Neckrez

What Is Web Hosting? The Types of Hosting Explained

Web hosting is a computer in a data centre that keeps your site or app online around the clock. Here are the main types, who each one suits and how to choose.

Web hosting is renting a computer in a data centre that keeps your website or app online around the clock, so you do not have to run it at home. This guide explains the main types of hosting, who each one suits, how a domain fits in and what to check before you pay.

What web hosting is, in plain words

A website is a set of files and programs. Someone has to keep a computer switched on, connected to the internet and ready to answer visitors at any hour. A hosting company does that for you in a data centre with stable power and fast network links.

Your laptop could do the same job in theory. In practice it sleeps, changes IP address, loses Wi-Fi and sits behind your home router. Hosting removes all of that. You rent a slice of a machine, or the whole machine, and put your site there.

The main types of hosting and who each suits

  • Shared hosting - many small sites share one server and one control panel. It is the cheapest option and fine for a simple personal site or a small blog, but you get limited control.
  • VPS - a virtual private server is your own slice of a physical machine with its own operating system and root access. You install what you want. See What is VPS hosting for the details.
  • Dedicated CPU - a server where the processor cores are reserved for you, so a noisy neighbour cannot slow you down. It suits databases, build servers and steady heavy load.
  • Bare metal - a dedicated physical server, all of it yours. You pick it when you want to run your own virtualisation or need the full machine for a very heavy database.
  • Cloud hosting - servers created and billed on demand through a web page or an API, often by the hour. Many VPS products are cloud hosting in this sense.

There is one more split that cuts across all of these: managed or unmanaged. Managed hosting means the provider updates the system, fixes problems and often installs your software. Unmanaged means you get the server and look after it yourself.

Rule of thumb: if you are not comfortable in a terminal, pick managed or shared hosting. If you want to run your own software, pick an unmanaged VPS and learn as you go.

Domain and hosting are two different things

A domain is the name people type, such as example.com. Hosting is the computer that holds the site. They are bought separately, often from different companies, and joined by a DNS record that points the name at the server's IP address.

This matters when you move. You can change your host without changing your domain, and the other way round. Keep your domain registration under your own account so you always control it.

What to look at when choosing hosting

  • Resources - CPU cores, RAM, disk and bandwidth. A static site needs very little. A database or an app with many users needs more memory first.
  • Location and latency - the closer the server is to your visitors, the faster pages feel. Pick a data centre near most of your users.
  • Reliability and support - read what the provider actually promises. Be wary of any host that guarantees things it cannot control, and check how quickly support answers.
  • Control - shared hosting limits what you can install. A VPS or bigger gives root access and any software you like.
  • How you pay - cards, bank transfer or crypto, prepaid or monthly, and whether billing is by the hour. Check the refund rules before you top up.

One honest caveat: the cheapest plan is rarely the cheapest result. A server that is too small for your app costs you time, and time is the expensive part.

Where Neckrez fits

Neckrez does not sell shared hosting and does not sell domains. It rents VPS, Dedicated CPU and bare metal servers, and GPU servers when the provider has capacity. Everything is paid in crypto and billed by the hour from a prepaid balance.

For a simple personal site, cheap shared hosting elsewhere may be all you need. A VPS is the step up when you want full control: your own software, your own configuration, root access. Neckrez servers run on Vultr, DigitalOcean and Hetzner infrastructure, with free anti-DDoS on every plan and 51 locations to choose from.

Which line fits what: a VPS is the default for websites, bots, VPNs and small apps. Dedicated CPU is the step up for databases, CI builds and steady heavy load. Bare metal is the whole physical server, for your own virtualisation such as Proxmox or KVM. GPU is for AI and rendering and is sold only when the provider has capacity. If you only run a website, a plain VPS is enough. For paying in crypto, see crypto VPS hosting.

How to do it on Neckrez

  • Sign up - use an email address or Google/GitHub. No KYC, no ID, no phone, no card.
  • Top up the balance in crypto - from $15 in one of 300+ coins. The amount shown already includes processing fees, and top-ups are final.
  • Pick plan, location and OS - for example Ubuntu or Debian, or a 1-click app such as WordPress, LAMP or Docker.
  • Server ready in about a minute - you get full root and a dedicated IPv4 address.
  • Billed hourly - a server is billed while it exists, even when stopped. Destroy it and billing stops.

Once the server is ready, connect over SSH, update the system and create a normal user for daily work:

ssh root@YOUR_SERVER_IP
apt update && apt upgrade -y
adduser deploy && usermod -aG sudo deploy

Then point your domain's A record at the server's IP and install your web server or app. Our anonymous VPS page explains what a no-KYC sign-up does for you.

FAQ

Do I need a domain to use hosting? No. You can reach a server by its IP address, but a domain gives visitors a name they can remember and lets you move servers without changing the address people use.

Is shared hosting or a VPS better for a first website? Shared hosting is easier and cheaper for a simple site. A VPS is better when you want to install your own software or need predictable resources.

What is the difference between a VPS and bare metal? A VPS is a virtual slice of a physical machine. Bare metal is the whole physical machine, with no one else on it.

Can I pay for hosting with crypto? Yes, at Neckrez. Payments are crypto only, with 300+ coins accepted, and you can read the details on the FAQ page.

Get started

Plans from $10/month, billed hourly. Deploy your first server in about a minute. Neckrez rents VPS, Dedicated CPU and bare metal servers, and GPU servers when the provider has capacity, all on one crypto balance billed by the hour.