Virtual
machines and virtual servers — what are they and how do they differ?
Are
they related to virtual private networks? And what’s the difference between
virtual hosting, shared hosting, and dedicated hosting?
These
are important questions, especially if you’re going to host a website or a
remote server. Fortunately, the answers are pretty simple and the usefulness of
virtual servers may end up surprising you.
Virtual Servers: To understand virtual private servers
(VPS), we have to first understand virtual machines What Is a Virtual Machine?
What Is a Virtual Machine? Virtual machines allow you to run other operating
systems within your current operating system, but why does that matter? What are
the pros and cons? Read More (VM). A VM utilizes some of the physical resources
of a computer — e.g. CPU, RAM, disk space — to run an emulated version of a
computer. Think of it like picture-in-picture: you can, for example, run a
virtual copy of Windows on a physical computer that’s already running Windows.
It’s
possible to run multiple VMs with a single computer and that’s what a lot of
hosting companies tend to do. Imagine a data center full of servers where each
server is running several VMs. These VMs can be rented out for consumers to
use, and when this happens, the VM becomes a VPS. Technically, nothing has
changed but the terminology itself.
With
the right software, anybody can offer VPS hosting, but if the VPS is going to
be worth renting, the physical hardware needs to be powerful and secure. If you
want the benefits of a VPS without renting one from a remote location, you
might consider running a local VM Testing A New Operating System? Stay Secure
With A Virtual Machine Testing A New Operating System? Stay Secure With A
Virtual Machine Read More on your computer instead.
Be
careful that you don’t confuse virtual private servers with virtual private
networks (VPN). VPNs use secure private connections that take place over a
public network to simulate a private network. You can use a VPS to facilitate a
VPN, but otherwise the two aren’t directly related in any meaningful way.
Great Reasons To Use A VPS
The
main competitors to VPS hosting The Various Forms Of Website Hosting Explained
[Technology Explained] The Various Forms Of Website Hosting Explained
[Technology Explained] Read More are dedicated hosting and shared hosting.
Dedicated hosting allows you to rent out an entire physical server that’s used
by you and nobody else while shared hosting uses one server to host multiple
websites.
In
other words, dedicated hosting is more powerful and expensive than VPS hosting
while shared hosting is cheaper but less flexible than VPS hosting. For this
reason, VPS hosting is often seen as a transitional option for website owners
who have outgrown shared hosting but aren’t big enough to need a dedicated
server.
That
being said, VPS hosting isn’t that much more expensive than shared hosting. A
beginner-friendly VPS host DigitalOcean: The Best VPS Host For Newbies
DigitalOcean: The Best VPS Host For Newbies Read More like DigitalOcean offers
per-hour rates as low as $0.007 per hour, which amounts to $5 per month. The
cheapest shared hosting plans may cost $2 or $3 per month, but virtual private
servers are more flexible and perform better. This is just one of many reasons
why VPS hosting beats shared hosting Why You Should Use A VPS Instead Of Shared
Hosting For WordPress Why You Should Use A VPS Instead Of Shared Hosting For
WordPress Read More .
What
kind of flexibility does a VPS offer? Well, you can think of it as a remote
computer. Anything that you can do on a computer, you can do with a VPS (as
long as it falls within the terms and policies of the host). This means you
won’t be limited to just web hosting, though many virtual servers are used to
host active websites.
One
big benefit of using a VPS is the sandbox security. If you somehow screw up a
virtual server, it won’t harm the physical server’s operation since everything
is running in a virtual sandbox. The VPS can be rebooted or reinstalled without
much issue except maybe for lost data (so always keep backups What Is The Best
Backup Solution? [Geeks Weigh In] What Is The Best Backup Solution? [Geeks
Weigh In] Ten years ago an external hard drive – or even a physical disc such
as a CD-ROM – was the only practical way to back up files. Consumer-grade
network storage solutions were primitive, expensive and... Read More ). On a
dedicated host, a mistake could cause permanent damage.
Plus,
other users on the physical server won’t have access to your VPS setup. On a
shared host, it’s possible for a malicious user to hack the host and access
other user accounts on the server being shared. Since virtual private servers
exist in a sandbox, other users can’t access your virtual environment unless
they obtain your account login information.
What Can You Use A VPS For?
This
discussion has been pretty abstract up to this point. Let’s explore some of the
practical uses for a VPS and how renting one might make your life easier.
Running A Website
This
is the most obvious and popular use. Since virtual private servers provide more
resources for your website (e.g. CPU, RAM, etc.) than shared hosting, you’ll
find that your website feels more responsive. Plus, with full control over the
virtual server, you can install and remove software at will according to your
needs rather than being stuck with what the host offers.
Hosting A Server
Have
you ever wanted to run your own Minecraft server How To Setup a Minecraft
Server How To Setup a Minecraft Server Minecraft has exploded over the last
couple of years to become one of the greatest indie games of all time. There’s
simply so much you can do with the game - not only by its... Read More ? Or
maybe you need a private Mumble host for your friends to chat on? Or if you’re
leaning more towards business uses, you could use a VPS for hosting files and
other media. Basically, anything that runs as a server can be run on a VPS.
Testing New Environments
Since
dedicated hosting is so expensive, virtual servers can be used as testing
grounds for server setups that aren’t ready for live deployment. They can also
be useful for quick exploration and testing of new components: operating
systems, frameworks, software, etc.
Seeding Torrents
Also
known as a seedbox, you can use a virtual server strictly for torrenting
purposes. If you torrent frequently, moving all of that action to a remote VPS
not only frees up a lot of home bandwidth, but it also allows you to keep it
going 24/7.
Private Backups
The
leftover disk space in a VPS plan can be used to store private backups of
important files. It’s cheaper to use cloud-based storage The Cloud Storage
Showdown - Dropbox, Google Drive, SkyDrive & More The Cloud Storage
Showdown - Dropbox, Google Drive, SkyDrive & More The cloud storage scene
has heated up recently, with a long-awaited entry by Google and a revamped
SkyDrive from Microsoft. Dropbox has gone unchallenged by the major players for
a long time, but that’s changed... Read More from a price-per-gigabyte
perspective, but if you’re already using a VPS for some other reason and you
have leftover space, you might as well think of it as free file storage.
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