Virtual Private Server (VPS) Web Hosting - What It Is And When You Should Use It

Shared web hosting lets thousands of people run a website for a reasonable cost, but it has some drawbacks. With hundreds of site being hosted on one server, that server's resources can get overloaded - resulting in poor performance on your website.

If you've outgrown shared hosting or are looking for a way to have more control over your server, you should consider Virtual Private Server hosting.

A VPS is a single physical server that is running special software that divides it into several virtual servers. Each server acts as if it is a completely self-contained machine, with no bearing on any of the other virtual servers running on that same system.

Each VPS can be configured however you want and can even be running different operating systems. You can install any special software you might need for your website, without having any effect on the other people on the server.

One of the biggest advantages of a VPS is you get root level administrator access to your server. You can install and delete any software you want, set permissions, create special accounts or anything else an administrator can do.

A VPS is also more secure that shared hosting. On a shared server, all the websites are running on the same operating system so if the server gets hacked, it will affect all the sites on it.

If a VPS gets hacked, it won't have any bearing on the other virtual servers on the same machine.

The disadvantages of a VPS are closely related to the advantages. Because you have ultimate control over your server, it can be dangerous if you are not familiar with how to manage a server.

You can delete files, change permissions, fail to update security issues and more if you're not careful. If you aren't familiar with server administration you would either need to spend some time learning how to do it or hire someone to do it for you.

If you're considering VPS hosting, find out how the server resources are divided, how many virtual servers are on each physcial server, whether you can upgrade your plan with minimal hassle and what your operating system choices are.

John Lenaghan writes about choosing a web site hosting provider and other website hosting topics on the Hosting Report website. Find out more at http://www.hostingreport.org

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