Organizations have many options to choose from when hosting an application or service. Here are some common models and key considerations.
Most organizations recognize that hosted solutions offer benefits over buying and managing IT infrastructure. However, many are unaware of all the available options. Hosting models range from cost-effective shared space to high-performance dedicated servers. Modern options also include specialized container and serverless solutions.
Choosing the right model depends on cost, security requirements, internal technical expertise and a number of other factors. Following are the pros and cons of some of the major hosting models, along with things to consider when selecting a provider.
Public Cloud
Most organizations are familiar with the public cloud, in which multiple customers share the same physical infrastructure managed by a third-party provider. Organizations pay only for the resources they use, making the public cloud cost-efficient.
Public cloud platforms can be deployed rapidly and scaled easily as business needs change. However, they also come with hidden costs and risks. Because organizations have limited control over infrastructure, the public cloud may not meet data privacy requirements.
Dedicated Servers
Organizations gain greater control with dedicated servers — physical machines that are used by one client. Customers can configure every aspect of the server, from the operating system and hardware specifications to specialized software. As a single-tenant environment, there is complete physical isolation from other clients for enhanced performance, security and compliance.
Dedicated servers require a larger upfront investment and higher monthly fees than cloud hosting, although the fixed fees make long-term budgeting easier. Customers are responsible for all server management, including monitoring, patching and software updates. Scaling up often requires physical hardware upgrades, which can require significant lead time.
Bare Metal Servers
Although the terms “dedicated server” and “bare metal server” are often used interchangeably, they typically represent different service models in the modern hosting market. “Bare metal” emphasizes a blank slate without a pre-installed hypervisor or operating system.
Traditional dedicated servers can take hours or days to set up manually, whereas bare metal cloud servers can often be provisioned automatically in minutes via APIs. Bare metal is often billed in a pay-as-you-go model like the public cloud rather than in fixed monthly or yearly contracts.
Virtual Private Servers
Virtual private servers (VPSs) provide a middle ground between the public cloud and dedicated hosting. A physical server is partitioned into multiple virtual servers, providing dedicated resources, better security and higher stability than shared hosting. Customers can typically install custom hardware and configure server settings to meet specific needs. VPSs can also scale easily to meet growing demands.
However, VPS hosting is more expensive than shared hosting, though it is usually more affordable than a full dedicated server. Customers are responsible for managing the VPS. Although resources are dedicated, customers still share a physical server, which limits performance.
Serverless Hosting
With serverless hosting, developers deploy software code without provisioning and managing servers or maintaining the operating system. The provider owns and manages the infrastructure, charging for active execution time rather than idle capacity. It can reduce costs by up to 85 percent for web applications with variable traffic, although it can be more expensive if an application has high, constant traffic.
By eliminating infrastructure setup, teams can release new products or updates in hours rather than days. The cloud provider dynamically adjusts resources in real time, instantly spinning up instances during usage spikes and scaling down when inactive. However, when a function hasn’t been used recently, it must “boot up,” causing a delay that can degrade performance for real-time applications.
Colocation
Although not technically a “hosting” model, colocation is a good alternative for organizations that want total control over their hardware without the need to manage a data center. Organizations rent space, power, cooling and security in a third-party data center to house their own servers and networking hardware.
Colocation allows organizations to leverage leveraging enterprise-grade, highly secure facilities without the immense capital expenditure of building and maintaining a data center. Redundant power and environmental controls ensure high levels of uptime. However, customers are often restricted to standard configurations and must adhere to the provider’s regulations, security protocols and operational hours.
Key Decision Factors
Budget. Cost is, of course, a top consideration when choosing a hosting model. Pay-as-you-go options offer the greatest flexibility, while reserved instances offer discounts for long-term commitments. Organizations should be wary of low introductory rates that spike upon renewal.
Managed or Unmanaged. Organizations should also consider whether they have the internal capabilities to manage the infrastructure. If not, they should look for a managed service in which the provider handles monitoring, updates and other tasks.
Technical Capabilities. Of course, the hosting infrastructure must provide the technical capabilities needed for the particular application or service. Organizations should consider the amount of processing power and RAM they will need, as well as the storage technology. High-performance apps often need direct, low-latency connections to databases.
Availability and Security. A high-quality provider should guarantee 99.9 percent uptime or higher. For applications that handle sensitive user data, organizations should ensure that the provider is SOC2 Type II certified. In a fully managed environment, organizations should ensure that the provider has robust security, provides proactive patching and meets regulatory requirements.
