The pros and cons of cloud hosting

In Star Wars, the dashing Lando Calrissian lives in Cloud City. In real life, websites depend on cloud hosting to store data and maintain virtual connections. Ever heard of pictures being saved in the cloud? That’s when you can access pictures you take from your phone, computer, or even your TV!

Like everything in life, though, there’s ups & downs. There’s times when cloud storage comes in handy right when you need it. It can be a real lifesaver. Like when using your phone to access documents saved on your computer. But there’s also times when it just makes everything more difficult.

Either way, it can be the difference between efficient & inefficient commerce. Luckily, you can compare cheap cloud hosting providers to see which services work best for your thriving business. First, let’s get into everything there is to love (& hate) about cloud hosting.

What is it?

Websites are a complex product of connecting people with products & information. The more data stored, the more they can store for people to peruse at their leisure. While individuals have the pleasure of easy access to stuff they’ve saved, businesses can really benefit.

Cloud hosting uses cloud resources to make websites & applications readily accessible. Instead of being limited to a single server – like traditional hosting – a virtual connection is established. This makes the website or application bigger with more wiggle room.

In layman’s terms, the sky’s the limit. Using the cloud ensures more space, which means you can store as much information as you possibly need. Plus, most MySQL & NoSQL databases are supported and users only pay for the materials or resources that they need.

Different types of cloud hosting include:

• Shared hosting
• VPS
• Dedicated

Pros

On the one hand, cloud hosting promises a stress free experience. You have access to customer support that’ll make sure your website is up & running at all times. This makes it easier to retrieve lost data when things go wrong. It’s the back-up plan that everyone needs.

Big companies regularly need help maintaining their servers. However, so do smaller companies, like start-ups. This gives them the option to upsize or reduce based on varying factors like income, audience engagement, and traffic, as well as changes in ownership.

More importantly, cloud hosting is cost-effective. There’s no need to worry about in-store purchases when the hosting vendor takes care of all of it for you. It leaves less room for stressing about bandwidth and more space for collaboration among users of all backgrounds.

Cons

Unfortunately, though, all that glitters is not gold. Just because something has advantages doesn’t make it lacking in disadvantages. The biggest downside in this situation comes down to internet access. That’s when things can take a turn for the worse.

Cloud hosting relies on a working connection to the world wide web. While losing access to the cloud won’t damage data, it can still be super inconvenient. It can be as small as not being able to pull up pictures on your phone. It can also be as big as a complete app shutdown.

Other disadvantages include data loss or leakage, theft, unstable interfaces, or being vulnerable to cyber attacks. Even the best cloud access still has to deal with these issues and then some. Luckily, a wide variety of providers mean being able to pick & choose the best one for you.

Quality providers

Cloud hosting can still be a great tool for everything from running a website or just sharing information. There’s so many types, who knows what you can get out of using the many sources. Decide if relying on the cloud is for you by perusing the following 9 services:

Kamatera

Solid 99.95% uptime guarantee. Ultimate scalability guaranteeing. Easily add firewalls and load balancers. Create & deploy cloud VPS server in less than 60 seconds. Provides a 30-day free trial offer.

Vultr

Hourly & monthly billing for cloud hosting. Highly customizable server configurations. Unlimited OS configurations. Feature-rick cPanel. 23 locations worldwide with low latency.

Interserver

Several OS options & free cPanel. Choose either Windows or Linux cloud hosting. Redundant cloud storage and plenty of RAM. 16TB of data transfer.

DigitalOcean

Excellent speeds & uptime. Advanced developer cloud hosting tools. Specialized droplets allowing for scalability. Four times more RAM and bandwidth than most providers.

GearHost

Instant application scaling. Strong database support. Clean & easy to use cPanel. 99.99% uptime guarantee. Git publishing.

Hostwinds

Enterprise firewall plus block & object storage. Choose your application or OS configuration. SSDs, HDDs, and managed services are available. Optional cloud hosting upgrades for backups, cPanels, and more.

DreamHost

Free bandwidth. Powered by SSD drives allowing for maximum speed & reliability. You can start your server in 30 seconds or less. Good reputation among web hosts.

Cloudways

Host unlimited cloud hosting apps with no contract lock-in. Easy management & 1-click server cloning. Free backups and auto-healing cloud servers. Automated security monitoring.

HostGator

Upgrades available for domain privacy, productivity, backups, and security. Unlimited MySQL databases & domains. Tons of storage. Low density servers.