Virtual Private Server Selection Checklist
A Virtual private server to make you to feel like you have your
own dedicated server, at a
price tag which is closer to shared
hosting. How to select one? Here is a checklist.
Advantages
Disadvantages and considerations
Conclusion
Recommended Links
Related articles
Advantages
- Virtual private servers allow for better security, flexibility
and performance (compared to shared
hosting solutions) without the price tag of a dedicated
server.
- Each server runs as an isolated process within the physical
web server, and provides root access in complete privacy with
the ability for guaranteed CPU resources, network bandwidth and
disk storage space.
- Unlike shared hosting, you have the ability to install your
own web applications.
- Load balancing (Best private virtual servers allow load balancing
with other private virtual servers on the same real server so
that your server performance is not impacted by other using running
on the machine).
- Tens of websites may be hosted on the same virtual server.
Considerations and Alternatives
- The price of a virtual private hosting is higher then shared
hosting
- Higher maintenance costs (E.g. it took me lots of time to administer
the spam filtration mechanism on my virtual server). Good control
panels may lower this cost, but you will still need to have technical
knowledge. It's much simpler to have a shared
hosting solution.
- Scalability issues (When your web traffic becomes high, you
will have to find another solution. Switching cost may be high).
- While performance is better then shared hosting, usually it's
not enough for websites with high volume of traffic. Sites with
lots of traffic may need one or more dedicated
servers (or a load balancing solution).
- Dedicated servers are
becoming cheaper each day. Several months ago, I've found a dedicated
linux server for 50$/month.
- Shared hosting is more standard,
hence there is a higher number of applications optimized for shared
hosting. Virtual private server hosting solutions tend to be vendor-specific.
Conclusion
- Consider virtual private hosting if you need a dedicated
server but can't afford the price.
- Plan to migrate later, when traffic grows.
- Consider virtual private hosting if you are a small web design
shop with tens of small clients and slow growth. This allows for
cost saving without scalability issues.
Recommended Links
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- Take a look at my web hosting
glossary for a full list of no-nonsense article with business
strategy advice.
- Take a look at my small-business
web-hosting strategy guide for more articles on effective
web hosting and strategies for your business.
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