VPS hosting is quickly gaining popularity in the web community. VPS hosting is a relatively new type of hosting and it was designed to meet the needs of webmasters, who need the freedom and reliability of dedicated hosting but who can’t afford to pay hundreds of dollars a month for a web host.
What Is VPS Hosting
VPS hosting is one of the newest types of hosting. Traditionally, there were two flavors of web hosting – shared hosting and dedicated servers. However, since shared hosting limits a webmaster a lot and a dedicated server is too expensive, for many webmasters neither shared hosting, nor dedicated servers were the solution. Many webmasters were willing to pay more than the standard shared web hosting plan but to get more freedom. This is how the market for a third solution, namely Virtual Private Servers emerged.
VPS uses virtualization technologies in order to enable multiple logical servers to be run on one physical computer. When virtualization is used, it is possible to deploy 5, 10 or more servers on the same machine and yet all these servers are independent from one another.
Each of these virtual servers is assigned to a different user, who has full control over the environment on this virtual server. Since each user has his or her virtual server, not a dedicated physical server, the fees are much lower because actually 5, 10 or more users are sharing the price of one dedicated server.
Advantages of VPS Hosting
VPS has some advantages, which make it the preferred option when choosing a web hosting plan. Here are some of these advantages of VPS hosting:
Cheaper than dedicated hosting. Thanks to virtualization, it is possible to have many logical servers onto one physical machine. In this aspect VPS hosting is similar to shared hosting but the difference is that with shared hosting one physical/logical server is shared by different accounts. The fact that VPS hosting allows to share one dedicates server among many users inevitably leads to much lower prices. Still, even though VPS hosting is times cheaper than dedicated hosting, it is an exaggeration to say that VPS hosting is a cheap web hosting plan.
Gives webmaster a freedom. As far as freedom and flexibility are concerned, VPS hosting is almost the same as a dedicated server. A webmaster gets his or her private virtual server and he or she is free to configure it the way he or she wants (provided that this doesn’t violate the rights of the other users, of course).
A great choice for a small to middle-sized site. VPS is an especially good choice for a small to middle-sized site because it is the best combination of price and flexibility. For a large site, VPS might also work but since large sites usually drive a lot of traffic, VPS hosting might not be sufficient to handle all this traffic appropriately.
Disadvantages of VPS Hosting
As with anything else in life, VPS hosting is not perfect and it has its disadvantages. If a webmaster chooses VPS hosting, it doesn’t mean that trouble is around the corner but still one should know the limitations of VPS hosting and when VPS hosting is not a good idea. Here are some of the major disadvantages of VPS hosting:
A webmaster shares the same physical server with other users. Similarly to shared web hosting, with VPS hosting, many accounts (and the sites associated with them) are stored on the same physical server and if the server crashes, all the sites on it go down. Also, if some of the sites have lots of traffic, this might affect all the other sites in a negative way.
Virtualization technology limits the choice of applications. Virtualization is a great technology but there are some applications, which misbehave when run in a virtualized environment. In such cases, VPS hosting is not a good idea and the choice is limited to dedicated hosting.
Still expensive for a very small site. VPS hosting might be times cheaper than a dedicated server but still $30-100 a month is not cheap hosting – at least not for a small or a very small site.
When a webmaster knows the advantages and disadvantages of VPS hosting, he or she can make an informed decision if VPS hosting is suitable in the particular situation or not. It is true that VPS hosting combines the advantages of shared hosting and dedicated hosting but unfortunately it combines their disadvantages as well.
What Is Dedicated Server Hosting?
Unlike shared hosting, in which space on a server is shared with many other webmasters, a dedicated server is not shared. Dedicated servers are owned by a hosting company, with the entire server being leased and utilized by a single customer. Shared hosting is usually sufficient for most small or medium sized websites, but web sites that require of a lot of disk space or data transfer, or have very specific software needs, may need to lease a dedicated web server.
Dedicated Server Web Hosting
Dedicated server web hosting is simply leasing an entire server from a dedicated server hosting provider. Instead of sharing server space on a server, the webmaster has an entire server to use exclusively. This type of hosting allows for the ability to maintain large websites, websites that need additional security, or sites that use special or demanding applications.
Benefits of Using Dedicated Hosting
By using dedicated server hosting, a webmaster has total control over their web presence. They are able to select the operating system and software, and customize the settings for multimedia and e-commerce requirements. In addition, because the equipment is first-class, and because the server isn’t hosting sites from other webmasters, upload-times and security is better. For more sophisticated websites, dedicated solutions allow for the deployment of more complex applications, like databases, streaming media, and multi-media programs. For these reasons, dedicated servers are considered a superior service for more demanding websites.
Here is a list of benefits of using a dedicated web server hosting solution:
Don’t need to purchase equipment.
Don’t have to maintain equipment.
Can purchase a package base on needs.
Fast and high-quality servers.
More flexibility in upgrading or dealing with problems that arise.
Better security.
Handles sites with high traffic.
Ability to host multiple domains.
More powerful email solutions.
Database and software support.
Dedicated servers provide control, reliability and higher performance for resource-intensive web applications. It remains the best solution for individuals and corporations running heavy traffic websites.
Managed VPS Versus Un-Managed VPS Hosting
A managed hosting provides support and expertise for maintaining the server, including performing maintenance. If a webmaster doesn’t have the technical knowledge of hosting and servers, this may be worth the additional investment. Un-managed hosting, still has a certain level of support, like hardware maintenance, and some configuration or software installation assistance, but nearly every other aspect of managing the server is left to the webmaster..
It may not immediately appear that dedicated servers are a great deal as compared to shared or VPS hosting, but the extra reliability, speed, and security can prove vital for many webmasters.
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