Hosting vs Deployment: Difference and Comparison

Everyone at some point in their lives has attempted to create a blog post for themselves and get a personalized domain. More so with Generation Z individuals, it’s just a matter of clicks for most of us.

Though decades ago, creating a website and making one’s presence felt on the internet (an underdeveloped prospect) was tough.

Hosting and deploying are two of the more important components of the website-making process. Though considered as two sides of the same coin, there is a considerable difference between them, which in its nuances is pretty stark.

Key Takeaways

1. Hosting refers to providing storage space and access to a website or application on a server. In contrast, deployment refers to making an application or website live for users to access.
2. Hosting services can be managed or unmanaged, and they can be shared, VPS, or dedicated. In contrast, deployment involves pushing code changes to a production environment using tools like Jenkins, Ansible, or Kubernetes.
3. Hosting is more concerned with the availability and performance of a website or application. In contrast, deployment is more concerned with the development lifecycle and ensuring that changes are deployed safely and efficiently.

Hosting vs Deployment

Hosting refers to the physical location where the website or application files are stored, which can be a server owned by a hosting provider or a company’s servers. Deployment refers to publishing a website or application to a live environment so users can access it.

Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Web Hosting	Deployment
Meaning	A service that provides data and space for websites. The websites are accessible via www.	Activities that make the system software ready for use.
Need	The service allows individuals and organizations to make their websites online.	It is a process that creates an environment for a website. It also aids in running and testing it and making timely necessary changes.
Types	Cloud, clustered, grid, reseller web hosting.	Canary, Blue Green, and Atomic Deployment.
Tools	Ruby (ROR), MYSOL, and Perl.	Profiler, Compiler and IDE.
Advantages	Better site performance, technical support, reliability, and improved security.	Saves time, easy software updates, and advanced security.

What is Hosting?

Internet hosting is a service that allows people, groups, organizations, and also governments to make their websites. These websites are accessible via the world wide web (www.).

The Internet was limited to narrow educational and informational content until 1991, worldwide. Personalized websites were not only far-fetched digitally but also economically.

To make or host a website, an individual must have a personalized computer and a server. Web hosting companies offered websites to individuals on their servers. This saved a lot of unnecessary money, time, and effort spending.

As time passed and the model succeeded, the number of companies offering such website plans increased.

Although there are multiple types of hosting servers, majorly they can be categorized into the following two: 

1. Smaller Hosting Services – These are the ones where files can be uploaded. The making and uploading don’t require much processing here. Smaller Hosting Services are offered for free.
2. Large Hosting Services – These are mostly for companies and organizations. It has bigger application development programs and substantial database support. Companies need these websites to stay in touch with the public constantly.

There are multiple types of Hosting services – 

1. Shared web hosting services – This is a common pool or server roof that shelters many websites. However, such websites do not allow an array of features and are rigid in their functionality.
2. Reseller Web Hosting – This allows the clients to become web hosts themselves. They are also enabled to have their virtual dedicated servers. Web companies have reseller accounts to provide hosting. 
3. Dedicated Hosting Server – The user gets their server and has complete control. Self-managed / unmanaged types of servers are the least expensive ones. The clients themselves are responsible for the security of the server.
4. Managed Hosting Servers – Unlike the Dedicated Hosting Services, this one gives the client access to the server but not total control of it. The reason for denying control is providing and guaranteeing a quality check.

What is Deployment?

Deployment is a hosting solution that allows a remote app to be accessed globally. It is offered on recurring subscriptions to the businesses by application-providing services.

These providers help enterprises to operate their software applications from the cloud. As a control measure, the application hosting providers must be well-equipped against the ever-evolving and advanced security threat.

In the early days, building software on a computer was a long, arduous, and rather expensive task. However, much of it changed with the introduction of cassettes, cartridges, and floppy disks.

Eventually, software deployment was left to the customers.

With the up-gradation of the internet and cloud computing development, software deployment happened very quickly.

The process of Deployment includes the following steps – 

1. Preparation – When clients want to deploy their first website, they must purchase web hosting and form a domain name. The transmission process becomes a bit difficult if the client already has a prior existence on some other hosting service. The need to have domain management credentials and management of DNS records increases.
2. Setting up DNS records – It is helpful when the client can access the DNS management records. If they don’t have one, they can go for web domain managers, many of which are free. 
3. Email accounts – The developer needs to know the client’s email account status. Most of the time, the transition to the new email servers happens along with the website. The client needs to know all the details, though.

Main Differences Between Hosting and Deployment

1. The primary role of Web Hosting is to get the server up and have the basic tools for the website ready. The fundamental role of deployment is to prepare system software for use.
2. Web hosting allows individuals and groups to be present online via a website. Deployment, however, provides the environment for a website to run smoothly on a hosting platform.
3. Web hosting ensures the flow of data is kept secure and private. In deployment, especially SaaS, data security is insufficient.
4. Shared and clustered hosting are the major types of web hosting. Blue-Green and Atomic Deployment are types of Deployment.
5. The full-page cache is a requirement for hosting, particularly important for e-commerce websites. Data security is a basic requirement while deploying a website.

References

1. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/4221626/
2. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ee5b/febaa06dd068a2f6aff294e200db00016c15.pdf
3. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-1-84628-795-4_10.pdf