VPS: Is Better Than Shared Hosting?

Why is VPS Better Than Shared Hosting?

If you’re planning to start an online business, or if you’ve already got one, you’ll know that there are many different web hosting plans out there — each with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. The least expensive and most popular is shared hosting, with hundreds of websites all sharing a single, very large hard drive. However, this type of hosting is not always well suited for all sites, especially for high-traffic sites, because it is not always possible to isolate each website from others sharing the server. Really large sites use dedicated servers — one company, one server. In between these two options is the Virtual Private Server, or VPS. VPS is less expensive (much less) than a dedicated or private server, and offers more freedom and many more options to a growing online business than shared hosting. With a Virtual Private Server, every web hosting account gets its own operating system. Users can configure these segments without affecting other users on the same physical machine, because they are operating within their own virtual server. Additionally, a VPS hosting environment can be easily scaled to significantly more powerful physical hosts as demand increases. Over time, hosting on a VPS can significantly reduce the total cost of ownership.

VPS isn’t suitable for every site owner. Some people are happy with a low-to-moderate traffic site and are content with the level of control offered by a web hosting control panel like cPanel or Plesk. These individuals will prefer Shared Hosting for its apparent simplicity and ease of use — they generally don’t have Linux system administration experience and are not interested in acquiring any. Others have outgrown their shared hosting account or are unhappy with site performance (30-second download times), and it’s definitely time to upgrade to a VPS account. A good web hosting company will help you migrate from your shared account to a VPS account with no downtime or complications.

Performance

Shared server accounts are always subject to the performance and behavior of neighboring accounts. If one account abuses their terms of service and sends a mass mailing of spam, this will load the server and negatively impact the performance of all accounts on that server. VPS accounts have guaranteed resources. One user cannot take away a large share of the resources. Your service will run reliably and consistently. If you have a bad VPS neighbor, they will tend to affect only their own account, as each account appears like a separate server to the Internet.

High Customizability

Virtual Private Servers are extremely feature-rich. They are practically equivalent to a dedicated server. Some applications require that certain ports and/or protocols be opened or closed in the firewall. With Shared hosting, custom firewall configurations are not advisable for security reasons. Under the VPS, custom firewall configurations are possible due to the partitioning between users.

Security

Shared hosting is inherently difficult to secure completely. If an account on a shared server is compromised, the attacker may be able to damage the entire server, causing extended outages. If a spammer causes the server to be blacklisted by spam organizations, this may affect other accounts that send legitimate emails until the server is whitelisted again. VPS accounts are isolated from one another, minimizing the risk of unauthorized access from hackers as well as from other users. The isolation of your account also minimizes the risk of being affected by a DoS attack intended for another account.

Scalability

Virtual private servers are inherently scalable — whether you need a minimal allocation to run a simple email server or a webserver with enough resources to support extensive database applications and heavy traffic, there is always a VPS hosting plan to address your needs. You can also easily downgrade or upgrade your service with little to no downtime.