Home
Free Guides
The Web Host Blog
DomainReg
Shared/Dedicated
Personal Hosting
UNIX Guide
VPS Hosting
PHP Hosting
e-Commerce
Web Development
Dedicated Hosting
ASP Hosting
Windows Hosting
MYSQL Hosting
Cheap Hosting
Colocation
Photo Hosting
Quick Guide
FLASH!

A Guide to Best VPS Hosting Companies

Virtual Private Servers - Affordable Alternative



Best VPS hosting companies can have different operating systems and can be configured in any way possible. A virtual private server (VPS) is a physical server that has been divided (using software) into several virtual machines, each acting as an independent dedicated server hosting. The physical resources such as RAM, CPU and disk space are still shared, but each VPS acts independently of the others.

The key advantage of your best VPS hosting company is allowing each VPS administrator access to the root level of his virtual server. This kind of access allows the administrator to install and delete software, set permissions, create accounts – in short, do everything that the administrator of a 'real' sever can.

As well as providing more control over your hosting environment, a VPS is more secure than shared hosting. Websites on a shared server all have the same operating system, so if a hacker were to find access to the root of the server he could damage any or all of the websites on that server. A VPS, on the other hand, is divided in such a way that even if a hacker were to gain entry through one account, there is no way to access the others. Each VPS is invisible to the others and there is no way to set up root level access from one VPS to another.

Virtual Private Servers can be set up in various ways so be sure to understand how the best VPS hosting company has allocated resources. The most common configuration is to divide all the physical resources evenly by the number of accounts. Thus, if there are 10 virtual servers, each would receive 10% of the total bandwidth speed, CPU, memory and disk space.


VPS Disadvantages

The disadvantages of VPS are almost the same as the advantages. The control that a VPS account provides can be dangerous if you don't know what you are doing. You have the ability to delete files, set permissions improperly, allow virus-laden software on the system and, in general, really screw things up. If you don't have the knowledge to administer a server, or are not willing to learn, VPS is not for you.

If your website has outgrown shared hosting, however, VPS offers an affordable alternative to dedicated hosting. When shopping for the best VPS hosting company, be sure to find out how system resources are divided up, the number of VPS accounts on each physical server, the method for upgrading, and the choices of operating systems.


Return to Website Hosting from Best VPS Hosting Companies




For information on cheap virtual web hosting click here.


What is Virtual Web Hosting click here?

footer for best VPS hosting companies page