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Shared hosting is the cheapest form of web hosting
available. Depending on the features available, shared hosting can be
free (with advertising) or run anywhere from several dollars a year to
dozens of dollars per month. More expensive shared hosting plans will
generally have more features, more disk storage, higher monthly data
transfer limits, and be faster and more reliable. Metaphorically
speaking, a shared hosting account is like an apartment. You have a
small place and a lot of neighbours. Most shared hosting servers will
contain dozens if not hundreds of client's websites. The very worst
shared hosts will overload their servers, so the customers' sites will
be competing for limited outgoing bandwidth, making their websites load
very slowly and erratically.
If you are just getting started on the internet, and
aren't involved in a million-dollar venture, then shared hosting is a
good way to get used to the web and how it works, without spending a
great deal of money. You can get an introductory-level package and
develop your site. If you eventually outgrow it, you can upgrade to a
more sophisticated shared hosting package, or even make the jump to a
Virtual Dedicated Server or
Dedicated Server.
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