When it comes to Web hosting, users today have a fair number of choices. While the tech savvy users know exactly what they want, someone who is new to the computing world, or someone who does not have enough hosting knowledge, can often get confused in deciding which option to choose. Since shared hosting and virtual server hosting are fairly commonplace, this write compares the two and intends to make your decision making easier.

Shared hosting, as the name implies, involves multiple web sites being hosted on one server. The costs involved in shared hosting are comparatively lower, and this is primarily because the resources (software as well as hardware) are common for the web sites on the server. This, over time, can lead to problems such as low downloading speed coupled with recurrent down-time (wherein the server is down).

Dedicated servers, wherein you would have the entire server to yourself, along with specifically requested hardware and software, is the best option for large businesses, but is fairly expensive.

This brings us to Virtual Servers. Most of the problems that users face while using shared hosting are taken care of in virtual server hosting. Besides, as compared to dedicated servers, this is a fairly reasonable option. The reasons one would choose virtual servers are given below:
- Virtual servers are part of a single server, wherein the server is divided into multiple servers. Each of these servers runs independently, and is dedicated for your web site only.
- Virtual servers give the users control over the technical specifications like connection speed, disk space, etc.
- Since the servers work independently, you do not have to worry about interference, and you can also get customized software uploaded onto your server. Shared hosting does not give you this option either.
- A virtual server’s independence also reduces safety threats to a large extent.

With there being no dearth of providers of shared as well as virtual hosting, do consider your options well before making your decision. Comparing the two, I would definitely pick Virtual Servers over shared hosting options.