Anyone who utilizes a web hosting provider is primarily renting hardware that can be used for operating a website. The provider thus makes servers available that provide the appropriate level of computing power in the form of RAM and CPU and as well the necessary hard drive space. This makes it possible to get operating systems, web servers, databases and other components up and running.
If you go for dedicated hosting, the provider assigns you one or several specific servers with resources that are available to you and you alone. With shared hosting, the starting position is somewhat different: like with dedicated hosting, the provider usually assigns you one or several specific servers from their contingent. However, you share the resources with other customers. In simpler terms, only your own projects run on a dedicated server, while your web applications run alongside those of other users on a shared server.