Many people do not know whether they need shared web hosting, dedicated hosting, or VPS hosting. This article will help define what VPS hosting is, and offer the pros and cons of using virtual private servers (VPS) for your personal or business web hosting service.

If you have a business Web site, you might want Web hosting that provides you with a certain amount of guaranteed resources and stability. To this end, many large businesses choose dedicated hosting. This provides them with the resources they need to ensure that their Web site can handle the traffic that comes, and that their Web site has enough space to do what needs to be done. However, a dedicated server can be quite expensive. For those businesses that are a little more limited in their resources, a good solution to this problem can be virtual private server (VPS) hosting. 

What is VPS hosting?

First of all, the Internet is made up of connected computers called servers. On a basic level, a server is just a large computer without a monitor. It is possible to store information on these servers. And, indeed, that is what the Internet is. The data that makes up Web sites is stored on these powerful computers and then accessed by the rest of us. If you want to set up business Web site, the easiest way to do this is by renting space on a server owned by someone else. This is called Web hosting – your Web host allows you to use space and bandwidth on his or her server as long as you pay a fee.

Most of the time, businesses share a server with other Web sites. Web hosts can cram a large number of sites onto one server. This shared hosting, though, comes with some issues. Since all of the sites are drawing on the same resources, if there are too many, things can become unstable, and your customers can experience slow load times and your Web site can even crash. To avoid these issues, many large businesses get dedicated hosting. This costs more, but it ensures that a certain amount of resources (in some cases everything available on a server) go only to their Web site. This promotes stability and means that your customers are more likely to have a convenient and reasonably pleasant experience.

Unfortunately, dedicated hosting can be quite expensive. If you want more privacy and some guaranteed resources, but can't afford dedicated hosting, virtual private server (VPS) hosting might be a good option. VPS hosting still provides you with a certain amount of resources, but without the large price tag. With VPS hosting, your Web host sets up a virtual server. This server is set up on the true server, but partitioned off. A larger server can be partitioned into several virtual servers that provide some degree of privacy and dedicated resources.

Paying for VPS hosting

It is important to carefully consider what you are getting when you decide to go with VPS hosting. VPS hosting is a step below truly dedicated hosting, so you will pay more than just regular shared hosting (but not nearly as much as dedicated hosting). However, you need to be careful. Some companies offer VPS hosting for really cheap. You need to be aware that you are still sharing a server when you go with VPS hosting, and if your host has partitioned things into really small spaces, you may find that there are still too many sites being hosted on the server to make it a stable and reliable home for your business Web site. If there is a problem with one Web site, it can affect all the other VPS sites on the server.

When looking for VPS hosting, it is important to be careful. Look for a high quality Web host that is reliable and reputable. You should expect to pay between $25 and $200 for VPS hosting, depending on the features are getting, and resources dedicated to your use. (The good news is that if you are using this site for business purposes, you deduct some of the expense on your taxes. Consult with a professional to see how this can be done.) Carefully examine the deal and make sure that it is truly a good value.

A word on unlimited domain hosting: It is important to be wary of offers of unlimited domain hosting. Even with VPS hosting, it can start to stress your resources if you have too many domains drawing on your hosting account. Realize that, practically speaking, unlimited domain hosting is not truly attainable. You can increase the stability of multiple domain hosting with a VPS, but once you reach a certain point, things become unstable.

Do what's best for your business by doing your homework and considering VPS hosting. In many cases, it truly is a good solution for those who want some of the advantages of dedicated hosting, but can't afford it.