A Virtual private server web hosting or a VPS hosting is a method of virtually dividing a physical server computer into multiple servers so that each account holder gets the appearance and capabilities of running its own dedicated machine with guaranteed resources. A virtual private or virtual dedicated server hosting as such mimics a dedicated hosting environment within a shared hosting environment. To break it down further, virtual private server hosting by virtue of occupying a place between dedicated and shared hosting witnesses the partition of physical server into numerous isolated environments wherein every partition has its own mail server, server software and independent software instances and services.
Virtual private server hosting offers end users the power and control of dedicated hosting at the cost of shared hosting. Website owners, website developers and web hosting resellers are provided some quality opportunity by this type of hosting to optimise their hosting environment. VPS hosting to a great extent negates the shortcomings of shared hosting as people here do not have to share resources, software and applications with dozens or even hundreds of users present on the same server.
In the following paragraphs we shall look at some of the distinguishing features of VPS hosting, how it works, various benefits associated with it and how it differs from dedicated and shared hosting among other things.
Difference between shared, dedicated and VPS hosting
Dedicated server as the name suggests is reserved to be used by a single organization. Dedicated hosting is expensive and most appropriate for high traffic volume websites. Smaller organizations with websites generating low online traffic can go online without spending too much money by opting for shared hosting. They just need to rent a small part of the web server to host their website. Shared hosting is when you share a portion of the server with other users rather than rent an entire server to yourself.
Organizations who are growing at a fast pace may have to switch to a dedicated server at some point of time. VPS hosting sits between dedicated and shared hosting and as such can be a great hosting option for organizations who want to have a feel of dedicated hosting before moving on to much more expensive dedicated server hosting.
How does VPS hosting work?
The technology behind VPS hosting is similar to that of VMware or Virtual Box. These programs allow you to run several virtual operating systems on one machine. For example, your desktop may be running Windows XP, but you can easily switch to other operating system like Linux without having to restart your computer.
Virtual private server hosting works in the same way. Service providers give you a web server’s hardware to share with others while the software you use remains free from other users’ interferences. In other words it means that you can run your own copy of OS on the server and install all the applications supported by the OS on your machine. You are given full root access to your server as if it were your own dedicated server, although you have to share CPU, RAM, storage and bandwidth among others with other users.
Some distinct advantages of VPS
A VPS is created by virtualization software which means that every user is completely isolated from what other users are doing on the same server. Keeping this important feature in mind, we list now important features and benefits associated with VPS server hosting
Stability—VPS allows for stable website performance as the traffic generated and resource consumed by other website will not affect your website performance as it remains isolated from other websites present on the server.
Better performance—your website is going to load quickly and remain accessible as you are guaranteed your own dedicated set of resources.
Flexibility—VPS allows for higher flexibility as you can install and run an operating system of your choice and all the software and application supported by it without seeking permission or experiencing any kind of disturbance from other users.
More cost control— VPS servers are a lot cheaper than dedicated server despite the fact that in many ways it acts as a dedicated server. Smaller organizations as such who lack the resources and technical expertise opt for VPS servers before moving to high end and costlier dedicated servers as their business grows.
Having gone through some of the important benefits of VPS hosting, it is now time to look at some of the factors that need close consideration before hiring the services of a VPS hosting provider.
Management and support
Quality firms provide support and management services to their clients with active monitoring of the server and network. This ensures optimum website performance and also eliminates several security threats like DDoS attacks, malicious software, hacking, etc.
Root access
Root access grants you good control of your VPS hosting account. You can use the control panel to carry out a variety of tasks related to your hosting.
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