A Virtual Private Server, or vps, is a hosting alternative to dedicated servers and shared hosting. Vps, as its name implies, is a virtual server, whereby you have all the conveniences and power of a dedicated server, but without the higher cost and the hassles that come with the latter. Vps is also a big step above shared hosting, the cheapest hosting choice that comes with all the problems inherent in sharing a computer with a large number of users.
Latter day virtual servers enable hosting companies to give you an exclusive block of disk space and limits each customer’s RAM usage, unlike in a shared hosting situation. The server’s cpus are used in the same way as for shared hosting, however. The way top vps hosting companies insure that your web sites’ traffic spikes and those of other customers do not result in performance problems is by using burstable memory. That is, when memory usage reaches a threshold, reserve memory will be used.
When you are logged into your virtual server, it is hard to differentiate the experience from that of having a dedicated server, since the file system and the applications look identical. Everything you can run on your own dedicated machine you can also run on a vps, with very few exceptions. Since a vps runs within its own “jail”, anything that transpires within your vps has no effect on the host machine, so if your virtual kernel crashes, you will just remote reboot it just as you would if it was a dedicated server.
So, which should you choose? If you want to host a slew of different sites, or run your own server applications and scripts without any restrictions, or have a site with a serious amount of traffic, that pretty much eliminates shared hosting. The big advantage of vps when compared to a dedicated server is that if you need more ram or disk space, you don’t have to copy, reinstall and re-configure everything on a new server, or pay big bucks to the hosting company to install more memory chips or an extra disk. Instead, you just bump-up your hosting plan. In addition, maintaining your own server means acting as your own sys admin, which is time consuming and more involved than what you are looking for.
Next time you are looking for hosting, consider the vps option
