What is VPS hosting? If this is the first time you’re hearing about virtual servers, you’ve come to the right place!
VPS is short for Virtual Private Server. This service uses virtualization technology to provide dedicated (private) resources on a server with multiple users.
And VPS hosting is one of the most popular hosting services you can choose for your website.
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Who uses VPS hosting?
It is the most secure and stable solution in shared hosting cases where you don’t have dedicated server space. However, it is on a smaller scale and is cheaper than renting an entire server, which is another possible but definitely more expensive solution.
VPS hosting is usually chosen by website owners who have mid-level traffic that exceeds the limits of classic shared hosting plans (Register and Aruba’s services for instance) but still don’t need the resources of a dedicated server.
VPS solutions, such as that of cPanel, usually offer more than one hosting plan to choose from. This is because different types of web hosting allow you to perform different levels of customization on your server. They also vary in terms of price, performance (e.g. Page Load Time), and service availability (e.g. Uptime).
VPS Hosting vs Shared hosting
Shared hosting is the solution for website owners with low-traffic sites. It is the go-to for most small businesses and bloggers. With shared hosting, you share the same physical server with several other clients from the hosting company. You are not allocated dedicated resources, as your site runs on the same operating system as everyone else.
Therefore, the memory and computing power your site can use is affected by the needs of the other users of the service. For example, if you experience a sudden spike in traffic on a website hosted on the same server, your page load time may increase. You can’t even choose your own operating system or other server software, since all users use the same configuration. All in all, it’s your hosting provider who takes care of every aspect of your shared hosting environment.
You can think of shared hosting as a rental where you share the same apartment with a varying number of roommates. VPS hosting is still a kind of shared apartment but where everyone has their own room where they can customize the space to suit their needs. For example, they can choose the color of the walls, furniture, decorations, etc.
VPS Hosting vs Cloud hosting
With cloud hosting, you don’t use a single server, but rather a cluster that runs in the cloud. Each server in the cluster stores an up-to-date copy of your website. When one of the servers is too busy, the cluster automatically redirects traffic to a less busy server. As a result, cloud hosting has no downtime because there is always a server in the cluster that can meet the demands of your website visitors.
Cloud hosting and VPS hosting are not mutually exclusive. Many hosting companies offer VPS hosting on cloud infrastructure as this combination of VPS and cloud technologies leads to the highest possible performance and reliability in the virtual server environment.
VPS hosting vs WordPress hosting
WordPress hosting is a service offered specifically to WordPress site owners. It comes with several WordPress-related features that you can only use if you have a WordPress site, such as one-click installation, pre-installed plugins, or a WP command-line interface. Servers are configured for the needs of WordPress. Therefore, hosting providers offer WordPress hosting as part of their shared hosting service.
Although it is also possible to set up a WordPress site on a virtual private server, you cannot access custom servers that have been configured with WordPress in mind. However, if you choose VPS hosting for your WordPress site, you can set up and configure your hosting environment according to your business needs.
One of the best solutions on the market is a VPS hosting with cPanel pre-installed – a true toolbox ready to get your website up and running.