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What Is It?

Around 2006, a “new” approach to Web hosting come to life that offered an option to Web host clients who sought a server that could handle spikes in traffic without account suspension or a Web site crash to a single point of failure. Grid hosting provides an option to shared hosting, where hundreds of unique Web sites can exist on a single server, but without some of the drawbacks to shared hosting. While shared hosting means that hundreds of Web sites share one server, grid hosting means that hundreds of Web sites on one server share the bandwidth and storage provided by other servers as well.

In other words, Web sites no longer are tied to a single server in grid hosting. While this type of service may seem ideal, the idea is new and few companies currently offer grid services. Additionally, grid hosting services have disadvantages as well as advantages.

Features

Grid hosting isn’t as new as it sounds, as many organizations have utilized grid hosting for about a decade. Some organizations have refined local clusters to manage anywhere from a single user and project to global networks that handle numerous projects and users. The research behind the commercialization of the grid server has come from all this previous research.

The advantages of using a grid server over traditional shared hosting include consistent performance throughout traffic spikes or through resource usage or overload from any domain on the grid. Additionally, a customer will never outgrow a grid, as new hardware can be added at any time to increase hosting capacity. The grid server offers great redundancy, as it has been designed to withstand numerous hardware and software failures. The grid service has been touted as the perfect solution for a Digg fanatic, or for the customer who experiences short and temporary spikes in traffic on a consistent basis.

With that said, the shortcomings behind the grid service include downsides found at any hosting service. Some complaints about pricing structure, shortage of technical support, intermittent and unexplained downtime, the inability to host the promised number of sites on one ’server’ due to data overload, and limited access to control panels and control panel services. Additionally, as with shared servers, the security issue may be a factor in some cases as the domains parked on a grid service may share the same IP address.

Who Is it For?

Web site clients who have outgrown shared hosting accounts because of traffic spikes or resource allocation may look at a grid service for support. Since the resources within a grid service are shared across a number of servers, that Web host customer may find the resources invaluable. At the same time, few grid hosting services currently are available. Cost, therefore, is a factor in many cases. Additionally, some grid services may not offer the same applications or variety of services that a client can find in other sources such as dedicated or clustered hosting.

Ideally, the end result for grid hosting is is to provide better environmental properties, faster vertical and horizontal scalability and better fits for cost and energy-concerned customers.

Compatibility

Grid hosting can offer a variety of services depending upon whether the hosting service relies on Windows or Linux servers. At this time, the best way to determine grid hosting compatibility is to try the grid hosting service to learn more about its capabilities or to conduct serious research into whether this hosting solution is right for any given Web site.

Web Hosts that Offer Grid