What is VPS Hosting? Is it Right For You?

VPS hosting stands for Virtual Private Server. VPS hosting is the next step up from a shared hosting plan. When you have VPS hosting you are still technically sharing a server with other customers. The difference is, with VPS Hosting the server is split up and a certain amount of resources which are dedicated to your hosting account and cannot be accessed by others you are sharing the hosting with. This creates a “Virtual Dedicated Server” for you and is much less expensive than an actual dedicated hosting plan. If you are not familiar with what web hosting is I wrote and article explaining it, click here to read. In this article I am going to go more in depth about VPS Hosting. It will cover what you get with VPS Hosting, what the difference between managed and unmanaged is, what type of websites need VPS Hosting, and is it right for you.

What is Commonly Included in a VPS Hosting Package?

Keeping in mind that there are different levels of VPS hosting and different providers who offer slightly different packages. The following list is pretty typically of what you will get with a shared hosting plan:

• vCPU
• Memory (RAM)
• SSD Storage
• Multi-Core Geekbench Score
• Bandwidth
• Inode Limit
• Dedicated IP
• Full Root Access
• 100 Mb/s Network
• IPV4 & IPV6 Support
• 24/7/365 Support

vCPU

This is the amount of CPU power dedicated to your VPS hosting plan. You can expect a range from 1 Core up to 8 Cores, depending on the plan you decided to go with.

Memory (RAM)

This is the amount of memory that will be dedicated to your hosting plan. Unlike shared hosting this is guaranteed at all times. A typical range is from 1gb to 16gb depending on the plan you go with and beyond.

SSD Storage

This is how much storage you will have with your hosting plan. This can range from 20gb all the way to 250gb and up, depending on your plan.

Multi-Core Geekbench Score

This is the rating to a robust and trustworthy cross platform bench marking service. You can expect scores to range from 600 up to 4000.

Bandwidth

This is how much data your hosting can transfer over the internet per month. Most VPS plans will start at 1TB and go up from there. This is going to be a huge increase from shared hosting and your website visitors are going to see a big difference in speed.

Inode Limit

Inodes are items that correspond to the number of files and folders you have on your account. These are very small files and VPS hosting offer limits over 16 million so most likely you are never going to reach that.

Dedicated IP

Having a dedicated IP address is like having your own personal address for your domain. This IP address is not shared with anyone else and unique to your Hosting account. They will improve your site speed and security.

Full Root Access

You will get full root access to your server and you will be able to have full control it over SSH. This is not available with shared hosting plans and allows you to have a lot more control on how you want to set things up specifically for your website.

100 Mb/s Network

This means each server can utilize an unrestricted 100mb connection line.

IPV4 & IPV6 Support

VPS hosting can generally support either IPV4 or IPV6 protocols. If you need a specific protocol, make sure you check before deciding on a hosting company if they offer it.

24/7/365 Support (With Managed VPS Hosting Only)

This can vary from hosting company to hosting company with the type of hours you are offered. But, generally speaking, with any hosting company that I would recommend, they are going to have 24/7 support. This will be in three forms. The first is online chat which I would recommend for small issues. The second is phone support which I would recommend for bigger issues. The third is ticketed support which is for when you can’t solve an issue via chat or on the phone and the problem needs to be escalated up the chain. What you do for this is, you will create a ticket and explain your issues (in detail) that need to be fixed.

Managed VPS Hosting vs Unmanaged

Lets start with unmanaged VPS Hosting. If you get an unmanaged VPS hosting plan, the main benefit is the cost. You are going to pay a lot less for an unmanaged hosting account. The reason unmanaged is so much cheaper is because you are going to be responsible for everything and there will be no support for your hosting plan. So realistically, this would be an option for a company that has an IT department. You would be responsible for operating system updates and patches and your security as well. It does give you total control but it is very work intensive.

A managed VPS hosting account would not require as much work. The hosting service would take care of all the updates, patches etc. They would provide security for you and there would be no need to have an IT department or team to manage everything. This is why managed does cost more and if your company is small and your not tech savvy, this is going to be your best option.

What Kind of Performance Can You Expect With VPS Hosting?

You will see some very good changes in your website performance when upgrading to VPS. Your website visitors will have better load times and will be able to interact better with your site, for example: when they sign up for you membership site. Your site will stay online and you won’t have crashes due to lack of resources. Your site will be able to handle heavy traffic without having to worry about it. Your website will also be more secure as you are not sharing the same server with other website that aren’t yours.

What Kind of Websites Need VPS Hosting

I would personal recommend VPS hosting for any website once you start making some decent money with it and your traffic is increasing. I made a list of sites that you would want to considering starting on VPS hosting due to the resource needs:

• resource-intensive websites
• web apps
• online game servers
• WordPress multisites
• complex projects

When is it time to Upgrade from VPS Hosting to a Dedicated Server?

You will be able to find many percentages and formulas online about what percentage of resources used on your VPS hosting means its time to upgrade. I would personally recommend just keeping an eye on your resources and your website performance. When your website starts to struggle handling the traffic, it will be time to upgrade. I would recommend exploring your options early because upgrading to dedicated hosting will cost a lot more and will take time to set up. So plan a head and know your options. If you want to learn more about dedicated hosting I have written an article click here to read!

Conclusion

Switching to VPS Hosting is definitely a much bigger financial investment than shared hosting. If you are serious about making your website into a business at some point you are going to out grow shared hosting and will need to upgrade to a VPS Hosting Plan. If you need to upgrade that probably means you are already killing it so congratulations! From my personal experience, since I have upgraded to VPS hosting from shared I haven’t had to deal with nearly as many issues and, I sleep a lot easier at night.