Web Hosting in Nigeria: Types & Features

Types of Web Hosting in Nigeria

Web Hosting is basically the service of hosting electronic data on behalf of a customer. Web4Africa is a leading hosting provider that offers a wide range of hosting solutions to residents of Nigeria.

Contents

Shared Hosting

This is the default and by far the most popular type of hosting. It is what is typically referred to as “Web Hosting”. It is a Shared Hosting service because the hosting server resources are shared among multiple hosting accounts. The accounts all share the same server resources like Processor, RAM, and Disk Space. This service makes hosting affordable and accessible to all, considering they typically come at lower pricing.

cPanel Hosting

cPanel Hosting
cPanel Hosting

This is the most popular form of web hosting, even when it is not branded as cPanel Hosting. cPanel is essentially a Graphical User Interface (GUI) control panel that makes it easy to manage a web hosting service. An end-user without much IT skills will be able to manage aspects of their service including the website, email accounts and databases. It also comes bundled with web statistics like AwStats.

cPanel Hosting is usually powered by CentOS or RHEL operating systems.


Plesk / Windows Hosting

Windows Hosting
Windows Hosting

This is another type of Shared Hosting. Plesk is another control panel. The primary difference with this control panel is that it is available for more operating systems:  these include CentOS, Ubuntu and Windows Server. Plesk is the most popular control panel on Windows Hosting.

The primary difference with Windows Hosting is that it offers technologies that are typically not available to cPanel Hosting. Technologies like ASP.net programming language and MSSQL database systems are exclusive to Windows Hosting.


WordPress Hosting

WordPress Hosting
WordPress Hosting

This is a specialized type of Shared Hosting that focuses exclusively on providing the best hosting environment for websites powered by WordPress.

WordPress is easily the most popular Content Management System (CMS) today, powering millions of blogs, news and eCommerce websites in Nigeria and across the globe. It operates more efficiently on a server that is carefully optimized to provide the resources needed to run it. These include fast disks (SSD), fast server with caching, robust RAM allocation etc.

4 Advantages of WordPress Hosting

In this video, we share 4 quick advantages of WordPress hosting over a typical shared hosting environment.


Reseller Hosting

Reseller Hosting in Nigeria
Reseller Hosting in Nigeria

This is a higher level of hosting for the business-minded. In simple terms, it allows you to buy hosting resources that you can than reseller in smaller packages.

Reseller Hosting comes in plans that have generous disk space and bandwidth. They are usually higher priced than Shared Hosting.

Their best use-cases are for IT-savvy folks who wish to make money from web hosting, or for an established web design firm that wishes to host its web design clients in a more cost-effect manner.


Virtual Server Hosting

Server Hosting
Server Hosting

A virtual server is a result of virtualizing server hardware using virtualization technologies. It allows the server owner to run servers that are independent (to varying degrees) of the main server. They can have their own allocated resources including CPU, RAM, Disk Space, Bandwidth, Network Speed etc.

It is ideal for more advanced IT users who have the requisite skills to manage a server but not the budget to own and operate full server hardware.


Cloud Server Hosting

Cloud Hosting in Nigeria
Cloud Hosting in Nigeria

This is a type of Virtual Server with more advanced features. These include high-availability, super-fast disks, on-demand resource upgrade/downgrade, load balancing, high redundancy etc.

The robustness of the cloud hosting setup would depend on the amount of investment that has gone into the infrastructure.

Dedicated Server Hosting

Dedicated Server Hosting
Dedicated Server Hosting

This is the highest level of web hosting. It involves a provider leasing the entire server hardware to a specific customer. This type of hosting could be Managed or Self-Managed.

Use-cases for this model are limitless and could include:

  • The retail of web hosting
  • Database server
  • Virtualization
  • Complex applications

FAQ

How do I buy a domain and hosting a website?

A domain name is a separate service from hosting. A domain serves as the web address (URL) to a website. A domain and hosting are typically bundled by some hosting providers.

How much does it cost to host a website in Nigeria?

The costs vary by provider and the specific plan you choose. There is a hosting plan for every budget and requirement. Web4Africa offers an affordable price range.

Where can I host my website?

You can host your website with any credible and leading host provider. Web4Africa is one of those.

Which is the fastest web hosting provider in Nigeria?

With hosting servers located in Lagos Nigeria, Web4Africa is easily one of the fastest hosting providers in Nigeria. The company is able to deliver traffic at very fast speeds to local IP networks due it’s direct connectivity to IP networks in Nigeria.

What is the best web hosting site for small business?

Web4Africa offers hosting plans that cater to small businesses and their needs. The plans come with relevant tools like a basic web builder, email and basic SEO.

Where can I host my website for free?

The best hosting plans are not free. The components that go into building a reliable hosting solution are typically not cheap.

Is Shared Hosting good?

It is good enough for most regular websites that have average web traffic and do not have any special programming or database requirements.

Do I need a Dedicated IP?

In present days, no. The biggest reasons in the past were SSL Certificate setup. Currently, the biggest reason would be better email delivery where the server has IP reputation issues.

How much does it cost to host a WordPress website?

Web4Africa offers WordPress Hosting from less than 2,500 Naira per month.

Does WordPress need hosting?

Yes. There are two types of WordPress. The self-hosted wordpress.com does not need hosting by the user while the wordpress.org option is much more flexible and requires hosting.

Can I build a WordPress website without hosting?

If you used WordPress.com, you can build a website without needing hosting.

Can you build a WordPress site without a domain?

Yes if you used free sub-domains but owning your domain name is always better for maximum portability.

Which is better Joomla or WordPress?

WordPress is more popular than Joomla and offers much more features and flexibility.

Is WordPress good for SEO?

With the right combination of installed and active plugins, WordPress is excellent for SEO.

What is Plesk Hosting?

This refers to shared hosting that is powered by Plesk Control Panel. It may be Linux or Windows-based.

Which is better cPanel or Plesk?

This is subjective. Your choice would be based on your specific requirements.

Who owns Plesk?

As at August 2019, Plesk is owned by Oakley Capital – the same company that owns the rival cPanel.

Who uses cPanel?

It is the most popular web hosting control panel and popular across the world.

Is cPanel easy to use?

With its Graphic User Interface (GUI), cPanel is very easy to use for end-users.

Do I need cPanel for WordPress?

No. You can operate WordPress independent of cPanel.

Where do I find cPanel? How do I access cPanel?

The cPanel login details are sent via email after a hosting service is set up successfully.

What is the difference between cPanel and WordPress?

cPanel is a control panel while WordPress is a Content Management System (CMS).

Is cPanel secure?

Yes, it is very secure considering it is owned and maintained by a large corporation with years of experience and diligent enforcement of best practices.

How can I make my server more secure?

It is possible to secure a server when best practices are strictly followed. The scope is beyond the reach of this web page.

Is Cloud Hosting better?

This is a subjective question. The choice to use Cloud Hosting should be based on needs that specifically require cloud. More so, it typically comes at higher pricing.

Is Cloud Hosting better than VPS?

It is better than VPS Hosting to the extent that it is based on more robust hardware and network setup. It is built with reliability in mind and thus more resilient albeit at higher pricing.

Which is better: VPS or Dedicated Server?

The choice would be based on the use case. A VPS can do what most Dedicated Servers can do. The exceptions are very few. The choice should be based on the available budget.

What is VPS Hosting used for?

The biggest use would be for web applications that cannot thrive in a Shared Hosting environment.

What’s the difference between a server and a host?

A server is a hardware used for hosting services while a host typically refers to the company offering the services.

Is cloud cheaper than a Dedicated Server?

Typically, yes. However, it is possible to build a high-end cloud server instance that is more robust and costlier than a small dedicated server.

How much is VPS Hosting?

VPS refers to Virtual Private Server Hosting and is based on server hardware being virtualized into smaller units.

Prices can vary, based on the use-case. Web4Africa’s VPS Hosting starts from only $15 per month.

What is the difference between VPN and VPS?

A VPN is a Virtual Private Network and is a network solution while VPS is a Virtual Private Server solution.

How do I host my website on VPS?

Yes, where you have sufficient IT skills to run and manage a server.

Is a VPS safe?

Yes, where it is managed properly. There is a range of security processes that ensure a VPS can be hardened and secured to a large extent.

What can you do with a VPS?

The possibilities are limitless. With the right skills, a VPS can be set up to do just about anything.

How many websites can a server host?

This would depend on the features of the server and the size of the accounts. A robust and powerful server can host thousands of websites.

How do I convert a VPS to a Dedicated Server?

A VPS cannot be directly converted to a dedicated instance. The only way would be to migrate the setup and content of the VPS.

What is a hypervisor in cloud computing?

A hypervisor is the server hardware component of the cloud setup that provides the processor and memory. In this kind of setup, the disk resources are typically separated into a SAN.

What are the 3 types of virtualization?

The 3 main types of virtualization are OpenVZ, KVM and LXC. Many other types exist including LXD, Xen, Virtuozzo 7 etc.

How safe is the cloud?

Cloud Hosting is only as safe as the processes used in implementing the cloud build. Cloud is safe where best security protocols are strictly followed.

Where is data stored in the cloud?

They are stored in hardware servers in specialized environments known as data centres.

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