Virtual Private Servers or Dedicated Servers: What does your website need?
Today, a company that is planning to setup a website, has a number of web hosting options ranging from shared hosting to virtual private server hosting and dedicated server hosting .But if a site is experiencing heavy traffic and is expected to have more, then a shared hosting plan might not be able to accommodate demands of that site.
Virtual private server and dedicated server are the two options which are considered best for medium to large sites with high volume of traffic and high resource needs.
But the selection between the two hosting environments -virtual private server vs dedicated server, is a bit daunting task as they both offer common hosting benefits like-root access, scalability of resources, advance security and more. Still there lies some differences between dedicated server and VPS.
Understand these hosting solutions to know which one might be best to fulfill all your website needs:
What is a Virtual Private Server?!
A ‘mother server’ is divided into multiple virtual compartments, and server software is setup on each server separately so that each server can function independently.
Every VPS has its own operating system and dedicated server resources that are accessible only by its owner.
In short, VPS is just like an apartment with multiple flats where you share a building with other people but not your living space and resources allotted for your consumption.
VPS hosting is available for both OS –Linux VPS hosting and Windows VPS hosting!
VPS is best for your website, if it needs-
- A hosting plan which is more than a shared hosting plan but if you want to make minimal investment than a dedicated server.
- Better control over hosting environment to perform more advanced actions, such as installing custom software or a server configuration.
- Stable stream of server resources –Web space, RAM, and CPU dedicated only for your site, but at low costs.
- Ability to accommodate high or additional amount of incoming traffic that requires website speed.
- Security that gives ability to install your own anti-virus and malware detection software and implementation of better backups too.
- Advanced monitoring of server.
- SEO requirements such as private name servers, dedicated IPs and speedy loading of pages.
- VPS configured in cloud environment i.e. Cloud VPS for your hosting needs.
(It comes with self-healing hardware; centralized and scalable storage; and pre-defined templates for instant server provisioning and a lot more.)
Thus, if you have a small to medium scale business or an e-commerce site/gaming, site with highly informational data that attracts medium traffic, or your website has the above demands then, VPS is the best hosting solution for your site.
But, on the other hand, if you feel that your website needs cannot be met by VPS hosting solution than choose a low cost dedicated server.
If you plan to switch from VPS to dedicated server follow these best practices.
What is a Dedicated Server?
A server dedicated only for the sole use of your website. It gives you access to all the server resources and makes you the sole owner of the server. Web hosting provider leases the space to the client.
The non- shared environment of dedicated server offers maximum benefits in terms of high performance, control, freedom, resources, scalability and more.
In short, dedicated server is like a complete bungalow where you do not share anything with other people and enjoy your space unconditionally.
Dedicated server is best for your website, if it needs-
- Complete control over the server- the server is used solely by your website/business and you are granted much greater access and more control over the server.
- Allotment of more amount of space and resources –bandwidth, memory and hard drive space in comparison to VPS.
- Greater level of security- All the resources on that server belong to you, making it far more secure than a server shared by several businesses. Moreover, when combined with regular updates and security patches, this hosting type offers strong protection for your files and website.
- Greater reliability-Dedicated server promises best possible level of uptime, that means your website will be accessible and available at all times.
- High performance and server management.
Thus, websites which need ability to install heavy software-necessary for gaming, ecommerce sites, super-fast load times, application heavy pages, secure storage options for sensitive information/ data details, better performance rate when handling a high traffic should choose the dedicated server option.
**Summarizing **
Each option comes with its own set of advantages. Plan ahead and think about the size and nature of your website and volume of traffic. Choose accordingly!
If there is any doubt regarding this write-up please drop comments in the section below.