What Is A VPS?

Date First Published: 28th April 2022

Topic: Computer Networking

Subtopic: Network Services

Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty: Medium

Difficulty Level: 6/10

CONTENTS

Properties

Learn more about what a VPS is in this article.

Not to be confused with a VPN (Virtual Private Network).

Short for a virtual private server, a VPS is a hosting service that provides users with a virtual machine with full superuser/root access. They are customisable and configurable hosting plans that are isolated from other accounts. It is an alternative to shared hosting as no other websites are hosted on the same VPS, meaning that the user is provided with dedicated CPU, RAM, disk space, and a private IP address.

Multiple VPSes are housed inside one physical server and each VPS has its own operating system, which can be separately rebooted. In general, VPSes are much more reliable than shared hosting.

Note:

VPSes run on virtualised operating systems with other virtual servers. Note that when users host their website on a VPS, they are not actually renting an entire server. They are a step below dedicated servers, since a dedicated server means that users are renting an entire physical server for their own use. When using VPSes, multiple websites are still sharing the resources that are present in a physical server as virtual machines. VPSes are private sections of a physical server that are allocated to a user, as suggested in the words ‘virtual private’.

Advantages and Disadvantages Of A VPS

The advantages of a VPS are:

Disk space, CPU, and RAM are not shared with other users. Unlike shared hosting, which will cause other websites to go down when one uses excessive amounts of server resources, VPSes provide users with their own dedicated space. The physical server that runs VPSes makes use of a technology, called a hypervisor, which is able to set the amount of storage, CPU, and RAM that the VPS can use. If one VPS is using excessive amounts of server resources, such as CPU or RAM, it will have no effect on the other VPSes.
It gives users full superuser/root access. This allows users to install any package or software that their website requires. It can run a lot of applications that are incompatible with most shared hosting environments.
Due to root access, the security of a VPS can be enhanced by a user, such as installing custom firewalls and antivirus software.
Custom control panels, such as cPanel can be installed for easier server management.
It offers freedom and flexibility over the limitations provided by shared hosting.
The VPS hosting provider might allow the user’s VPS to borrow resources from other VPSes when they are not being used.

The disadvantages of a VPS are:

It is much more expensive than shared hosting plans. This is because they are built with more expensive infrastructure and have much more stable and powerful hardware with SSD storage. However, they are less expensive than dedicated servers.
They may require users to have knowledge of server administration, which is not suitable for inexperienced users.

Types Of VPSes

There are two types of VPSes that exist, including managed and unmanaged. Unmanaged VPSes are cheaper than managed VPSes, since the owner of the site is not paying for the web host to also take care of their VPS.

Unmanaged VPS

In unmanaged VPSes, the owner of the site is responsible for managing a variety of aspects of the VPS, including:

Setting up backups.
Monitoring security threats, installing security patches, and protecting it from cyberattacks, such as DDoS attacks by installing custom firewalls and antivirus software.
Taking care of software updates.
Configuring the packages, software, and control panel that the VPS uses.

An unmanaged VPS is recommended for experienced site owners. In the event of an outage or hardware failure, not much support will be provided by the web host.

Managed VPS

Managed VPSes can be used by less experienced site owners. Web hosts take care of a managed VPS and monitor it for any outages or hardware failures. However, it is important to choose a reputable hosting provider as this gives an outside party more control. They take care of:

The server setup, including the software, control panel, and packages.
Any software updates.
Security patches for the operating system and protection against cyberattacks, such as DDoS attacks.
Security features, such as custom firewalls and antivirus software.
Any backups.