Monday 8 August 2011

What is VPS Hosting?

By Matt Ewing


VPS, or Virtual Private Server, means hosting of different entities for various customers, but all in one server. It enables the service provider to make a partition of a single server into many virtual servers. The customers would then share the server as a whole, which includes both the connection and the hardware. They would actually enjoy the same benefits as they would get in case of dedicated hosting like a file system and a private operating system, which gives them the freedom of safe access. So this kind of a configuration means a combination of a dedicated and a shared hosting. In all, an enhanced performance with privacy will accrue to the company at a much lower cost than it would have to pay for dedicated hosting.

Customers would get certain controlling features as well, like the administrative tasks of changing the configuration of the server, installation of software, rebooting the server, etc. This kind of an account is good for those customers who invariably need safety and accessibility more than anything else. So you may very well opt for VPS hosting if you want to switch over from a shared hosting to a dedicated one, without having the need to increase the costs for the purpose. Some service providers offer this service for a cheap cost of $10 a month, so investing in a VPS hosting environment is a very good idea for many online business owners. Given that the operating system and the file system are unique for every customer, the users can get a good portion of the server when you talk about CPU, network and the disk input and output.

If you are planning to resell the hosting, you will have a greater degree of control on those services which you can offer, so it would give you a competitive edge over the competitors. For those web developers who are planning to develop a social networking site or a blog full of functions, VPS hosting would be the idle choice to go for. Even for those webmasters who find it comfortable managing a shared hosting and wish to upgrade their technical know-how on server management, but do not wish to expose themselves to a dedicated server in totality, VPS hosting is a good option. The webmasters would be enabled to install some custom applications or even change modules for their servers. Besides, they would enjoy full security over all the websites under their management, because every single VPS environment is run by a unique software for its hosting, since they have their unique resources as well, intrusion possibilities are widely reduced.

VPS hosting is in fact the bridge connecting initial entry level web hosting and its co-location. However the former will offer you services like MySQL/PHP which will come with a specified disk space on a shared server while on the other hand the latter will help you avail and control the system hardware while just renting a connection from the internet along with rack space from the same data center. Now if your purse is restricting your choice of co-location hosting then VPS is the answer for you. It will let you use quality service and that too at a bare minimal rate.

As for the lower expenses, a dedicated web hosting plan is at least better than co-locating. Let it put in this manner that this is priced bearing in mind the competitive market. A dedicated host endows you with a dedicated server. Its cost is not as low as a VPS web hosting plan but it is well within your reach. As far as its scheme is concerned, you do get the server from the host company but you don't need to hire the rack space for the server like you need to do in co-location.

Some of the advantages of a VPS web hosting plan are listed below:

Provides access for installation or configuration of any program whatsoever and at anytime the customer wants.

If it's about the virtual hosts provided by Apache, it is possible to host many websites.

You get many other services as well, like an FTP server, a mail server, and any server that you may need

These are immensely helpful in order to store files or as backup or for something else.

It has also some disadvantages and they are as follows:

The VPS web hosting brings the entire server under your control which makes you accountable for any action you undertake using the server. Thus you yourself become accountable for your personal safety as such your security thus becomes totally dependable on your actions. You can charge no one for any breach of security which is an important aspect that you should count on before taking up VPS.

In this format, you have the operating system in your grip but on the other hand, you are in extreme need of sharing RAM, CPU, etc. (i.e. hardware resources) with other users of the VPS on the same host. This is quite a problematic issue. So, for top quality requirements and using resources like RAM at random, a co-location or a dedicated server is perhaps the best option to look for.

How it works:

A combination of many technologies makes running a VPS possible. Some of them are the Virtual PC by Microsoft, the User Mode Linux by Open Source, and XEN, the latest one. XEN is actually getting rave reviews from the media. There is also a possibility of it being combined with the forthcoming Linux distribution. Web developers will only benefit from it, since it will give them more freedom at a very cheap cost.

Using your VPS account you will get to access core areas of the server provided to you. Working with a Linux server you will get to use it to your full advantage and control everything using this core access advantage. But remember that along with full control you also become liable for anything you do so if Linux is not the thing for you then forget about VPS.

However if you are extremely eager to use VPS then you can choose from the many disk images that will be offered to you. In fact they will also provide you with multiple distributions that you can choose from the default configurations. Just specify what you want and the VPS will be configured just to your choice in a couple of minutes. After this you will have access to the core area and the service is yours to use in any way you feel like.

Like in any other aspect, the cost factor is very significant. VPS prices vary within the range of a monthly amount of $20 to $100. Price doesn't necessarily exhibit the quality and it is always wise to begin with lower range providing 64MB RAM and a 2GB disk space if you are devoid of a profound knowledge of VPS web host functioning. Don't worry because you can always go on to the upper range. Let's assume that you have a small budget but brilliant ideas for your business, don't hesitate to go for the higher price band.




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