How to Choose Between a VPS and a Dedicated Server

Dedicated servers and VPS offer an efficient cloud hosting solution for personal and commercial use. Whether you’re seeking a new hosting option for your website or looking for a better way to organize an online game server, a cloud services provider can help you get set up with virtual and physical computing technologies that make hosting a breeze. However, choosing between a dedicated server and a VPS can often be challenging. In this article, we’ll examine the key benefits and differentiating factors of these two hosting options, so you can find the virtual or physical server solution that’s right for you.

What is a Dedicated Server?

Dedicated servers are physical machines that consumers or businesses can purchase on a monthly basis for hosting and high-performance computing. The hardware for the machine stays in the service provider’s data center, but all other aspects of the server are configurable and customizable by the end-user. Dedicated servers use top-of-the-line processors, along with high levels of RAM and memory to deliver hosting solutions with the uncapped performance and website traffic. Dedicated servers are available at a range of price points, ensuring your business only pays for the computing power it needs.

Benefits of Dedicated Servers for Hosting

Dedicated servers are perfect for hosting websites, storing and sharing video files, and maintaining high-capacity game servers. If you’re searching for a dedicated server, there are a few key benefits that you’ll want to know about before you make a purchase.

Server Customization

Dedicated servers offer consumers limitless customization options, from the operating system on the machine to the security protocols. You’ll have plenty of cloud storage for private video or media file hosting, along with a range of site management and video game hosting tools. When you purchase a dedicated server, you’ll also have a range of customization options for the machine’s hardware and bandwidth limits, ensuring that you’re only paying for the computing power you need.

High-Performance Hardware

When you purchase a dedicated server, you’ll have all the resources and performance options of the server hardware available for personal use. Hardware for dedicated servers offers users performance above and beyond what your personal hardware can handle. Check for hosting options with either Intel Xeon or high-level AMD Ryzen processors, with at least 32 GB of RAM and a minimum of 500 Mbps bandwidth. As your business grows and begins to increase its server computing requirements, you can easily scale upwards to a server with better hardware.

Reliability

Hosting with a dedicated server ensures that your website or game server never experiences downtime or lag. Dedicated hosting solutions are typically held in data centers with a temperature-controlled environment and 24/7 physical and virtual security. For eCommerce websites, in particular, the stability of your website can play a major role in the success of your business and the resulting profit margins.

What is VPS?

A VPS, or virtual private server, is essentially an isolated portion of a single machine that consumers can purchase for hosting. A cloud services provider usually offers a range of VPS, divided in price by their computing and bandwidth capabilities. The virtualization technology that accompanies this hosting solution keeps each VPS running on the same machine partitioned so that there are no security concerns or overlap. However, the hardware resources are shared amongst every virtual operating system, which can limit computing power for hosting, particularly in comparison with a dedicated server.

Benefits of Virtual Private Servers

If you’re currently evaluating your cloud hosting and computing options, you may have noticed that a VPS is a significantly cheaper product than a dedicated server. While the computing power of this hosting option is lower than dedicated hardware, it’s still a good fit more many individuals or smaller businesses, depending on what you’re hosting and how much bandwidth you’re planning to use. Here are a few of the main advantages of hosting with a VPS.

Scalability As your website traffic continues to grow, or as the number of users accessing your server’s resources continues to increase, you may need more bandwidth and memory capacity attached to your private cloud hosting solution. However, if you’re just starting out with outsourcing your hosting, then you can always get started with the lower VPS service tiers. As your computing requirements and resource draw increase, you can easily scale upwards to another virtual private server hosting plan, without having to move high amounts of data between servers.

Fully Managed Virtual Machines

When you host with a VPS, you don’t have to manage the hardware you’re hosting on- your cloud services provider looks after the physical server for you. Updates and maintenance occur in the background and never cause downtimes or put your website or server at risk of a security threat. If you don’t have to maintain the server yourself, you’ll save a significant amount of time and resources that you can apply elsewhere.

Cost-Effective Hosting

Hosting with a virtual private server is significantly cheaper than a dedicated server because you’re only paying for the resources and computing power you need. Hosting with a VPS might be more affordable than you think- many cloud hosting service providers offer these virtual instances for as little as six dollars a month. Before choosing a VPS for either personal or business applications, make sure to compare rates with respect to the bandwidth, memory capacity, and SSD storage available with the product.

Conclusion- How to Choose Between a VPS and a Dedicated Server

Dedicated servers and VPS hosting solutions offer easy setup, fully managed infrastructure, and scalable bandwidth and memory capacity to ensure that you only have to pay for the computing power you need. For a fully customizable server with top-of-the-line hardware, you may want to choose a dedicated server. If you’re looking for a more cost-effective hosting solution, a virtual private server might be the right choice for you.