Cloud hosting is the hottest trend in the web hosting industry these days. Almost all web hosting companies now offer cloud hosting plans as part of their service lineups. Although there are plenty of resources, articles and even online discussions that focus on cloud computing and cloud hosting, there are still a number of myths surrounding the use of this new technology and the benefits of actually using it.

Most Common Clouding Hosting Myths

We are going to debunk 4 of the most common cloud hosting myths in this article.

1- Cloud Hosting Means My Data Is Secured

This is perhaps one of the most basic – and the most common – misconceptions about switching to cloud hosting. Yes, cloud hosting is very different than conventional hosting. Instead of using a single server, cloud hosting is constructed from several servers joined together into a cluster. There are a few native benefits of cloud computing that you will be able to enjoy and multiple redundancy is definitely one of them.

That said, switching to cloud hosting doesn’t mean your data is absolutely save. You shouldn’t deviate from your usual backup-and-store-remotely routine in order to fully protect your site. Although your data is relatively safe in the cloud, there is no such thing as being too careful when it comes to backing up your websites.

Luckily, most cloud hosting services have built-in automated backup creation tools that you can use to simplify the process. You can even set up a Cron that automatically uploads backup files to remote servers or free cloud storage services (i.e. Dropbox). CMS platforms such as WordPress and Joomla have plugins that does this automatically too.

You should also stick to these security tips even when using cloud hosting:

• Use a secure password or utilize two-factor authentication to further protect your account
• Don’t share your password or login information. Instead, set up different accounts for different server or site administrators
• If you’re using cloud VPS, use an SSH Key instead of logging in using root username and password
• Change your password regularly to prevent unauthorized access
• CMS or web applications, including the themes and plugins you use, must be updated regularly.

2- Cloud Hosting = 100% Uptime

Unfortunately, this is also a myth. Although cloud hosting offers immense reliability, choosing the right kind can greatly influence your site’s uptime. When set up correctly, cloud hosting can provide unrivaled uptime and a truly reliable hosting environment. Set it up incorrectly, however, it may lead to failures in the future.

If you are planning to use a shared cloud hosting plan, there is not much you can do. You can compare hosting services based on their quality of service, ask questions about the actual server infrastructure used by the hosting companies and find the best plan that guarantees great reliability.

With cloud VPS, on the other hand, you have more control over how the hosting environment is set up. Keep the setup simple though. Adding multiple virtual servers and nodes just to separate every part of the hosting environment is a good idea if you run a large site (or a lot of websites), but it will also increase the risk of one of those nodes failing.

3- Cloud Hosting Will Keep Up with My Site

Yes and no. Cloud hosting is, by nature, very scalable. You can add more hosting space, processor cores (or processing power), RAM and almost all other server resources to your cloud hosting account. In fact, you can do this at any time, either as a temporary boost or as a permanent upgrade. The scalability, however, doesn’t work automatically.

For server resources to be allocated to your account, you have to manually ask the hosting service provider to do that for you. A cloud hosting account with 512MB of allocated RAM will not scale itself up when needed; should you suddenly have a spike in traffic and the virtual server runs out of memory, it will still crash or automatically restarts itself.

Shared cloud hosting is much simpler to use. You basically have a limited amount of server resources at your disposal, but the hosting account can generally handle any load you throw at it up to a certain amount. Cloud VPS plans, on the other hand, requires you to keep an eye of how the allocated server resources are used. Should an upgrade is necessary, you need to request one manually.

4- Cloud Hosting Is for Enterprise Users

Absolutely not! In fact, personal users – including personal bloggers and site owners as well as small business owners and startups– can benefit so much from cloud hosting.

Most cloud hosting services are more affordable, more reliable, come with better performance and offer more features to use. Cloud hosting also works well with popular CMS platforms, including WordPress and Magento.

The key is finding a good cloud hosting service that suits your needs and budget perfectly. This is not difficult at all, since hosting companies are racing to offer the best service packages – with the most appealing features and bonuses – at incredibly low prices these days.