What’s the difference between dedicated servers and virtual private servers (VPS)?
Dedicated Server: A dedicated server is a server that is completely owned by you. Unlike shared servers which is just one server that is isolated into parts and allocated to many webmasters. You get extremely powerful, reliable and dedicated resources with a dedicated server. That is because only you get access to the server and all the resources are limited to you only. Since there is no sharing of the server there is no risk of data leakage or hacking of the server. Big companies prefer to host their websites with dedicated servers because they are suited to handle the high traffic. You can use all of the physical server’s assets. You can start with an already installed bundle of server management tools. You can choose more tools that you find useful to add to your bundle.
VPS Server: VPS accounts are secured on dedicated servers, and they share the assets of that common server. It is actually a shared space, leased on a common server that is divided into multiple accounts. These isolated accounts are leased to different webmasters. There can be concerns about how the VPS accounts are allocated and how they are sold. Accounts have several virtual server configurations sharing one server’s assets. Each VPS is given a max limit in terms of data transfer bandwidth, CPU usage, RAM usage, disk space, and more. Going over these limits results in the VPS being temporarily useless. This can be a big obstacle because as websites begin to grow they need more of resources and if the servers fail to withhold websites, the hosting package or the type of hosting may be needed to change.
Understanding the Specifications of Hosting
When you go for a dedicated server you know what you are getting. There is complete transparency in what you get. With a virtual private server, you don’t really know the specs of the server that’s been separated into numerous VPS accounts. You have no clue if the provider is using XEN, VMW, KVM, or another hypervisor (virtual machine monitor). There is also an issue of the server being sold to too many accounts. Some hosts will claim that they can’t oversell XEN, but it can be done with a scheme known as ballooning. Dedicated servers have more security.
Resources vs. Limitations of a Dedicated Server
- CPU model
- RAM amount and type
- Hard drive capacity
- Bandwidth
- Uplink port speed
On a VPS you are told the RAM you’ll get and the number of cores that are administered for your package. Since many VPS hosting clients use below twenty percent of their appointed CPU resource, hosts sell too much of that resource without notice of their clients. That may be the reason your VPS starts to choke- that is the unavailability of the server. If you choose dedicated unmetered bandwidth servers you will know what you’re getting before you buy. There won’t be any problems with something a host might be hiding from you.
Hardware Variances
The kind of hardware that is used to provide VPS servers compared to that of dedicated servers is also important to consider. With a VPS package, you don’t really know what you are getting into unless the host lays it all out for you. What type of hardware are they using? An old CPU? An SAS drive? A SATA? The bulk of dedicated servers are rented to customers who are usually knowledgeable about hosting, and because of that those servers are set up with Supermicro or Dell solid state drives (SSD) for maximum performance.
Managed Services
You can get managed services for dedicated servers and virtual private servers, which is beneficial if you’re not technically proficient. Most folks prefer VPS because they think that it’s less expensive, but sometimes it’s more costly. If you’re not sure of such, it’s best to hire the experts.
Choosing Server Type
There is no right or wrong type of server when it comes to hosting a site for your business. It all depends on the needs and the things you want to achieve with your site. A dedicated server is only worth it if your website is receiving over a half a million visitors per month and have the technical professionals to manage and enhance your server. It is required only if you have a big business and you need more applications for your website. Also, it is more time-consuming to set up a dedicated server. In case of VPS, it is comparatively cheaper and good for starters who don’t want to run big websites. VPS is easy to setup and also it is easy to configure whenever an upgrade is required.
