Billions of users take the Internet for granted, but behind the addictive social media platforms, online shopping, and work assignments, there is a web host providing space and speed for every website and app.
Since the dawn of the Internet, web hosting has evolved into a multi-billion industry, with cutting-edge technology shaping its evolution. For any company, keeping a close eye on such a dynamic niche is essential. Whatever your business is, without a reliable hosting provider, you can’t grow and achieve your goals.
In this article, we reveal the latest web hosting trends so that you remain informed of any changes in this crucial industry.
Top 10 Web Hosting Trends for 2024
Web hosting industry trends change and evolve constantly, keeping pace with the dynamic digital landscape. Below, we present the core technological tendencies that shape this highly competitive sector.
1. Green Hosting
Protecting the environment is on everyone’s agenda right now, and the hosting industry is not an exception. The carbon footprint of the Internet and systems supporting it accounts for 3.7% of global greenhouse emissions, similar to the airline industry. No wonder, an increasing number of hosting companies are becoming environmentally aware and investing in eco-friendly initiatives.
They do this by gaining renewable energy certificates (REC) or carbon offset certificates (VER). A 2021 study found that 85 percent of people are inclined to buy from an online shop if the website explicitly claims to use green energy.
2. Multi-Cloud Hosting
The turbulent events of the last couple of years have emphasized the importance of stable and predictable hosting environments. With multi-cloud hosting, companies can offset the risk of cyber threats, downtime, and data loss, by distributing computing resources across several high-end hosting providers.
A multi-cloud setup could be all-private, all-public, or a combination of both. Most enterprises already reap the benefits of multi-cloud hosting with 92% of enterprises having a multi-cloud strategy in place.
3. Managed Web Hosting Services
Managed Web hosting has been around for a while, but it never really kicked into gear until the pandemic. With millions of new users flooding cyberspace, managed web hosting plans provide all-inclusive solutions for newcomers who lack the technical skills to run and optimize a website.
The host takes care of everything from backups and security to optimal speed and system updates, leaving the user to concentrate on content and audience. Some managed web hosting providers rent out computer servers that are completely operated by the service provider. For organizations that want to keep pace with the latest trends and regulations, managing web hosting is a viable solution.
According to Markets and Markets, the managed services market is expected to grow from 223.0 billion in 2020 to USD 329.1 billion by 2025.
4. Hybrid Hosting
Hybrid hosting combines the features and benefits of dedicated hosting and cloud hosting. It provides businesses with a flexible and scalable hosting solution that leverages the advantages of different hosting environments.
In hybrid hosting, a portion of the infrastructure is allocated to the client’s specific needs, while another is hosted in the cloud. This combination allows businesses to customize their hosting environment, optimize performance, and manage their resources efficiently.
Hybrid hosting can facilitate effective disaster recovery strategies. By using dedicated servers in different geographical locations and leveraging the cloud’s backup and replication capabilities, businesses can create resilient architectures to minimize downtime and data loss.
5. Containerized Hosting
Containerization is a method of virtualization that allows applications and their dependencies to be packaged and run in isolated environments called containers. Each container is a lightweight, standalone unit that contains everything needed to run the application, including the code, runtime, system tools, and libraries.
Containers like Docker or Kubernetes provide a scalable hosting environment. Multiple containers can run on a single physical server, and additional containers can be easily provisioned or terminated to match the current workload.
They integrate well with CI/CD (continuous integration/continuous deployment) pipelines, enabling automated build, testing, and deployment processes. With containerization, web hosting providers can implement efficient CI/CD workflows, reducing manual effort and accelerating application updates.
6. Serverless Hosting
Serverless hosting is a trend that has gained significant attention and popularity in recent years. It is a cloud computing model where the hosting provider manages the underlying infrastructure, and developers focus solely on writing and deploying code.
Besides simplified development and automatic scaling, serverless hosting encourages event-driven architectures, where applications respond to events or triggers rather than being continuously active.
These events include HTTP requests, database updates, file uploads, or scheduled tasks. Serverless platforms handle event routing and execution, allowing developers to focus on building event-driven workflows and processing data efficiently.
7. DIY Website Builders Are on the Rise
Covid-19 has sparked a new influx of online businesses, with thousands of online stores, launching during the pandemic. For most owners, building a website from scratch is too difficult and time-consuming. Here’s where DIY website builders come to the rescue. With sleek drag-and-drop builders, anyone can create a professionally-looking website in no time. You don’t have to worry about code and aesthetics, as every step, and building block is visually updated in real-time.
Yahoo Finance estimates that the DIY website builder market value will reach around $2,6 billion, posing stiff competition to traditional web hosting services. Many hosting providers are already offering advanced DIY options in their hosting plans to keep new customers on their side.
8. Data Centers Are on the Decline
It may come as a surprise to you, but the number of data centers worldwide is declining. Although the demand is higher than ever, classic brick-and-mortar data centers are slowly becoming obsolete. With fewer organizations building their own data centers, the cloud became the dominant preference, as it offers greater flexibility, security, and speed.
In 2015, the number of data centers reached an all-time high of 8.55 million. After that, this number slowly started decreasing and dropped to just 7.2 million in 2021. According to Statista, in 2024, data centers will only account for 36.5% of total IT infrastructure spending worldwide.
9. Edge Computing
Edge computing refers to the processing and storing of data closer to the source of its generation rather than relying on a centralized cloud infrastructure. This proximity to the edge of the network reduces latency and improves the overall performance of web applications.
Traditionally, web hosting relied on centralized data centers in specific geographic regions. When a user requested information from a website, the data had to travel back and forth between the user’s device and the central server, leading to latency and potential bottlenecks.
With edge computing, the processing power and storage capabilities are distributed across multiple edge locations, often positioned closer to the end users. These edge locations are typically small data centers or server clusters strategically placed in various locations.
By bringing computational resources closer to the users, edge computing aims to address the latency concerns associated with traditional centralized cloud architectures.
10. AI Takes the Central Stage
The rise of AI brings convenience and fresh opportunities to the web hosting industry. AI’s ability to think and learn helps optimize server performance using predictive analytics. The advanced firewall technology used by artificial intelligence swiftly identifies the encrypted patterns and threats that cyber attackers pose. Data centers use AI to manage the heating and cooling system and mitigate any security breaches and hazards.
AIs applications are endless, and each web host can come up with creative ways to harness and utilize AIs potential. Quality web hosting is all about speed, security, and uptime. AI improves all these aspects by analyzing tons of data and spotting hidden bugs and glitches. Everyone benefits from AI’s capabilities. The hosting company saves time and reduces operational costs, while customers enjoy fast-loading websites with excellent security and performance.
Web Hosting Evolution Timeline
New trends in web hosting arise every year, but the latest advancements trace back to the efforts and trials of the years gone by. The web hosting evolution timeline tells its own story.
1969 – Two computers are connected for the first time in our history. The first computer was located in a research lab at UCLA, and the second was at Stanford; each one was the size of a small house.
1973 – The first transatlantic connection was established. Two European organizations can connect to ARPANET, the U.S. Defense Department’s predecessor to the Internet.
1984 – Domain names become a reality. The first available extensions are .edu, .gov, .mil, .com, .net, and .org.
1985 – Symbolics.com is the first .com domain registered.
1989 -Tim Berners-Lee creates the World Wide Web while working at CERN, enabling users to access hypertext documents from anywhere on the network.
1992 – Metropolitan Fiber Systems (MFS) introduces colocation web hosting through their Internet exchange point known as MAE-East. Organizations such as the United Nations have their own websites.
1994 – With the launch of Geocities, free web hosting became available to a wider audience.
1997 – Jomax Technologies, which will later become GoDaddy is founded. Today, Godaddy is one of the largest hosting providers in the world. The same year, virtual web hosting hit the market.
2001 – RoseHosting becomes the very first company to offer commercial Linux VPS hosting to the public.
2006 – Amazon launches its Web Services platform, making cloud hosting available to the masses.
2008 – Google follows suit and launches its Cloud Platform, giving users access to cloud hosting on one of the largest networks in the world.
2015 – North America runs out of IPv4 Addresses. IPv4 Internet Protocol has prevailed since 1983, but its exhaustion led to more widespread use of IPv6 addresses.
2017 – The number of global internet users grows to 4 billion.
2023 – Over 330,000 web hosting providers exist worldwide, providing support to more than 4.66 billion people. This figure alone illustrates how crucial web hosting is in our daily lives.
Sources: Dailyhostnews, Statista, and Wikipedia.
Final Words
Web hosting is an ever-green industry. It will exist and thrive as long as the power grids remain intact. Driven by fierce competition, growing demand, and technological advancements, creative web hosting companies can successfully overcome existing and future challenges.
The latest web hosting trends indicate continuous market growth, pointing towards AI-dominated solutions with a clear focus on environment protection and customer satisfaction.
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