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By now you might already have an idea and better understanding of Virtual Private Server-VPS Hosting – What is VPS? and What is VPS hosting?
If not, you can always refer back to our startup article – “What is VPS Hosting? Your Beginners Guide”
This blog post would try to cover Virtual Private Server – VPS Hosting – A to Z Guide in a brief manner which aims at your easy and fast grasping of the above topic.
Virtual Private Server – VPS – Can somebody explain this?
VPS stands for “Virtual Private Server.” A VPS is a kind of server created by using a virtualization software. It acts as a physical server, but in fact this is a server which is virtually created within a server. Interesting fact is that a single physical machine can host multiple virtual private servers (VPS).
A virtual private server features its own copy of operating system (OS). The customers normally have the root-level access to that operating system instance, so they can install almost any software that runs on that OS.
Cost wise in today’s market the virtual server costs way much less than an equivalent physical server. Another fact to consider here is, as virtual servers share the underlying bodily hardware with other VPS’s, overall performance may decrease to some extent, depending on the overall workload of every other executing digital machines.
Virtual Private Server – VPS Hosting – Can somebody write about this?
Yes! read on … This is quite normal that probably when you started off you had very few visitors, very less images and minimal pages. Gradually through the years, you progressively grew your website content base and added more pages. This increase in traffic or customer base demands more space on the server so that your website runs optimally. To achieve this, you need to switch to VPS Hosting.
Virtual private server hosting is the implementation of a Virtual Private Server to host your website files. Virtual private server website hosting has some first-rate benefits going for it.
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- Lower cost – It is the middle ground between dedicated and shared hosting as you get dedicated space at a lower cost.
- No or Zero downtime – with almost no or zero downtime all of your website users experience faster site loads irrespective of traffic demands with almost no downtime.
- Scaling is supported – gradually when your website grows up or down or seasonal peaks is possible.
VPS Working Mechanism – Let’s peep into it …
VPS hosting is a platform providing countless powerful flexible services which can be used in different types of hosting environments as per user requirements.
The main catch here is that the VPS Hosting gives user the power of a dedicated server, but in reality, the server is shared with other users. At the same time and best part is that you have your own kind of private server to which nobody has access.
Generally, a Virtual private server is shared between multiple users and is a server which runs within a server. The concept here is that one physical server hosts multiple virtual servers totally isolated from each other. This isolation is implemented by using a software called hypervisor which is an expert in partitioning the physical server into multiple virtual servers and at the same time keeping all partitioned segments or virtual servers separate from each other.
Every instance of VPS empowers you to use any custom operating system (OS) of your choice and the flexibility to implement any tools or utilities in any programming language or any other type of advanced scenarios that may utilize more resources. Any Virtual private server can also be rebooted individually.
VPS gives the owner/user the power and flexibility of root user who has all the administrative rights to all the directories for the allotted server space. In short, a true private server. Normally this kind of privileges are not available in shared hosting.
Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting – What are the advantages?
VPS hosting has some first-rate benefits going for it.
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- Lower cost – It is the middle ground between dedicated and shared hosting as you get dedicated space at comparatively lower cost.
- No or zero downtime – With almost no or zero downtime all of your website users experience faster site loads irrespective of traffic demands with almost no downtime.
- Scalability is supported – Gradually when your website grows up or down or during the seasonal peaks you may scale up or down as per the actual volumes.
- User privacy/isolation – A user gets 100% privacy from other VPS users on the main server. You will in no way be impacted by whatever your neighbours (other VPS users) are doing.
- Snapshot feature – Refers to the state of a system at a particular point of time. In case of a system crash, the snapshot technology comes to your rescue by helping you restore from a snapshot to its previous state. Generally, a snapshot contains only changes and consumes less space than a normal full backup. Also, a snapshot could be created and restored quickly.
- Root access – VPS equips VPS owner with the power of Root Access which grants the administrative rights for the dedicated VPS assigned, While the hosting provider still controls the server’s hardware, but the ultimate choice of OS & the entire environments is VPS owner’s choice.
- Dedicated server space – VPS provides dedicated server space which is exclusively for the VPS owner and is not at all shared with anyone.
VPS Hosting – Types – Which one to choose?
Mainly two types of VPS services are available for you to choose from – Managed & Unmanaged VPS. Your selection may depend upon your budget, technical skill levels and other preferences such as your region, niche etc. to name a few.
Managed VPS Hosting
The word “managed” says it all. Just forget about all the technical and server-side administration part. Under managed hosting the account holder is provided with most of the services starting from customer service, then initial server and operating system (OS) setup, going on to software installation and updates. This in turn gives you ample free time and comfort to strengthen your focus on your consumers along with your brand and website.
Managed hosting is the first choice of small business units, first time website/project builders and individual hobbyist who are first to their website or online projects.
Many company provides different types of managed hosting plans under which the services offered may vary according to the plan pricings. However, often the host would fully assist from server scratch setup to OS installations, plugin installations and setting up security configurations and support for the plan duration as agreed.
Pros Of Managed Hosting
You may expect to receive the below listed benefits from VPS managed hosting.
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- Initial full server setup– You can sit back relaxed while your hosting provider does all the hard work for you. Your VPS server would be up running in a matter of hour with all the required software’s loaded on to it.
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- Automated backups- This is an important feature which helps users to reinstate a previous version of their website in case something goes wrong with the current running copies or data files.
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- Updates – Once up running, all further critical updates for your installed applications and OS are the responsibility of the support team.
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- Security- in majority of cases all the hosting providers secure their main server against all DDoS attacks and all kinds of security threats and the same is applied to all VPS servers within it.
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- Powerful & Flexible- generally, companies build up their VPS servers on powerful physical machines with top branded hardware which are capable of running multiple VPS servers seamlessly without any glitches or failures in all cases. This also allows companies to offer flexible options with lower prices than dedicated servers.
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- Monitoring– VPS hosting providers implement all measures including automated software’s and physical checks regularly to monitor and achieve optimal server functioning and performance.
Cons Of Managed Hosting
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- More expensive– since, hosting providers put in extra effort by bundling the hosting plans with extra customer care support along with technical support, hence, to cover the cost of operating they charge slightly more than the unmanaged VPS plans.
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- Storage & bandwidth limitations- in some cases there may be limitations on the storage space allotted to you and also the bandwidth may be limited as per the VPS plan selected by you.
Unmanaged VPS Hosting
The unmanaged VPS hosting is mainly for the technically qualified or tech-savvy peoples. Here the user is expected to have a good hands-on experience of different server level OS like Linux command line and windows etc. The hosting provider supplies the VPS and there onwards you will be solely responsible for OS installation. Also, the task of upgrading with security software’s and any type of customizations are left with you to address and complete.
Unmanaged VPS hosting servers are all about user control. The user essentially pays for the bare metal server and the associated resources like the RAM, CPU, server space & the bandwidth etc. Mainly webmasters and developers like this kind of unmanaged VPS hosting.
Pros of Unmanaged VPS Hosting
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- Complete server control- The user has the power of “administrator” or “root access” which gives entire control of the VPS to the user and helps to customize as per the actual requirements of the user/business.
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- Lower price- No one wants to spend a dollar more; one can get VPS comparatively cheaper now a days with increased competition. User can get more of the server power and enjoy dedicated server setup by paying cheap prices with much more added options in the market.
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- Root access- The customers normally have the root-level access to the operating system which enables them to install almost any software that runs on that OS, quite similar to a dedicated server environment.
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- Enhanced scalability- Gradually when your website/business grows up or down or during the seasonal peaks it is possible to scale up or down all or any of the resources instantly as per your requirements by paying some extra money for it.
Cons of Unmanaged VPS Hosting
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- Difficult timely updation- In case of the unmanaged VPS hosting if the user is inexperienced, it may be difficult to keep up with OS updates and patches which are required to run the server smoothly without any glitches.
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- Security risks- Failure to keep the OS updated with the critical updates may increase risking the security and reliability of the VPS.
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- Support- A unmanaged VPS hosting requires 24/7 IT support which means you might need to hire an IT expert for this in case if you do not have sufficient knowledge of VPS hosting.
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- Time consuming- You may find it very difficult to properly focus on your core business functions if you are the only one managing the VPS.
Managed VPS vs Unmanaged VPS
Managed VPS as the name itself suggests, it is entirely managed by your service provider, and you have to barely put minimal or no efforts in putting it up running. The fully managed VPS system has a dedicated support team which handles all aspects of VPS hosting and thereby saving you and your team’s valuable time.
On the counterpart the unmanaged VPS hosting services comes at comparatively cheaper budget, but to utilize the full power of unmanaged VPS the user needs to have a good technical know-how of server and software working environments. Also, your preferences and the available budget is an important deciding factor to this.
In general, the choice of unmanaged Virtual private server would be apt for persons/users who has the drive and passion to launch, implement and customize their own VPS. Of course! preferably he should be professionally qualified in the computer/server/software field to manage the VPS smoothly.
Conclusion
Finally, to conclude we must agree that VPS Hosting is a very useful platform that provides amazing limitless flexibility and is highly scalable. It is cost effective for startups and growing businesses. Also, your eCommerce sites gets more security when hosted with VPS plans.
Under VPS hosting the user gets more dedicated resources which are in turn hosted on a powerful and reliable server. VPS offers scalable and reliable web hosting service with more than adequate resources.
Ever imagined of a dedicated server? You can feel and enjoy the power of a dedicated server hosting environment but without shedding out huge money and extra resources just by opting for VPS hosting.
Complete control over the server at a lower price? Seems catchy right? Yes! this is what the VPS hosting offers with the root access to customize from scratch to top notch.Virtual private server
