Shared hosting vs managed hosting

Shared hosting and managed hosting answer two different questions. Shared describes tenancy: how many customers run on the same machine. Managed describes operation: who applies updates, runs backups, and handles recovery. You can buy any combination of the two, and a plan page that only lists disk space usually hides which one you bought. Ask both questions separately, and get both answers in writing.

The two questions underneath the word

Tenancy asks how many customers share the operating system, the database, and the processor. Management asks who is responsible when a package needs patching or a restore needs running. The word "hosting" covers both, which is why two plans with the same name can mean very different things.

A cheap plan is usually shared and unmanaged. An expensive plan is not automatically dedicated, and it is not automatically managed either. Some providers sell a dedicated machine and leave every update to you. Others run a shared platform carefully and take the operating work off your hands. Neither label tells you which you have. Ask who else runs on the machine, and ask who applies the updates, and get both answers in writing.

Why tenancy is treated as its own risk

The payment card industry keeps a separate set of requirements for shared hosting providers, in Appendix A1 of PCI DSS, covering additional requirements for multi-tenant service providers. The concern is that one tenant on a shared environment can affect the others, through a neighbor's compromised site, a noisy process, or a misconfiguration that crosses account boundaries.

If you handle cardholder data, the hosting model is not a preference. It is scoped by the standard, and your provider's tenancy becomes part of your assessment. Outside payments, the same logic applies to any data that carries an obligation assuming isolation, such as health records or client files under a confidentiality agreement. When the data says isolation, tenancy stops being a budget line and becomes a requirement.

How to choose between them

Start with the operating question, because it decides more of your week. If nobody on your side wants to hold a maintenance window, test a restore, or renew a certificate, buy management regardless of tenancy. An unmanaged server is a second job whether or not you share it.

Then look at the data. If it carries an obligation that assumes isolation, tenancy stops being a budget decision. Most small operations discover they needed managed long before they needed dedicated, and then buy neither, because the plan page only advertised storage and bandwidth. The right order is to write down what the site must do and what the data requires, then pick the plan that meets both, rather than the other way round.

How we do it

We host what we build, on dedicated machines, and we operate them. No shared hosting. Updates, backups, certificates, monitoring, and recovery are our side of the line, and nobody on your side logs into a server. Security is included on what we host, because security is a byproduct of good engineering, not an add-on.

That combination is the answer to both questions at once: dedicated tenancy, and a named operator. You still own your name, your content, your data, and the custom code we write for you. If you are on a shared plan today and are not sure who applies the updates, that is the first thing we check. First conversation is free.

Questions

Is managed hosting the same as dedicated hosting?

No. Dedicated describes tenancy, meaning the hardware runs your work and nobody else's. Managed describes who operates it. A host can be dedicated and unmanaged, or shared and managed.

Does shared hosting matter for compliance?

It can. PCI DSS carries a separate appendix of additional requirements for shared hosting providers, because tenants on one environment can affect each other. Other regulated data raises the same question.

What should I ask a hosting provider?

Two things. Who else runs on this machine, and who applies the updates. If the answer to the second one is "you do", the plan is unmanaged, whatever the page calls it.

Is shared hosting ever the right choice?

Sometimes. A brochure site with no customer data and someone happy to maintain it can live on shared hosting. Once the site handles payments, client records, or revenue, isolation and an operator matter more.

Sources

PCI Security Standards Council document library. PCI DSS v4.x carries Appendix A1, additional requirements for multi-tenant service providers, as a distinct set of obligations for shared hosting.

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