How to choose a hosting option

Two important considerations whenever you pick a hosting service are how much control do you need to have over what elements and what kind of technical skills do you have to work with.

So to help make the differences between different hosting options clear, we have peeled back the layers of a standard website and looked at the level of expertise you would need to be able to manage your site from that layer.

We broke down hosting options on a scale showing both the level of control you get at each level and the technical knowledge required:

In summary:

Content is just that: what you or anyone else sees when navigating to the site. If all you want to do is control the content, you can link your domain to it.

Layout is the organization of those elements on a page. Gandi offers a WYSIWYG editor that lets you organize elements in a graphic interface and insert some rudimentary code in the form of Gandi Site.

Applications, which aren’t necessary but increasingly common, are the software that produces a site. To have control at this level, consider using Gandi’s Simple Hosting service. If you want to try it out, you can opt for a 10 day free trial.

Servers are all the containers, virtual machines, and software those applications run on, and …

Infrastructure is the virtual and ultimately physical components those servers run on.

For these options, consider Gandi’s Cloud VPS Server.

To pick a hosting option, then, you really just need to ask yourself what level of control you need and what level you have the technical skills—or the will to acquire—to manage.

And remember: every advanced user starts as a basic user. If it seems too complicated now, you can work your way up.

If you’re up to it, we encourage you to challenge yourself. There are a lot of great resources out there to help you learn, just take baby steps and don’t go in too far over your head.

We hope in any case that with this knowledge, you may choose wisely. Of course, if you still need help, feel free to contact our Customer care team.