Your Guide to Deciding Between VPS or Dedicated Server Hosting

The Dedicated hosting market is expected to be worth more than a whopping $6 billion by 2020, as more businesses embrace the cloud. 

If you’re a business looking forward to doing more, going online could be the easier thing to do. There are tons of ways to make money online, like how to make money with WordPress, and we think you already have a service or product you want to talk about. 

However, how do you know what’s the right option for you? Here is the thing. Basic shared plans do not work – you will run out of bandwidth sooner than you know it, or your web host will restrict the number of users who can be on your site at a particular time.

Your choice would be between a Virtual Private Server or a Dedicated Servers, but they aren’t the same. The latter costs more, and is probably not the one you need if you’re starting out. Before we talk about what’s the right option though, let’s get a few things out of the way. 

Know Your Host 

Firstly, get the basics clear. Find out what the different types of hosting have to offer and whether you need those features or not. In many cases, organizations select an unsuitable hosting type for them and end up paying more than required with the notion that the best hosting costs more. 

Is it true that paying more gets you the best server hosting?

No!

Most web hosts bundle in features and plans that you probably do not need. For one, if you’re already backing up your site on your PC, you may not want to go in for a daily backup plan that costs $20 monthly. 

Instead, a cheaper plan with what you need might be a better deal for you, saving you the cost of extra services. 

Deciding between VPS and Dedicated Server Hosting

Now, we won’t be talking about shared hosting here. It just doesn’t make the cut for a business site unless you are okay with the few eyeballs.

Instead, we will talk about how you can go about choosing between a VPS and a Dedicated server.

Popularly known as VPS, this kind of web hosting is a popular choice for most organizations. Offering you a virtual replica of a physical server, hosting a private server for every client. 

A Virtual Private Server is great for websites with high intake of visitors as it manages the traffic to websites individually. It can be said that a VPS lies between Shared Hosting and a Dedicated Server. At present, there are two types of web hosting services dominating the market and VPS is one of them. 

For a VPS, check:

• The server storage space you have
• The server type you’ve – newer Intel processors work better
• Do you’ve cPanel support?
• Do you’ve unmetered bandwidth?

With a dedicated server, clients get to lease an entire server for themselves without having to share the resources with other owners. Resultantly making it the best alternative for websites which generate higher traffic. 

Organizations that prefer a specific operating system can also avail the benefits of such dedicated servers as most web hosting providers offer the option to host a dedicated web server on different operating systems like Windows and Linux.

For a Dedicated server, check:

• Does the web host offer you complete independence?
• What is the storage space and server type?
• Does it offer full root access?

Some web hosts also offer a free SSL certificate with your VPS or Dedicated server plan, so you might want to check on that too.

Here are a few other things to consider when deciding whether you need VPS or a Dedicated Server Hosting.

•   Cost

The most important aspect, hands down, is the price at which both the types of hosting are available to you. When compared, a VPS definitely is the cheaper option, but dedicated servers do offer a more private approach to web hosting. 

With VPS, the hosting provider gets the ability to offer their services to multiple clients and divide the cost between everyone. The client as well pays for the bit of server utilized by them, making it a win-win situation or both parties. 

•   Security

It is a fact that websites are more prone to malicious activities now than they previously were. Therefore, security is a key factor to decide which type of web hosting you require. For websites with higher traffic, the risks associated are naturally more, making them more exposed to attacks. For this reason, it is essential to choose a safer option if your website needs protection against attacks.

•   Operating System

The type of operating system your organization uses is another considerable aspect to decide between VPS and dedicated server. Linux and Windows lead the path of operating systems for major organizations at present, make sure the type of hosting you choose is compatible with the Operating System you use.

Now that we’ve discussed different factors that must be considered, here’s how you can finally distinguish between these two types of hosting. Shared hosting is not recommended as it is neither safe nor reliable. The following points can help you decide whether you need a VPS or Dedicated Server Hosting.

When to Select a VPS Host

•   Your website is getting popular, it is generating more and more traffic by the minute, but you don’t have the resources to go for a dedicated server as it obviously costs more than VPS.
•   You understand technology (at least a bit).
•   You need a better server hosting to get additional resources, but a dedicated server is too much, and shared hosting is not an option.

When to Select a Dedicated Host?

•   If you need only the best for your website, from the RAM to managing high traffic, a dedicated server is the best alternative. 
•   Security is a critical factor and the price you pay for it is not a problem.
•   You need a separate server to host your website allowing you to configure the server as per your requirements.