared hosting is a cost-effective option for start-ups and small business websites, there are some things you need to be aware of when it comes to shared hosting plans and website downtime.

1. Other Websites Can Affect Your Site's Performance

When you opt for a shared hosting plan, it is important to remember that the other sites that are hosted on the server can affect the performance of your own site. Because the sever is shared, the servers hosting resources are also shared. This means that your use of the shared hosting resources can have an impact on the other sites that are hosted on that server, and the resource usage of those sites can affect your site as well. If you are using a shared hosting plan, you will need to keep an eye out for changes in the performance of your site. A quality website monitoring service can alert you if there are changes to your site's performance due to a lack of available resources on your server.

2. Planned Uptime Isn't Included in Uptime Numbers

When you shop for a hosting plan, chances are that you look at the uptime numbers that are promised by the hosting provides. When it comes to advertised uptime numbers, you need to understand that planned downtime, such as maintenance, is not included in these numbers. When a hosting company calculates their uptime percentage, they don't include downtime caused by planned outages. This means that the 99.8 or 99.9 percent uptime you are promised is actually 99.8 or 99.9 percent minus any planned downtime.

3. A Small Percentage Can Make a Big Difference

When shopping for a hosting plan for your website, you may think there isn't much of a difference between a service offering 99.8 percent and a service offering 99.8 percent uptime. The truth is that the difference is quite significant. While the numbers may look very close, the downtime associated with a 99.8 percent uptime rate is double that of a 99.9 percent uptime rate. For example, an uptime rate of 99.9 percent means almost 9 hours of downtime per year, while an uptime rate of 99.9 percent means more than 17 hours of downtime per year. This is why it is crucial that you have a quality website monitor in place. Your website monitor can inform you of exactly how much downtime your site is experiencing in actual hours so you can make a hosting change if necessary.

The Wrong Hosting Provider Can Equate to Unnecessary Downtime

Whether you are looking for a new website host or are simply wondering whether or not the host you are currently using is really providing your site with the uptime and availability you need, a quality website monitoring service is key. While hosting services may promise a certain level of uptime, it can be impossible to tell whether or not you are actually getting the level of service you are paying for without quality monitoring of your site. This is especially true of shared hosting plans, where the other sites that are hosted on the server can indeed affect the performance and the uptime of your own site.