June 01, 2026 • read

Traditional vs. Cloud Hosting: Which Has the Better Specs to Protect Your School District

Abby Paulsen
Edtech Thought Leader

Abby Paulsen

In this article

Share this story

Cyberattacks are no joke. Schools are increasingly targeted since moving to remote learning and digital record-keeping. One of the many ways schools can combat cyberattacks is by investing in protected servers to run their Student Information Systems (SIS) and Enterprise Resource Planning system (ERP).

Student data protection starts with choosing between traditional and cloud hosting servers.

So, what’s the difference?

Traditional vs. Cloud Hosting

Traditional web hosting is a shared server that hosts all of a school district’s files and content at the same physical data center, usually on-site at the school.

It can be more cost effective, but this comes with some limitations. Organizations that choose traditional hosting often pay for it in cyberattacks and slow system updates.

Traditional hosting is more vulnerable to server-wide hackers, theft, and vandalism. It needs constant manual updates and expansions, which can put your SIS or ERP systems offline for hours.

Single-server hosting can slow down districts’ systems when traffic spikes occur, like multiple logins or data entries across various browsers. Dozens of classrooms with 20 or more students, all with Chromebooks, can break down the server. With this traffic, the shared server requires more computing power to meet the demands.

Districts that choose traditional hosting have more control in customization and configuration. However, their IT team will have to manage manual updates and hardware upgrades. If things go sideways, this puts more liability on the district.

Local power outages, small IT departments, and manual updates can hurt efficiency and security across all sites connected to it.

Cloud hosting is a network of virtual servers across different regions, which includes security layers like firewalls and antivirus mitigation. The cloud keeps data privately backed up and does daily automatic updates with the latest available software patch. When the latest enhancements are available, cloud-hosted districts have first dibs.

If one server fails, another server on the network can take its place, transferring all resources, with minimal interruptions. This way, the site stays online, and there’s no waiting for IT to fix it or recover the data of staff or students.

The cloud hosting server is responsible for updates and maintenance, as well as security monitoring and data backups. This takes some of the weight off understaffed IT teams and reduces liability to the district if something does occur.

Many familiar companies have already switched to cloud hosting. Netflix, Facebook (Meta), and Uber all use cloud hosting for their digital services because of its reliability, scalability, and security.

Skyward’s Cloud Hosting

Skyward helps educators and admins jump past the hurdles presented by traditional hosting.

By partnering with ISCorp cloud hosting, Skyward users who choose cloud hosting bypass the tedious administrative tasks and achieve their goals faster. Essentially, educators can dedicate more time to focus on their students and peers—doing what they do best.

A system with scalability is important in desperate times. Imagine weather disruptions, fire hazards, or security threats. Now, imagine the system failing. When admins need to send out emergency or safety alerts to parents, a system crash is the last problem that the situation needs.

ISCorp cloud hosting is hands-free, meaning maintenance, updates, and hardware upgrades are proactively handled by professionals offsite.

Skyward’s cloud makes it easy to set up multi-factor authentication and private permissions for districts handling sensitive, high-risk data. ISCorp robust data centers are staffed with a dedicated security team and undergo 24-7 infrastructure monitoring.

In the unfortunate event that student data is lost, ISCorp includes a disaster recovery service, which ensures that your data is backed up. Our cloud hosting service features a 99.9% uptime guarantee.

Base Features of Skyward/ISCorp Cloud Host

Dual-redundant firewalls, BGP failover, and antivirus mitigation
SQL database licensing
24x7 infrastructure monitoring and alarming
15-month training database and unlimited test database
Hands-off hardware upgrades and software updates
Daily offsite backups
Maximum RTO 48 hours, RPO 24 hours
SSAE-16 annual audit and report
HIPAA certification

The benefits of web hosting in today’s digital age are numerous. Tailor your hosting to your district’s needs, whether that be scalability, security, uptime, or cost.

Check out these resources to learn more about Skyward’s approach to data security:

Your Data Security is Our Top Priority
Skyward Trust Center
Consider the Cloud
5 School District Data Center Mistakes

Thinking about edtech for your district?

We'd love to help. Visit skyward.com/get-started to learn more.