VPS vs Dedicated Servers

Posted on October 23rd, 2015

People put up sites for various reasons online. But whats the best choice VPS vs Dedicated Servers? Some have sites for their business, increasing their market reach by going online. Some have sites simply to cater to their interests, creating a space of their own for expressing themselves. Whatever your reasons might be for having a site, you can’t just make sure that you have a site. You also have to ensure that your site stays up because that’s the only way it’ll be able to fulfill its purpose. Having a site after all is useless if no one can access it.

In your quest to ensure that your site stays up at all times, at all hours of the day, any day of the week, the month, and the year, you will be presented with a lot of hosting options. And these hosting options in turn will then open up various server options to you. And as you go through various server options, you will undoubtedly come across the debate VPS vs dedicated servers. If you want to join the VPS vs dedicated servers debate and give people a piece of your mind, you have to make sure first that you know all there is to know about VPS vs dedicated servers.

VPS stands for virtual private servers. Most people believe that VPSs are harder to understand than dedicated servers so they use that as ammunition for the VPS vs dedicated servers debate to sink the former. After all, dedicated servers, according to their proponents, are something that almost everyone can easily identify with: computers. Think of every dedicated server as one computer system. VPSs, on the other hand, are different in that they share one server.

This characteristic of VPSs though makes them very, very similar to shared web hosts. There are differences between the two though, most basic of which is that shared web hosts have plans that generally offer unlimited bandwidth and storage but no guarantees when it comes to available memory and CPU power. In addition, there are restrictions when it comes to installing and running software since hosts regard new software as disruptive for the other accounts on the server. VPSs offer minimum resource allocations that are guaranteed to be provided at all times. And whenever possible, more resources can be diverted for use by a customer. Another thing that differentiates VPSs from shared web hosts involves the level of control that customers have on their accounts. While not all VPS accounts will allow it, you may be able to reboot the server or install software packages of your choice at any time. Generally though, how much control you have will be proportional to the cost of the package you are going for. The more expensive it is, the more control you can expect to get.

For the dedicated servers part of the VPS vs dedicated servers debate, you have to know that dedicated servers are generally the most powerful and the fastest of all the server choices available to you. However, there are also higher-end VPSs that can give low-end dedicated servers something to worry about. The point that dedicated servers want to make in their defense for the VPS vs dedicated servers debate is that they really do occupy the highest positions in the web hosting spectrum in terms of performance. They are also priced accordingly so they might not fit the bill for you if you are really looking for budget solutions.

One of the great benefits that dedicated servers have that give them the upper hand in the VPS vs dedicated servers debate is that complete control is usually given to the customer so you can do as you please and customize until you are content. VPSs normally just have a list of software that customers can install and sometimes these are not enough to completely address the needs of the customer. But this isn’t just because VPSs are playing it safe. Rather, the software list provided by VPSs simply represents what they can handle because of resource allocation issues. It makes sense though because VPSs are doing the responsible thing of ensuring that their customer’s software is always running. It’s just that VPSs can’t run all the software you want and need. Dedicated servers also win on this one in the VPS vs dedicated servers debate because they simply provide customers with hardware that can keep up with all of the needs of the customer. VPSs have to share resources and that simply pales in comparison to dedicated servers pulling out all the stops to take care of what their customers want.

To choose a side in the VPS vs dedicated servers debate, you have to make sure first that you have a clear grasp of what your needs are. For instance, VPSs are cheaper than dedicated servers so they might work great for you if you have simple needs and a budget to work with. On the other hand, if you put a high premium on control, then dedicated servers will definitely be able to satisfy you. Generally, you should also compare all the options available to you and find a balance between performance and price. This will be a challenge but the general rule is that you really do get what you pay for. You still have to be careful though because it’s not true all the time that paying a high price automatically means getting the better product.

As with any kind of product, the VPS vs dedicated servers debate is also affected by who the service providers are. Go to a reputable service provider and you’ll be able to take advantage of the best that either VPSs or dedicated servers can offer. At the end of it all, the answer to the VPS vs dedicated servers debate is subjective. For some people, VPSs will be the best. For others, dedicated servers are the only way to go. It’s all a matter of simply finding what will work for you and to do that, you have to make sure that you know all there is to know about your options.

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