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Virtual Private Servers Hosting VPS

February 1st, 2007

Putting it simply VPS (or vitual private server) is the way to put multiple accounts on one server and splitting the server (cpu resources, memory, and hard drive space) so that all of these accounts act “like” their own server. In other words, a virtual private server eliminates the restrictions of virtual hosting by providing all of the administrative features of a dedicated server.

The virtual private server was first implemented by hosting giant NTT/Verio to bridge the gap between shared hosting environments and customized dedicated servers. By using a virtual private server, Web hosting resellers and Web designers can provide small businesses the performance, security, and control of dedicated hosting services at a fraction of the cost.

What does this mean to me?
A virtual private server will ensure “performance isolation” so that heavy traffic or CPU loads will not affect other VPS solutions on the same infrastructure. One of the problems with shared hosting is that some Hosts will load more accounts than a sever can take. In this instance, a Web site will load slowly not because of what that user does but because of what other users are doing on the server. In a VPS situation, a user has their own specific amount of system resources and because of this the Web site will come up on someone’s browser at a normalized pace.

Due to the fact that a VPS solution truly simulates a dedicated server, some technical understanding of server administration is required. However, this barrier is removed if the Host uses one of the many popular control panels such as Cpanel, Helm, Ensim, and Plesk. These reduce the learning curve by automating or providing wizard dialogues for key server functions.

The most popular feature that VPS customers use, however, is the virtual private server’s capacity for isolation.” Because a VPS has its own contained services, it is possible for users to install and customize their own open-source and commercial software.

Others major features that characterize VPS solutions include: fault tolerance, which ensures that errors, which affect one specific private server, do not affect others, which ensures that e-business applications can be deployed with greater privacy.

Implied Attributes
By implied we mean those features that the bulk of VPS Hosts offer, but have not yet been adopted by the industry as a whole. These include:

OS Virtualization: The software that runs VPS hosting has been getting more and more advanced with each year. In the beginning of VPS we had server virtualization. The server was cut up and served to the customer. The software being used now provides operating system (OS) virtualization. This means virtualizing a physical server at the operating system level, enabling multiple isolated and secure virtualized servers on a single physical server. This opens the doors for the next set of features, guaranteed resources, enhanced security, and root access.

Guaranteed Resources: When we say guaranteed resources we mean these are the bare minimum that a Host can give that user. For instance, when you see in a VPS plan that says 256k processor guaranteed it means the CPU is cut into small pieces so that your piece will be 256k at the very least. This also translates over in places such as RAM and bandwidth. Using software called virtualization software, a host can cut the various pieces up to guarantee these resources will be there for user no matter what.

Root Access: Root Access enables the user to be the administrator for their piece of the server. This gives you a lot more freedom as to what you can do with your system. Also because its VPS your root access will never get involved with another customer’s root access on your server.

One Static IP Address: Many VPS Hosts allot at least one static IP address to their customers. This gives the user added flexibility when it comes to adding software packages that require a permeneant non-shared IP such as Private SSL Certificates, Anonymous FTP, etc.

The Problems with VPS
So VPS is like dedicated server lite. It has a lot of excellent features, but whats the catch? Well no matter how you look at it you are still sharing a server. You could be on a dual xeon server and sharing it with only 10 accounts it will still never be anywhere near as powerful as running your site on a dual xeon.

Another problem to consider is server density. Again you are sharing a server and even though you will never see nor be directly effected by the others on your server you will still be affected by how many accounts share the server with you. A good reputable Host will keep the population small so that everyone has a good use of the resources, but some Hosts my try cramming as many as possible unto one server.

Entry Filed under: Web Hosting