Shared web hosting services are amongst the most popular types of web hosting, primarily because they are extremely affordable. Shared web hosting provides the plan holder with access to a small part of a web server that is used by hundreds of other web sites. These powerful web servers are split into partitions that are allocated to the web hosting customers. As a shared web hosting plan holder you have access to a set amount of server resources. However, if you need to exceed these limitations then resources are pulled from other partitions on the network to accommodate your needs. Although this process may sacrifices performance and page loading times, it gives you the ability to have unlimited plan features such as bandwidth and disk space.

Shared web servers are unique because they are split up into partitions that are assigned to each hosting account. A server partition is a section of a web server that is completely separate from the rest of the web server. Even though the partitions are completely separate, the server software configuration is the same across the entire web server. Server resources are distributed evenly amongst the server in the event of a partition overload. For example, if your web site is stressing the network’s resources and pushing its limitations, then another server partition may aid in the operation of your web sites by providing extra server resources.