App Hosting: Every part You Have to Know

Every mobile app runs on databases. (Consider them because the flashier cousin of your typical spreadsheet, with the power to conduct complex data manipulation, aggregation, and evaluation.)

But databases need storage and connectivity, which is where app hosting is available in.

App hosting is the key sauce that powers your app from behind the scenes, allowing you to store essential data and functionality in the shape of versatile databases that will be called upon by a user’s device, be it Android or iOS.

If that is your first time deploying an app for web or mobile, this might sound a tad complicated. But fret not!

This guide will let you know all the pieces you have to find out about app hosting so you possibly can prepare to your startup’s big launch without server downtime or security incidents weighing you down.

Sound good? Let’s start!

What Is App Hosting?

Mobile apps generally consist of two parts: The client-side (frontend) and the server-side (backend). The client-side is the user interface that runs on the user’s device, while the server-side manages the information, logic, and communication between the app and various services.

App hosting refers back to the means of providing the essential infrastructure and services to deploy, run, and manage an application’s server-side components. These components typically handle tasks equivalent to data storage, user authentication, server-side processing, and more.

5 App Hosting Options to Consider

The server-side components of an app require a reliable environment to operate — mobile application hosting services provide this environment. Depending on the needs of the applying and the needs of the developers, application hosting can involve various varieties of infrastructure, equivalent to:

1. Traditional Hosting

With “traditional” hosting or dedicated server hosting, your application’s server-side components are hosted on physical servers, often managed by a hosting provider. The provider is answerable for maintaining the hardware, providing network connectivity, and ensuring uptime.

You could possibly also host your app with a server you own and maintain. (When you don’t mind a hot server running in your bedroom 24/7.)

Benefits of Traditional Hosting

Consider traditional hosting like buying a huge pickup truck. It’s a high-performance machine. You’ll get full control over the server setup and configuration. You’ll generally get more CPU power and memory.

It’s actually the most effective option for those who need high scalability, high performance, and total control over the system and security.

But, for those who’re on the lookout for a each day driver, it might be a bit overkill.

Disadvantages of Traditional Hosting

If we could all spring for our own dedicated server, we’d probably do it.

The apparent limitation is pricing. Although prices vary by provider, renting (or buying) a dedicated server is just about at all times the most costly option.

You’ll also have to know and understand a bit more about hosting and server configuration to get essentially the most out of a conventional hosting setup.

2. Virtual Private Servers (VPS)

VPS hosting involves dividing a physical server into multiple virtual servers, each with its own operating system and resources.

This enables multiple applications to be hosted on a single physical server while maintaining isolation between them. VPS hosting provides more control and customization options than traditional hosting but still requires server management and maintenance.

To take our analogy from above, that is more like sharing a pickup truck.

Benefits of VPS

VPS is commonly considered a middle ground; You get a high level of customization and an honest level of performance.

This also makes it much cheaper than buying or renting a whole server, but for good reason.

Disadvantages of VPS

VPS hosting will at all times be limited by your share of the resources on the server. The best way VPS hosting works is that the CPU power and memory is split across multiple sites or web applications.

You’re generally guaranteed a certain quantity of resources, but you would experience real-time performance issues if, let’s say, your site goes viral or there’s a big spike in traffic or users.

3. Cloud Hosting

Cloud hosting services, equivalent to DreamHost’s DreamObjects, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure, provide virtualized infrastructure and managed services to host and run applications.

Cloud hosting offers flexibility, scalability, and reliability, allowing developers to simply deploy and manage their applications without worrying about underlying hardware and networking.

Resources will be provisioned or released as needed, and costs are typically based on usage.

Cloud hosting (or cloud computing) is kind of the inverse of VPS. Quite than a single server being divided up into multiple instances, a cloud hosting setup will pull resources from multiple servers to supply the computing power you have to handle your current traffic or users.

Benefits of Cloud Hosting

Cloud hosting is, essentially, infinitely scalable.

In theory, there aren’t any limitations to the resources you possibly can pull for a selected project. This makes it ideal for site or mobile app hosting which could see big swings in traffic and users.

Pricing can be pay-as-you-go based on resources, meaning you simply pay for what you employ.

Disadvantages of Cloud Hosting

The downside of hosting a mobile app with a pay-for-what-you-use model is that for those who get far more traffic or users than expected, your bill is also higher than you expect.

4. Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)

PaaS providers, equivalent to Heroku or Google App Engine, offer a whole development and hosting environment, including the infrastructure, runtime, and essential tools.

It’s kind of like leasing a pickup truck, but you possibly can only drive it on certain roads. You don’t need to worry about maintenance or upkeep, but you’re also counting on the corporate to give you all the pieces you have to rise up and running together with your app. Plus, you’re locked into using the tools and systems offered by the provider.

Benefits of PaaS

PaaS makes it super easy to begin, construct, and deploy a mobile app. With the fitting provider, you possibly can be up and running in a matter of hours. You won’t have to tinker with servers or install a bunch of applications.

Most PaaS offerings are also pay-as-you-go.

Disadvantages of PaaS

Because you’re leasing the pickup truck and might only drive it on certain roads, PaaS has some limitations depending in your chosen provider.

As an illustration, they could or may not offer support for popular services like Docker or Kubernetes.

Certain software development kits (SDKs) may or is probably not available.

Now, for those who can find the fitting provider that aligns together with your preferred tool stack, you should utilize PaaS as a SaaS solution for mobile app development, deployment, and hosting.

5. Mobile Backend-as-a-Service (MBaaS)

MBaaS platforms, like Firebase or Parse (now open-source), are specialized app hosting services specifically designed for mobile applications. They supply pre-built backend components, APIs, and tools to streamline mobile app development and hosting.

Consider services like user authentication or push notifications. MBaaS offers these out of the box.

It’s like a dongle to your laptop connected to a bunch of microservices you possibly can tap into with just a few clicks.

This implies you will have complete control over the front-end, and you then plug within the dongle to hook up with back-end services. Bringing it back to the pickup truck metaphor, this may be like leasing a truck, but you possibly can only drive it to certain destinations.

Benefits of MBaaS

Like PaaS, MBaaS is popular as a fast and easy solution that gets you up and running without much (or any) fuss.

It’s ideal for people who aren’t super deep into backend coding and setup, and who don’t wish to cope with managing relational databases and wiring up microservices.

It’s type of like a template for app development.

That doesn’t make it a foul selection for more advanced users, but it could actually be limiting.

Disadvantages of MBaaS

While lots of the larger MBaaS providers have quite a lot of flexibility and tons of extensions or services, you’re still limited to what they provide.

That limits the quantity of customization you possibly can do and the quantity of control you will have over the environment and app performance, and usually relies heavily on the provider to make sure all the pieces goes easily.

Selecting the Right Hosting Infrastructure

So before we take a look at specific providers, it’s essential to discover the infrastructure that’s best for you. Taking a look at the choices above, there are some key considerations.

Scalability

Is your mobile app going to be as big as Flappy Bird? (Flappy Bird? Anyone?)

Then you definitely’ll need an option that permits for scalable performance.

When you know, obviously, that you simply’ll be getting quite a lot of traffic and wish quite a lot of resources, then dedicated or VPS hosting might be best for you.

When you’re not 100% sure how much traffic you’re going to receive or you already know it’ll fluctuate, you then’ll probably desire a pay-for-what-you-use option: Cloud hosting, PaaS, or MBaaS.

Performance

Are you running state-of-the-art, resource-intensive tech that’s going to eat up tons of computing power? Higher go together with a dedicated server to your quantum computing mobile app. (Okay, I do know. Quantum-computer-powered mobile app hosting isn’t a thing. Yet.)

When you’re running a mean application, then any of the opposite hosting options will probably suffice.

DevOps & Frameworks

Here’s the massive query: How did/will you construct the world’s hottest latest mobile app?

Likelihood is, you will have specific ideas in regards to the languages, frameworks, microservices, and overall architecture you’ll use.

Consider finding a PaaS or MBaaS that aligns with that stack.

When you can’t find the fitting provider, you’ll have to get a bit more custom and take a look at cloud, VPS, or getting a “dedi” (that’s slang for dedicated server).

When you don’t have any allegiance to particular tool stacks and also you’re willing to learn whatever it takes to get your app up and running, then PaaS or MBaaS are probably the most effective options.

Selecting an App Hosting Provider

Every app has its own requirements by way of performance, scalability, security, and functionality. While there’s no shortage of options to fulfill these requirements, the abundance of hosting providers doesn’t make it easy to choose the fitting one from the bunch.

The section above can have helped you cut down which hosting option is correct for you, but now there are a bunch of various providers offering that specific solution.

Let’s say you’ve landed on cloud hosting, but there are 20 different vendors that supply some flavor of cloud computing products.

How do you select?

Unless you wish to join for a trial with each certainly one of them to see which one works out best (hey, we’ve all been there), you’ll wish to research just a few key aspects to enable you to narrow it down.

Here’s a primer on the aspects you have to consider to decide on the right hosting solution to your app:

Performance and Reliability

Perhaps essentially the most crucial feature of any hosting product is its performance (in point of fact and not only on paper) and its reliability when users try to access your app.

Do some digging. Search for information on the situation and number of information centers that the provider has, see which CDNs they connect with, and browse real user reviews to get a way of how often there are issues with uptime or latency.

Search for providers that supply service level agreements (SLAs) with uptime guarantees and clear procedures for handling outages and downtime.

Security

Assess the provider’s security measures, equivalent to data encryption, user authentication, access controls, and regular security updates. Make sure the provider complies with relevant data protection regulations and industry standards to your specific use case.

Search for certifications like ISO27001, SOC1/2/3, or other seals of approval.

You could also wish to do a little bit of digging to see if this particular host has experienced past security issues and the way they handle legal or government requests.

Cost

Understand their pricing model (e.g., pay-as-you-go, fixed monthly fees, or tiered plans) and evaluate whether it aligns together with your budget and expected usage patterns.

But take that one level deeper and make certain that you simply calculate how your costs might tally up based in your real-world requirements. Since hosting pricing can sometimes be complex, you’ll wish to fastidiously consider how the fees might add up before deciding which is most reasonably priced.

Support

Consider the extent of support and maintenance offered by the provider. Search for providers with comprehensive documentation, responsive customer support, and proactive monitoring to deal with potential issues before they impact your app.

Ease-of-Use

Evaluate the provider’s user interface, management tools, and automation options to make sure they’re easy to make use of. This will streamline your app deployment and maintenance processes.

Reviews

Messaging on the web site is one thing, but hearing from real customers will let you know what to anticipate.

Check reviews, case studies, and testimonials from other developers and businesses using the provider. This will offer you insights into the provider’s strengths and weaknesses and enable you to make a more informed decision.

How you can Implement App Hosting

Attributable to the inherently technical nature of app development, it could actually be a bit more complex to configure a hosting environment in order that it’s capable of support the server-side components of a mobile or web app. So here’s a fast overview of the method to enable you to start:

1. Select a hosting provider: Based in your application’s requirements, scalability needs, cost, and other aspects, select the suitable app hosting provider and sort (e.g., traditional hosting, VPS, cloud hosting, PaaS, or MBaaS).
2. Enroll for an account: Register for an account together with your chosen hosting provider, and choose the suitable plan or resource allocation based in your needs.
3. Arrange the hosting environment: Depending on the provider and hosting type, you could have to configure the server environment, install an operating system, arrange an internet server (e.g., Apache, Nginx), and install essential runtime environments and frameworks (e.g., Node.js, Python, Ruby on Rails).
4. Deploy your application’s server-side components: Upload your application’s backend code and files to the hosting environment using the provider’s really helpful deployment method (e.g., Git, FTP, or provider-specific tools). This includes server-side scripts, database files, and any required dependencies.
5. Configure the database: In case your application uses a database, create and configure the database instance (e.g., MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB) in response to your application’s requirements. You could also have to import your database schema and initial data.
6. Arrange domain and security certificate: If you will have a custom domain to your application, configure the DNS settings to point to your hosting provider’s servers. Moreover, install and configure an SSL certificate to enable secure HTTPS connections.
7. Configure security measures and access controls: Implement and configure security measures equivalent to user authentication, data encryption, and access controls to guard your application and its data.
8. Test your deployment: Be certain that your application is running appropriately on the hosting environment by testing its functionality and performance. Address any issues or bugs that arise during testing.
9. Monitor and optimize: Once your application is live, constantly monitor its performance and resource usage. Discover bottlenecks and optimize your hosting environment as needed (e.g., by adding resources, implementing caching, or using a content delivery network).
10. Plan for scaling and disaster recovery: Develop strategies for handling increased demand and ensuring application availability, including redundancy, failover mechanisms, regular backups, and disaster recovery plans.

Evaluate Before You Invest

When you put money into a solid hosting environment from the beginning, you possibly can enhance your app’s performance, reliability, scalability, and security, resulting in happier and more satisfied users. Nevertheless, with the quantity of options on the market within the wild, it’s essential to fastidiously consider your app’s requirements and establish evaluation criteria that enable you to select the fitting platform to your hosting.

At Dreamhost, we’re all about hosting with purpose. We consider that with the fitting tools and support system, every developer can bring their dreams to life.

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