If you have never set up a website before, it can be confusing when you see terms like shared web hosting, dedicated web hosting, VPS and cloud hosting batted around on providers’ websites. Not only that, but each comes with different technical specs and pricing. Some providers use unclear names that are more marketing jargon than actually useful. The good news is that if you’re just getting started a basic shared plan is likely all you need to launch your website. VPS, cloud and dedicated servers are most appropriate for larger sites that are doing eCommerce, serving up lots of video content or already receiving many thousands of monthly visitors. If this is you, your webmaster or a service provider customer support can help you pick the right web hosting package for you. Here’s an overview of the broad categories you are likely to see offered: Shared hosting: This is the most accessible option. These plans are usually inexpensive and beginner friendly. The servers themselves are managed by the hosting company, so maintenance is easy. You won’t need much technical knowledge to get started. Under shared hosting, your website lives on the same server as other websites. This is a nice starting point for personal websites and many small businesses. VPS hosting A Virtual Private Server is an intermediary between shared and dedicated hosting. Your server runs multiple virtual dedicated servers (VDS), so it is like you’re on a dedicated server, but others also have similar installations on the same server. This means better reliability and greater configuration options than shared hosting while being less expensive than a dedicated option. This option is more technically complicated than shared plans. Dedicated hosting This is often the most expensive choice because a single server runs only your website. Essentially, you rent a whole computer per month. It means complete technical control over the server configuration and the most technical complexity for you as the user. Dedicated servers make sense for high-traffic websites. Cloud hosting In this case, multiple cloud servers are used rather than one physical server. Cloud hosting is a more recent innovation compared to traditional shared, VPS and dedicated servers. The advantages of cloud hosting are easy scalability, great speed and enhanced security. Your valuable data is stored in multiple places rather than on a single server, which could theoretically fail.