Advanced Shared Web Hosting

The term "advanced" is a bit ambiguous or vague, but the only one I could think of to describe the extra features of the hosting types available beyond standard hosting and below a dedicated server. Think of it as a step up in terms of flexibility and resources on top of the already wide feature set of a standard hosting account.

Reseller Hosting

As the name implies, reseller hosting plans are for those wanting to provide hosting services for others. Perhaps you are a web designer or developer and wish to provide clients with an initial place to host their web site during and after development, with a reseller plan this can be done easily and at low cost.

The server administration is still provided by a hosting provider so you usually have to act as a middle-person for customer support issues related to hardware and software configuration or failures. You don't have to be a unix or linux expert because an additional easy to use web based control panel is provided which includes options to manage/create/delete accounts and packages(bandwidth/disk storage templates).

The accounts created with the main reseller account control panel are identical to standard single site hosting plans with regards to features, storage, and bandwidth. This is a great inexpensive option if you want multiple domain hosting because each site will have their own control panel, statistics, and the files from each site will not have to be stored within sub-folders of your first web site (like if you had used the add-on domain feature of single site cPanel accounts).

Advantages:

Inexpensive
Ability to add and use multiple domains with individual control panels
Includes many or all features of standard single site hosting per account - PHP, MySQL, ASP, etc

Disadvantages:

Shared operating environment and hardware resources
No administrative privileges

VDS or VPS Hosting

Virtual Dedicated Server or Virtual Private Server are the same thing and can be considered the next step up or even a replacement for reseller hosting plans. You get all the same features of a reseller plan but also the flexibility of a dedicated server which gives you the ability to modify and upgrade software or applications to your liking and specifications.

The hardware is still shared among other user accounts but each VDS or VPS is considered to be a separate operating environment with a guaranteed minimum amount of processer and memory resources.

This approach is usually much more stable than other shared hosting plans, for example, if the apache web server application crashes on another user's VPS account on the same server, your site should continue to stay online and not be affected like it would if all users were sharing the same operating environment. With the guaranteed minimum resources your site should also not come to a complete crawl if another user runs a resource hungry script which tries to consume 100% of the resources for a lengthy amount of time.

Just like real dedicated servers you may find both unmanaged and managed VDS/VDS, see dedicated servers section for more details.

Advantages:

Administrative privileges
Ability to modify and upgrade software
Inexpensive compared to fully dedicated server
Guaranteed minimum hardware resources
All the advantages of a reseller type account
Individual operating environment

Disadvantages:

More in-depth technical knowledge of the operating system and applications may be required or at least strongly recommended if you plan configure/upgrade/install things yourself

	Hosting Primer Main How-To Guides Getting Started: Bringing a Web Site Online Managed DNS Guide Server Side Includes with Apache or PHP Monitor Site Uptime Hosting Types Domain Hosting Standard Shared Web Hosting Reseller / VDS / VPS Web Hosting Dedicated Hosting Servers Blog Hosting Free Web Hosting Other Tools and Scripts		Advanced Shared Web Hosting The term "advanced" is a bit ambiguous or vague, but the only one I could think of to describe the extra features of the hosting types available beyond standard hosting and below a dedicated server. Think of it as a step up in terms of flexibility and resources on top of the already wide feature set of a standard hosting account. Reseller Hosting As the name implies, reseller hosting plans are for those wanting to provide hosting services for others. Perhaps you are a web designer or developer and wish to provide clients with an initial place to host their web site during and after development, with a reseller plan this can be done easily and at low cost. The server administration is still provided by a hosting provider so you usually have to act as a middle-person for customer support issues related to hardware and software configuration or failures. You don't have to be a unix or linux expert because an additional easy to use web based control panel is provided which includes options to manage/create/delete accounts and packages(bandwidth/disk storage templates). The accounts created with the main reseller account control panel are identical to standard single site hosting plans with regards to features, storage, and bandwidth. This is a great inexpensive option if you want multiple domain hosting because each site will have their own control panel, statistics, and the files from each site will not have to be stored within sub-folders of your first web site (like if you had used the add-on domain feature of single site cPanel accounts). Advantages: Inexpensive Ability to add and use multiple domains with individual control panels Includes many or all features of standard single site hosting per account - PHP, MySQL, ASP, etc Disadvantages: Shared operating environment and hardware resources No administrative privileges VDS or VPS Hosting Virtual Dedicated Server or Virtual Private Server are the same thing and can be considered the next step up or even a replacement for reseller hosting plans. You get all the same features of a reseller plan but also the flexibility of a dedicated server which gives you the ability to modify and upgrade software or applications to your liking and specifications. The hardware is still shared among other user accounts but each VDS or VPS is considered to be a separate operating environment with a guaranteed minimum amount of processer and memory resources. This approach is usually much more stable than other shared hosting plans, for example, if the apache web server application crashes on another user's VPS account on the same server, your site should continue to stay online and not be affected like it would if all users were sharing the same operating environment. With the guaranteed minimum resources your site should also not come to a complete crawl if another user runs a resource hungry script which tries to consume 100% of the resources for a lengthy amount of time. Just like real dedicated servers you may find both unmanaged and managed VDS/VDS, see dedicated servers section for more details. Advantages: Administrative privileges Ability to modify and upgrade software Inexpensive compared to fully dedicated server Guaranteed minimum hardware resources All the advantages of a reseller type account Individual operating environment Disadvantages: More in-depth technical knowledge of the operating system and applications may be required or at least strongly recommended if you plan configure/upgrade/install things yourself