Shared Hosting is a service where multiple web sites are hosted on same web server. There can be around 250 to 2000 users sharing one web server at a time with a Shared Hosting Plan. It is economical as most of the cost of running and managing the web server is distributed among the pool of users. Hence, it reduces the web hosting cost for everyone in the pool.

You may be thinking that 2000 websites on one web server is a lot, but it works out really well as most of the websites on a shared server do not generate huge amount of traffic; thus they do not use enough resources provided by the web host. Most of the respected web host companies have firewalls and other security features in place so that the web server is always up and nobody misuses the available resources.

A Shared Hosting Plan is suitable for starters. If you are just starting a blog, personal website or a business website, you can use Shared Hosting. Once you start receiving huge amount of web traffic, it is always a good idea to upgrade and get a virtual private server. Shared Hosting Providers offer disk space, bandwidth, email accounts and databases to a great extent than actually required by most of the starters. So, Shared Hosting really works out good for everyone.

Shared Hosting Advantages:

• Economical: Shared Hosting is economical as the web server is shared by a pool of users; so the cost of maintaining the web server is divided among this pool; making shared hosting a heaven for starters.
• No Technical Knowledge Required: Shared Hosting Companies offer easy to use graphical interface administration panel to upload your website, create databases using wizard, create email accounts, etc. without making any change to the Linux Operating System. You do not need to have Linux Administration Skills to manage the web server. Everything including installation of security firewalls and other features to keep your server safe is done by the Shared Hosting Company.

Shared Hosting Disadvantages:

• Limited Resources: In a Shared Web Hosting, you are allotted limited resources like CPU, RAM, Hard Disk, etc. Although the allotted resources are sufficient if you are just starting out with a blog or a website; it is possible that some other website on the same server as yours sees huge increase in the website traffic and uses all the available resources. If such thing happens, your website may run slow. A solution is available to this problem; you can go with a reputable web host like Bluehost who do not oversell their shared hosting, thus limited number of websites is hosted on a single server, making it win-win solution for all.
• Limited Customization: In a Shared Web Hosting, you cannot install custom modules, scripts or programs as required by your website or applications. The Shared Web Servers are managed by the Web Hosting Company Administrators and are optimized to perform as per the requirement of average users.

Some Shared Hosting Facts:

A Shared Web Hosting works just like an apartment, you need to share your resources with others to make it cost effective for everyone. A Shared Web Server is shared amongst a pool of 250 to 2000 users at a time.

• Small and equal portions of resources are divided among all users on the web server.
• Shared Web Hosting can support high volume of traffic but only for short period of time.
• The possibility of expansion is limited with a Shared Web Hosting Plan.
• Note: Bluehost offers ability to migrate / upgrade your Shared Web Hosting Plan to upper level without any downtime or configuration change.
• A Shared Web Server is optimized to run in a Shared environment.
• With a Shared Web Hosting Plan, you need to rely on the same server wide operating system.
• In Shared Web Hosting, all the users share single IP address. Note: Bluehost offers the option to upgrade to a unique IP address with their Shared Hosting Plans.
• You get a web based control panel that makes it easy to build websites, manage overall account, and access all the tools and resources.
• Shared Hosting can cost between $5 to $25 depending on different web hosting companies. Get Started With Bluehost Shared Hosting Plan For Less Than $5.