| A "VPS" is a source of confusion for many | | | | servers, they still cannot compete in terms of overall |
| webmasters and web developers. It exists in a sort | | | | performance, since 100% of a dedicated servers |
| of gray area between shared hosting and dedicated | | | | resources are dedicated to the sites hosted on that |
| servers, which are more established and easily | | | | server, whereas a virtual server is only using a |
| understood forms of web hosting. | | | | portion of the resources of its host machine. Also, |
| A Virtual Private Server (VPS) is basically a virtual | | | | there is some overhead in running the virtualization |
| dedicated server. It exists on a machine that uses | | | | software that allows VPS plans to exist in the first |
| virtualization software to run multiple virtual machines, | | | | place. Despite these shortcomings, VPS plans can still |
| each of which has its own independent resources | | | | be an excellent choice in many situations. |
| (disk space, memory, etc.) and each of which is | | | | Web developers, for example, may find VPS plans a |
| totally independent of other virtual machines on that | | | | very appealing alternative to shared hosting because |
| server. These virtual machines then are set up as | | | | of their greater customization options. Like a |
| "little" dedicated servers. | | | | dedicated server, a VPS can be set up with |
| This gives a VPS certain valuable characteristics. For | | | | whatever software and configured in whatever |
| example, VPS plans are generally cheaper than | | | | manner the developer needs - but at a generally |
| dedicated hosting plans, because one physical server | | | | cheaper cost than a typical dedicated server. |
| can host mutliple VPS servers. This makes them | | | | A VPS can also be useful for small ecommerce sites - |
| cheaper. But they also have many of the benefits of | | | | they offer greater security and the ability to use |
| a "normal" dedicated server - they're generally more | | | | more sophisticated software than may be available |
| reliable and more easily configured. One VPS can | | | | on a shared hosting plan. They also generally offer |
| crash without affecting any of the other virtual | | | | more uptime, always something of interest to |
| machines running on that server. | | | | ecommerce merchants! VPS also offers a good |
| This compartmentalization also means that virtual | | | | upgrade path to dedicated servers if a site takes off, |
| servers have no access to other virtual servers on | | | | because in essence they are dedicated servers - just |
| the same physical machine. This makes VPS plans | | | | running on virtual machines. |
| quite a bit more secure than traditional shared hosting | | | | So despite their unusual characteristics, a VPS plan |
| plans, as well as being more reliable. | | | | may actually be a good choice for you - depending |
| While they are generally cheaper than dedicated | | | | on what you need. |