What is a virtual private server?
In the past, when a powerful server was needed for heavy or high-traffic websites, the solution was a dedicated physical server. What does that mean? An entire machine, a box of metal, that was all yours, and only your website was hosted on it. On the one hand, this is a powerful, high-quality technological solution, but on the other hand, server maintenance is complicated and expensive, and the very act of maintaining the server cost a lot of money – sometimes unjustifiably, in relation to the website's revenue. So what can you do? Large websites, such as e-commerce sites or content sites with high traffic, cannot afford to use shared hosting. The resources on a cheap website hosting server are divided among all the sites on the server, and will not be sufficient for a site with serious needs. On the other hand, there is no desire or ability to maintain a dedicated physical server. This is where a virtual private server (or VPS) comes in. As the name suggests, it is an interesting combination: a private server, but virtual. In fact, it is a powerful server that hosts several users. However, unlike shared hosting, resources are allocated separately to each user. This means that even though you have "neighbors" on the server, you do not share processors, memory, or data with them. With private virtual server hosting, you and your website are guaranteed the performance you need, without having to worry about what is happening with the other tenants on the server. And because it is virtualization, rather than physically separate servers, it is a much cheaper and easier solution to use.
In fact, with a private virtual server, you get the benefits of a dedicated server at a significantly lower price, without having to find someone to provide professional server maintenance.
Virtual Private Server - Advantages
- Performance: With a VPS, you get a powerful, high-quality server that ensures your website's excellent performance and stability.
- Information security: A virtual server is a good infrastructure for secure website hosting. You do not share the server with other users as you would with shared hosting, so if there is a breach or security issue with other users, your website will not be at risk.
- Affordable price: VPS is certainly more expensive than standard shared hosting, but it is significantly cheaper than a dedicated physical server, and even small businesses can afford private virtual server hosting.
How do you choose a VPS for your website?
Important parameters to consider when choosing website hosting on a virtual server:- Required server resources: How much storage space do you need? How many processors and how much memory? These are the most critical technical parameters for a private virtual server. If you are unsure, send an email to the hosting company and they will be able to recommend the desired configuration. Usually, with VPS, you can easily upgrade and change your hosting package, so you can make changes later on.
- Operating system: It is important to choose an operating system that is suitable for the type of website you are managing. Linux servers, for example, are recommended for open source systems.
- Managed or unmanaged virtual server: In most cases, you can choose whether to manage the server yourself or receive server maintenance services from the hosting company. Maintenance services cost money, of course, but if you don't have the technical knowledge, it's a worthwhile investment that usually doesn't significantly increase the price of the VPS.
- Access and control panel: With Linux servers, you will usually get root access to the server, allowing you to run scripts, use SSH, and perform automation. Check whether a control panel such as cPanel is included in the package and whether you can install a control panel yourself.
- Server location: If the server is not located according to your target audience's geography, it may not be able to compensate for the physical distance, despite its good performance. If your audience is Israeli, it is better to choose storage on a virtual server in Israel.
- Customer service: This is always an important parameter when it comes to website hosting, but it is even more significant when it comes to a virtual server, whose configuration can be more complicated. Check carefully who you are "marrying" and make sure you are getting quality and available customer service.
When do you need a private virtual server?
A VPS is definitely not for everyone, but here are some classic cases where you should consider purchasing a private virtual server.- You started with shared hosting and the resources are not enough for you: If you regularly exceed the server's resource usage (not because of malfunctions or an unnecessarily heavy website, but because of traffic and loads on the website), then you should switch to a virtual server.
- If you need to install unique applications or modules that are not supported by standard shared hosting.
- When you need ROOT access to the server.
- A virtual server can also be suitable as a development environment for software or software testing.
- If you have an online store with high traffic.
- If you have a financial website that requires a particularly high level of information security.
Have you read this and decided you want a private virtual server? Contact us and we will be happy to help!