What is the difference between shared hosting and VPS?

It is the same difference as between a dedicated server and usual shared hosting.

With a VPS, you receive all the power of dedicated hosting with the ability to have your own set of services and customizable disk space. With shared hosting, you have limited administrative access and can’t customize software configurations, while with a VPS you can perform any actions from your control panel and don’t need to contact technical support with every single request.

Shared hosting and Virtual Private Server (VPS) are two types of web hosting services that cater to different needs and requirements. Here’s a brief comparison of the two:

Shared Hosting:

• Shared hosting is a type of web hosting where multiple websites share the same physical server and its resources.
• Each website is hosted on a single server, and resources such as CPU, memory, and disk space are shared among all websites.
• Shared hosting is suitable for small to medium-sized websites with moderate traffic.
• It’s often less expensive than VPS hosting, with prices starting from around $5-10 per month.
• Shared hosting plans usually come with limitations, such as:
  • Limited storage space
  • Limited bandwidth
  • Limited CPU resources
  • Limited scalability
  • Shared resources can lead to slower performance

Virtual Private Server (VPS):

• VPS is a type of virtualization technology that partitions a physical server into multiple virtual servers, each with its own dedicated resources.
• Each VPS is a virtualized server, running its own operating system, with dedicated CPU, memory, and storage.
• VPS hosting is suitable for medium to large-sized websites with high traffic or resource-intensive applications.
• It’s often more expensive than shared hosting, with prices starting from around $20-50 per month.
• VPS plans usually offer:
  • Dedicated resources (CPU, memory, storage)
  • Better performance and scalability
  • Root access to the server
  • More control over server settings and configurations
  • Flexibility to upgrade or downgrade plans as needed

Key differences:

1. Resource allocation: Shared hosting shares resources among multiple websites, while VPS provides dedicated resources for each virtual server.
2. Performance: VPS typically offers better performance due to dedicated resources, while shared hosting may experience slower performance due to resource sharing.
3. Scalability: VPS allows for easier scalability by upgrading or downgrading plans as needed, while shared hosting may require migration to a different plan or server.
4. Control: VPS provides root access to the server, giving you more control over server settings and configurations, while shared hosting typically has limited control options.
5. Cost: Shared hosting is often less expensive than VPS hosting.

When deciding between shared hosting and VPS, consider the following factors:

• Your website’s traffic and resource requirements
• Your budget
• The level of control and customization you need
• The scalability requirements for your website

If your website has moderate traffic and resource requirements, shared hosting might be sufficient. However, if you need more control, dedicated resources, and scalability, VPS might be a better option.

Why should I choose VPS hosting?

Virtual Private Server is the right choice for developers, webmasters, resellers and simply for those who run resource-intensive websites. We use KVM and VMware technologies for virtualization, that is why each VPS performs and executes exactly like an independent physical machine and therefore offers security and flexibility for your sites, independence from neighbors, full control over your hosting environment and power of a dedicated server at an affordable price. KVM delivers 133% increase in disk speed performance comparing to XEN technology. Both KVM and VMware VPSs has got their own customers, and we respect all those customers.

 

What is a VPS?

With a VPS, you open a world of possibilities that would not be possible on shared hosting because of restrictions.

VPS stands for Virtual Private Server. This refers to the partitioning of a physical server into multiple servers. In effect, each one acts just like a dedicated server, you get all the features of a dedicated server but at a lower price. Each VPS has its own operating system, and each can be rebooted separately. These operating systems each receive a specific share of the resources of the physical server, no more and no less, they are isolated from each other so that one cannot interfere with another. If one VPS experiences problems or tries to use too much memory or CPU resources, it has no effect on the others.

There are many advantages to selecting a VPS, it costs less than a fully dedicated server and provides a great deal of freedom and flexibility over the limitations and restrictions of shared hosting. You are limited only by the capabilities of the VPS, so select one powerful enough to meet your needs. You can always upgrade later if you decide it becomes necessary.

As for virtualization technologies we offer KVM VPS servers.

Since you are supposed to manage your VPS yourself, we recommend you have a good understanding of Linux commands and are familiar with the WHM/cPanel control panel. You can get a VPS without WHM/cPanel, but in this case, you would need to have very advanced knowledge of Linux.

If you don’t feel you have the technical expertise necessary to manage your own VPS, there is no need to let that stop you – you can select full management for an additional fee.

You won’t have root access, and it will act much like a shared hosting plan, but you will still make the decisions.

cPanel is required if you choose full management for a VPS.

How to log in to WordPress using Softaculous

Softaculous allows you to install and manage WordPress in a few clicks. It is not just easy to install programs by using it, it is a big time saver because it automates many tasks related to software installation. In this guide, we will show you how to log in to a website’s dashboard using Softaculous.

1. Log in to your cPanel account:

2. Scroll to the bottom of the page, find ‘Softaculous App Installer’ and click the WordPress icon:

3. Navigate to All Installations menu:

4. When working with a CMS, you’ll generally need to log in to it as an Administrator. In order to proceed, click the Admin icon:

You are in. Feel free to manage your website!

How to reset WordPress admin password

There are three ways to reset a lost WordPress dashboard password:

Using the Lost Password option
Using Softaculous Apps installer
In the database

Using the Lost Password option

1. Open your WordPress administrative login page – it is usually located in http://yourdomain.com/wp-admin.

2. Click on the Lost your password? option, fill out the username or email address > Get New Password:

3. Log into your email account, which is set as your administrative WordPress contact. You can find the email message with the password reset URL there, click on it:

4. Enter your new strong password twice on the opened page > Reset password:

Using Softaculous Apps installer

In order to change the password for your WordPress admin user, follow next steps:

1. Log into cPanel and navigate to Softaculous Apps Installer menu:

2. In the Softaculous interface find All Installations icon in the top right corner:

3. In this menu you will see Scripts Installations list. Select the one you need to change the admin password for and click on Edit Details (pencil icon) next to it:

4. Next you will see installation details page. Scroll down to Admin Account section. Here you need to enter your current username and the new password in Admin Password field:

5. Once done, scroll down to the bottom of the page and hit Save installation details button:

6. After that you will receive the message about the successful update:

Feel free to log in to WordPress admin panel using the new password.

Reset the password via the database

If Lost your password? confirmation emails do not arrive, or if you have no access to the email account linked to your administrative dashboard, you can reset your password via MySQL database:

1. Log into your cPanel > section Files > File manager and navigate to the document root of your WordPress website:

2. To check what database is used for your WordPress website, open the wp-config.php file located in:

3. Go to cPanel > Databases section > phpMyAdmin:

4. Select the database in question, table wp-users and click on Edit next to the admin user:

5. On the next page, type in your new strong password into the user_pass box, select MD5 in the Function column and click Go:

You can now go back to the WordPress dashboard page and try to log in with the new password.

 

Moving WordPress from a subfolder to the root directory of your website can be a bit complex, but it’s a straightforward process if you follow these steps:

Step 1: Backup your site

Before making any changes, it’s essential to backup your website. This will ensure that you have a copy of your site’s files and database in case something goes wrong during the migration process.

Step 2: Change the WordPress address

In the wp-config.php file, update the WP_HOME and WP_SITEURL constants to point to the new root directory. You can do this by adding the following lines at the top of the file:

define('WP_HOME', 'http://example.com');
define('WP_SITEURL', 'http://example.com');

Replace http://example.com with your website’s root URL.

Step 3: Update the database

You’ll need to update the database to reflect the new root directory. You can do this by running the following SQL query:

UPDATE wp_options SET option_value = replace(option_value, 'http://www.example.com/subfolder/', 'http://www.example.com/') WHERE option_name = 'home' OR option_name = 'site_url';

Replace http://www.example.com/subfolder/ with your current site URL and http://www.example.com/ with your new root URL.

Step 4: Update theme files

You’ll need to update any theme files that contain hard-coded URLs pointing to the subfolder. You can use a find-and-replace tool or manually search for these instances.

Step 5: Move files

Move all files from the subfolder to the root directory. Make sure to preserve the directory structure and file names.

Step 6: Update .htaccess file

Update the .htaccess file to point to the new root directory. You can do this by adding the following lines:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/subfolder [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /subfolder/$1 [L]

This will redirect any requests from the old subfolder URL to the new root URL.

Step 7: Test your site

After moving your site, test it thoroughly to ensure everything is working as expected. Check that all pages, posts, and images are displaying correctly.

Additional tips

• Make sure to update any plugins or themes that rely on hard-coded URLs.
• If you’re using a caching plugin, clear the cache after moving your site.
• Consider updating your DNS settings if you’re changing your domain name.

By following these steps, you should be able to successfully move your WordPress site from a subfolder to the root directory. If you encounter any issues or have further questions, feel free to ask!

How to install WordPress using Softaculous

Once you order hosting service, you can start creating your own website. Using Softaculous automatic app installer you can install WordPress in a few clicks.

Below you can find step-by-step guidelines covering the process:

1. Log into your cPanel.
2. Navigate to Exclusive for Namecheap customers section > Softaculous Apps Installer menu:

3. On the homepage, click on the WordPress icon:

4. Switch to the Install tab to proceed:

5. On the next page you will need to fill out the details of your WordPress installation.

• Choose the domain you wish to install WordPress for
• In the In Directory field you can specify the root folder for WordPress installation. By default, this field is empty, and it allows installing WordPress on yourdomain.com directly. If you wish to install it to a subfolder, like yourdomain.com/blog, simply type “blog” in this field.
• Database Name can be left default.
• Table Prefix can also be left default wp_; however, due to security reasons it is better to change it, e.g., to ncwpsite_ .
• The Site Settings section should be filled out accordingly to your needs, though you can change it anytime later if required.

Make sure you set up secure and hard-to guess details in the Admin Account section:

6. When ready, scroll down and hit Install.
In a few moments you will see the message that WordPress has been successfully installed:

 

You can now go ahead and log into your WordPress Dashboard to start working on your website.

 

 

How to manage WordPress website with iPhone application

1. In order to be able to manage your WordPress website with an iPhone application, it is required to install the application first. To install the WordPress application, open App Store and go to the Search page. Type ‘WordPress‘ and press Get to install the app:

2. Once it is installed, open the app and press the Log in button:

3. Choose the Log in by entering your site address option:

4. Enter your website’s URL:

5. Next, enter your WordPress admin account access details:

6. On the next page, you will be able to add more WordPress websites or press Continue to proceed.

After pressing the ‘Continue’ button, you will be redirected to the website management page.

By pressing the ‘Stats’ button, you can install JetPack plugin to track your website’s stats. To install Jetpack, press the Set up Jetpack button:

7. To set up JetPack you will need to enter your email address that is used for your account at wordpress.com (it is required for a JetPack). If you don’t have an account at wordpress.com, create one prior to setting up JetPack. Once JetPack is set up, you will be able to check different statistics for your website, such as Latest Posts Summary, Daily stats, Posting Activity and other.

8. Publish part of the app has the following options:

Site Pages menu allows you to:

• create pages by pressing a “+” sign;
• check published, drafts, scheduled and trashed pages;
• search for pages on your website;
• view or move pages either to Draft or Trash by pressing a “…” sign.

Blog Posts menu allows you to do the same things as in the Site Pages menu but with your posts.
A post can be published by pressing the ‘+’ sign

In Media menu you can upload your media content by pressing the ‘+’ sign or ‘Upload media’ Button. You will be able to choose one of the following options:

• take a photo or video to upload to your website;
• choose a photo or video from the library on your phone;
• upload a photo from other Apps (for example from iCloud).

In Comments menu you will be able to check your comments and:

• approve a comment;
• send a comment to trash;
• mark a comment as spam;
• edit a comment.

9. Personalize section. Here you will be able to work on your themes and menus:

Themes menu allows to Customize, check Details and upload themes you have. Additionally, you will be able to install new themes. That can be done by pressing the “…” sign.

In the pop-up window you will see the following options:

With the Try & Customize option you can ‘play around’ with the theme, test it out to see how it will look like on the website and activate it right away by pressing the corresponding button.

Activate option activates a theme.

View can be used to preview the theme.

Details to check theme details.

Support is where you can contact the theme support.

10. Configure part of the WordPress application dashboard allows you to:

• add and manage Sharing Buttons on a website;
• create new users on a website by pressing the ‘+’ button which is located in the People menu.
• manage your plugins in the corresponding menu;
• in the Settings menu, you can:

– change website Title, Tagline, Address, Time Zone in a General section;
– create Categories, Tags, change Post, Date and Time format on the website in the Writing section;
– track space used for Media uploads;
– adjust JetPack settings if you have it installed.

11. In the External part, you can check your website and log in to the actual wp-admin account via a browser on your phone by pressing the corresponding button. The last option ‘Remove Site’ will remove it from the WordPress App on your phone, the website itself will remain untouched.

You can also find the following options in the external part:

• • My Sites. An option that allows you to manage your WordPress websites using this application. If you have more sites added to the app, you will be able to switch between them by pressing the websites’ buttons.

 

• Reader. By pressing it, you will be able to read some random WordPress articles created by other users.
• Publish post button allows publishing your posts.
• In Me menu you can change your profile settings and application settings.
• Notifications menu allows you to set up notifications that would be sent to your phone from your website.

That’s it!

Difference between cPanel and WHM

WHM (WebHost Manager) provides administrative control over your dedicated server or VPS. It allows a hosting provider to manage a customer’s account.

WHM is also a reseller control panel. It is what our customers receive with all Reseller hosting plans and use to manage all their resold hosting accounts in their reseller plans. However, a reseller has restricted reseller rights in WHM comparing to VPS and Dedicated Servers WHM (root user rights), so some functions are not available for them:

In WHM, you can:

• create individual accounts
• create custom hosting packages
• add domains to the server
• manage features of hosting packages and accounts
• reset passwords/contact email addresses for cPanel accounts
• edit Resource Limits for cPanel accounts
• modify DNS zone records for each domain/subdomain
• set up private nameservers on the server
• access resold accounts without entering login details
• perform basic system and control panel maintenance

For more information about reseller WHM options, refer to this article.

cPanel is designed for managing separate hosting accounts on the server. End users/clients are able to:

• install CMS using Softaculous
• upload and manage files for their websites
• add/remove addon domains and subdomains
• create email accounts and manage email settings and SPAM protection
• edit DNS records for their domains
• check website statistics
• manage databases and backups, etc.

cPanel paper_lantern theme: 

cPanel x3 theme: 

Take into account that when accessing cPanel via WHM of a reseller or root user, you can manage almost all options of the end user’s cPanel. However, some menus (like GoogleApps) can be accessed only when you are logged in as an individual cPanel user.

Here is the structure of WHM/cPanel users depending on their permissions:

1. Server Administrator Panel (root access to WHM)

The top tier and highest-level user is the ‘root’ user. This is the server administrator who has full access to the server. The server administrator has total control over all WHM functions and can modify global server settings as well as customize settings for users with more limited privileges. A root user can access all levels of WHM interface, including reseller WHM and an end cPanel user. There is only one root user per server.

2. Reseller Panel (WHM)

The reseller user is a subordinate of the server administrator.

A reseller user has a more limited set of features comparing to the root user. They are limited by the server administrator to the features which affect the reseller’s customers’ accounts but not the whole server.

Reseller access is provided with Reseller Panel (WHM) where they can manage all their resold accounts. The reseller also has access to all created accounts (‘resolds’). The privileges of the reseller are set by the server administrator. There can be multiple resellers per server.

3. Main Reseller cPanel

cPanel is a control panel used to manage the hosting account under your main domain. When you sign up for a Reseller package, you select a main domain name, it can be accessed via the main cPanel account. Login details for this cPanel coincide with WHM account details. If you need to reset the WHM password, it is required to reset the main cPanel account password, and they will both synchronize.

4. cPanel account (resold)

Resold accounts are owned by the Reseller Panel (WHM). Resold accounts can be easily created, managed and maintained in Reseller Panel (WHM).