What is a shared hosting?

Shared hosting is a type of web hosting where a single physical server hosts multiple sites. Many users utilize the resources on a single server. System resources are shared on demand by customers on the server, and each gets a percentage of everything—from RAM and CPU to other elements such as the single MySQL server, Apache server, and mail server.

This type of hosting is typically for newer users who run hobby websites or small projects and prefer something simple and low on the pricing range to begin with.

Advantages of shared hosting

• Affordability: One thing that certainly attracts people to shared hosting is the incredibly cheap pricing, which can begin as low as $3/month. 
• Simplicity: There is an ease of use with shared hosting, with cPanel offered so users can easily manage their accounts.
• Flexibility: With shared hosting you are able to use any type of content management system (CMS) you prefer.
  

Disadvantages of shared hosting:

• Low website speed: As you are sharing all resources with other users, traffic cannot exceed a certain level without the “bad neighborhood” effects. So if you exceed a certain amount of visitors per month, your website may slow down and experience performance issues or downtime.
• Security: Due to the shared nature of this type of hosting, there is a major disadvantage referred to as the “bad neighbor” effect. This means that if something goes wrong with another site–be it a hack or another security breach, it can affect your site as well.
• Additional costs: While on the surface level shared hosting is quite affordable, if you find yourself in need of additional resources to make up for the issues from sharing everything with neighbors, the costs will quickly add up.