Shared or private servers

Additionally, we can talk about shared or private servers.

Their meaning is quite straightforward: a shared server is one in that multiple sites are hosted together, so they share their servers’ resources. If there’s a spike in one website, all the others are affected. It’s okay for very low-traffic sites.

Shared hosts can be thought of as renting an apartment with other people. If someone causes a mess in your apartment, everyone is directly impacted.

A VPS, or virtual private server, is a virtual server created using the same computer – so it’s not literally private or dedicated. It’s virtually dedicated. So it’s like sharing the building with other people, but you can decorate it and do whatever you want in your apartment.