Have you ever heard of VMWare or other popular virtualisation techniques ? If you have even rough idea of how it works then VPS is just virtualisation in terms of hosting services.

A VPS is basically a server running within a server. One physical server hosts multiple virtual servers, each isolated from the others. This is accomplished with software, called a hypervisor, that segments the physical server and keeps each segment separate from the rest.

Each VPS runs its own operating system, independent of the others, creating the illusion that it is actually its own independent server. Each VPS can also be rebooted independently.

Having VPS lets you set up your website within a secure container with guaranteed resources (memory, disk space, CPU cores, etc.) you don’t have to share with other users. With VPS hosting, you have the same root-level access as if you had a dedicated server, but most importantly at a much lower cost.

If you have at least 2-3 points matching from the below list you should go for VPS hosting plans.

• Currently on shared hosting but want to grow
• Facing problems like bandwidth, slowness in Shared hosting
• Need more storage
• Can spend little more money for better services.
• Currently on dedicated server but want to save some money while maintaining security, reliability.
• Have little technical knowledge in terms of hosting
• Want to install custom softwares for website etc.

If you have at least 2-3 points matching from the below list you should NOT go for VPS hosting plans.

• Starting website development/blogging for the first time
• Small business with no existing site
• Website with less traffic
• No exclusive need for security/reliability/scalability
• Want to downscale from Dedicated hosting but want all control
• Have less budget

Managed VPS hosting
Fully Managed VPS is a virtual private server that lets you take a hands-off approach. Your hosting provider will handle the technical side to ensure the VPS provides the functionality and virus and spam protection you need without any work on your part. They’ll also handle maintenance, troubleshooting, and software installs, saving you time and making sure the job is done with expertise.

If you don’t want to get into managing site, resources, technical things then you should go for managed VPS hosting so that you can focus on your site.

• Saves your time
• Requires no IT expertise
• Ensures OS updates are completed, secure and updated
• Changes are made correctly

• Costlier than unmanaged VPS
• More control to hosting provider or an outsider

Unmanaged VPS hosting
An Unmanaged VPS is a self-managed VPS. The hosting company is responsible for providing the VPS, maintaining the hardware, and performing system-level health checks, but the VPS customer i.e us performs the rest of the maintenance, monitoring, and changes.

PROs

• More control on the site
• No need to involve provider or an outsider
• Less costly than managed

CONs

• Apart from working on site also spend time into managing it
• Need to keep up with OS updates, security patches
• Requires some dedicated IT professional

Shared hosting means you share a server and resources like network access, memory, hard drive storage capacity, and processing power with other sites whereas VPS hosting creates a virtual environment that simulates a private server with all resources to yourself (within the shared hosting environment)

• Performace – VPS environments run faster and perform more reliably than shared environments for the simple reason that they operate on individually allocated bandwidth. In Shared hosting resources are shared hence performance can be compromised.
• Security – VPS is more secure as there Isolation and no sharing of resources.
• COST – VPS is costlier than Shared hosting
• Control – With VPS, you get SSH and root access to your server
• Scalability – VPS is more scalable. As your website grows, you can easily upgrade your server resources (RAM, CPU, disk space, bandwidth, etc.).

With VPS, all clients or webistes on the server appear as if they were on a separate dedicated machine but share resources split between different websites using same server.

With Dedicated hosting, you’ll get full access to all resources on the physical server, including network access, memory, hard drive storage capacity, and processing power. The difference comes down to how resources are allocated and who has control over them.

• Performace – Dedicated servers have better perfromance as there is no sharing at all
• Security – Both VPS and Dedicated hosting are isolated hence secure provided hosting providers are reputed.
• COST – Dedicated hosting is costlier
• Control – In Dedicated hosting, User has all the control like OS to be installed, full root access