In the applications and website hosting world, getting to know the available hosting solutions is a must, especially if you or your company plan to host your application, business site, or e-commerce website independently.
Choosing the right hosting solution for your business might be challenging, complex, and confusing at times, especially if you are new to the hosting industry or looking for simple yet affordable solutions, therefore, we choose one of the most reliable, secure still a widely available solution which is Virtual Private Server (VPS) to cover in this blog article. We will simply explain what VPS hosting is, and the difference between VPS and other similar solutions, in addition, will give you a list of advantages and disadvantages, and a checklist of how to choose the best VPS provider out there.
VPS is one of the services offered as part of the Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) provided globally by different companies. VPC is a private computing network built inside the data centers and delivered by hosting companies in different packages and services.
Virtual Private Server Definition
One of the most popular and affordable solutions to host your website and/or application is the Virtual Private Server, also known as (VPS), which is a virtual server machine hosted and operated by a web hosting or a cloud computing provider. Generally, VPS is a virtual server that appears to the user as a dedicated server. Still, in fact, it’s a virtual operating system that is hosted within a parent server, which allows the users to have the VPS benefits and controls over the following aspects of their hosting:
Access the VPS environment remotely as users can access the VPS environment from anywhere using the hosting provider panel.
Install/Uninstall the preferred operating system/Applications according to the business needs.
Manage Storage and Bandwidth, as each virtual instance will have its allocated storage and bandwidth. Many of the hosting providers offer upgrade capabilities to the VPS packages offered.
Maintain security in the hosted environment as most VPS instances are isolated from the other instances hosted on the same parent server.
Managed VPS vs Unmanaged VPS
While you are searching for suitable VPS hosting you might come across these two terms: managed virtual private server and unmanaged virtual private hosting, and for a better understanding and before we list the advantages and disadvantages of VPS hosting, let’s clarify the difference between the two types as follow:
| Comparison | Unmanaged VPS | Managed VPS |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Unmanaged VPS hosting is a virtual private server that is fully managed by the client side, the hosting provider will not offer any support during installation, maintenance, or upgrades. | Fully managed, semi-managed, or managed VPS hosting packages are provided with full technical support from the hosting provider side, which includes all the VPS instances management: OS installation, hardware updates, upgrades..etc. |
| Management Time | Clients purchasing unmanaged VPS will require 24/7265 technical experts present around the clock from their side, which raises the cost and the effort level. | No technical expertise is needed on the client side, which saves time, cost, and effort. |
| Cost | Hosting packages tend to be lower in cost as the private virtual server hosting provider offers no technical support for these hosting packages. | Hosting packages might be slightly higher than unmanaged VPS as hosting providers would add the cost of the technical support provided to the customers. |
| Resource Control | Clients will gain more control over resources, OS, and applications installed from their side. | The hosting provider fully manages infrastructure on the client’s behalf, which includes OS & applications installation hardware, and security updates. |
| Security | Higher security is given by default as the client would have full control over which security protocols and software to install. | Security is based on the provider, clients will get what is offered from the hosting company side. |
Advantages & Disadvantages of VPS
Getting a private virtual server is easy, in fact, most of the hosting providers would deliver instant VPS hosting for as low as $1-5/month, therefore, before deploying your VPS, get to know its advantages and disadvantages beforehand.
Advantages of VPS
Resources Control
Every VPS instance comes with allocated, isolated storage resources and bandwidth, which is easy to control and manage with SSH and/or the root access usually provided by the hosting company.
Reliable Performance
Having a dedicated VPS server for your resources guarantees fast and reliable performance to the hosted applications/website.
High-Security
Most of the virtual private servers are isolated beyond other VPSs, which provides improved security to your infrastructure.
Low-Cost
VPS tends to be affordable, not as cheap as shared hosting but also not as expensive as dedicated servers.
Easy Updates/Upgrades
Upgrading hardware and bandwidth is accessible as well as s updating operating systems or other applications installed, most of the VPS providers offer several packages with different specifications and prices.
Private Infrastructure
Most of the VPS solutions available in the market provide a private allocation of resources for all the packages offered, which enhances servers' security and reliability.
Instant Deployment
Deployment of VPS is easy and fast, installing and deploying can take mere minutes.
Flexibility of OS and other applications Installation
Users can choose a suitable OS for their projects and install other applications.
Disadvantages of VPS
Managing VPS is Difficult
Management of the VPS resources requires high technical experience, henceforth users should acquire the necessary set of skills to manage the installation, upgrading, and monitoring of the VPS instance beforehand.
Technical Maintenance
VPS resources assigned to the users can be difficult to maintain and will consume time and effort on both the server side and the hosted application side. Users should stay up to date with new technologies and best practices to be able to manage the VPS resources effectively.
Infrastructure & Security Limitations
Despite the flexibility, VPS hosting brings, still it has limitations in terms of security and infrastructure upgrades as you will have only access to the resources assigned to you and not the whole server.
Common Uses of VPS Hosting
Managed and unmanaged virtual private servers have many use cases that go above and beyond simple website hosting, such as:
How to choose the right VPS hosting
There are unlimited options for getting VPS hosting from different providers with endless hosting packages, managed and unmanaged. The key question is, how to choose the right provider. Here is a list of points you need to look for when choosing your next VPS provider, we call it the golden checklist for choosing a VPS provider:
Conclusion
Getting VPS hosting for your online business and/or website is easy, maintaining your server is something else. It’s important to know which virtual private server to choose before hosting your business, advantages, disadvantages, and use cases of VPS presented in this article are just the basics you need to know before taking the leasing decision with any hosting provider. If you have any thoughts, feedback, or suggestions please do share them with us and we will be happy to connect with you.
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