As opposed to dedicated servers, where you have exclusive access to resources, a virtual private server (VPS) shares hardware and software resources with other websites or operating systems. You might think that this is a bad thing, but virtual servers can afford a number of benefits.
First and foremost, your website will be the only one hosted in the allocated virtual environment, with independent resources such as CPU, RAM, disk space, etc. Therefore, other websites on the same physical system won’t affect the performance of yours.
Second of all, you get complete root access to your server as if it was a dedicated one. But what else do you need to know about virtual servers? And why should you choose VPS hosting for your business?
What to look for in a VPS hosting provider
- Reliability – The last thing you want from your hosting package is prolonged periods of downtime, meaning customers won’t be able to access your site. So, look for a provider with an impressive track record of uptime reliability.
- Security – Seeing as the average cost of the most severe online data breaches for big businesses now starts at £1.46 million, it is imperative your VPS hosting provider priorities stringent security programs and policies.
- Support – Should you encounter any problems with your virtual server, it is extremely helpful to have some sort of technical support available. Look for round-the-clock call centres and jargon-free guidance too.
- Hardware – Try to find out whether the hardware where your virtual server is housed will provide sufficient performance. Things to be aware of are a top-of-the-line CPU, dedicated RAM, and sizeable disk space.
- Pricing – Choose a VPS hosting provider that has a range of price plans on offer, which suit the unique wants and needs of your own business.
The benefits of VPS hosting
- Privacy – On account of the fact that you don’t share your OS with anyone else, there are no other websites on the server that can potentially access your files. This provides the ultimate in privacy.
- Customisation – With your own OS, you also have your own instances of all server applications, which can include Apache, PHP, and MySQL. Any of these services can be customised according to your ever-changing needs as well.
- Control – Even though you will technically share a server with others, your VPS can be restarted after installing an application without affecting anyone else.
- Resources – Unlike shared hosting, you are given dedicated resources with VPS hosting, which allow you to utilise all of your RAM, CPU, or disk space when you need it most.
- Cost – Because VPS hosting is run by a provider, you don’t have to pay for or maintain any web connections. This means that VPS hosting is much cheaper than dedicated hosting plans that operate a physical server.
With more and more businesses choosing to reap the rewards of virtualisation, it could well be time to switch your web hosting solution to one that puts privacy, customisation, control, resources, and cost at the forefront.
