Are you thinking of upgrading to a new hosting plan but you’re confused about which one to pick? Choosing between a dedicated server and VPS hosting is tough. Choosing the right web hosting provider is even harder. In this article, we are going to compare the two types of web hosting plans, to help you make an informed decision.
One of the costly mistakes people make when choosing a hosting plan is to consider the price. Of course, it’s good to choose a low-priced hosting plan; however, you need to consider other factors as well before settling on your choice. Before making a decision, you need to know the difference between different types of hosting plans.
Dedicated Servers vs. VPS Web Hosting
What are Dedicated Servers?
A dedicated server is where a website doesn’t share the resources of the allocated server with other clients. That means that you can choose the type of RAM, hard drive, processor, and you can manage the entire server yourself (or the hosting provider can do that for you).
In simple terms, you have 100% access to the server’s resources allocated to your site. Take a look at this DreamHost review, for example, to get a feel for the difference between a dedicated server and VPS web hosting.
What is VPS Web Hosting?
VPS web hosting, also known as Virtual Private Server hosting is where several websites are hosted on the same server. A VPS server uses a hypervisor to allocate resources to different websites. You can think of VPS hosting as the upgraded version of shared hosting with a difference that the former allows websites access to more resources than the latter.
In simple terms, you can think of dedicated servers as being the owner of your computer where you can do whatever you want with it. On the other hand, VPS web hosting is where many computers are connected to the one server but every computer is allocated resources based on its consumption.
To put this in a real-world scenario, you can think of VPS web hosting as having a large office with a single computer where multiple employees are using the time and resources of a single computer. A hypervisor helps VPS servers to split the resources among different clients so that all can perform effectively.
If one server is down, all the websites are connected automatically to other working servers in the network. For instance, if a server has a 300 GB hard drive, a 9 GB memory, and it is being shared by three people then each person gets 100GB storage and 3GB memory. While both of the hosting options can meet your website’s needs, you need to understand other differences between them so you can avoid future frustrations.
The Differences Between Dedicated Servers and VPS Web Hosting
Scalability
With a dedicated server, you get 100% access to the server hardware resources; however, to scale the resources, you will need to add modules to your physical server. The whole process can be costly and time-consuming. Besides, you can add slots of modules while the whole system is up. That means your website will be offline when doing the upgrades.
On the other hand, with VPS web hosting, scaling the resources is easy. Since clients are allocated resources by a hypervisor, you can add resources to the main server without affecting the websites connected to different virtual servers.
Security
Dedicated servers are often safer than virtual servers. As stated above, with dedicated servers, resources are efficiently managed so it’s not easy to suffer security breaches from malicious attacks.
Well, of course, VPS web hosting ensures internal data is protected, but considering that a security breach by another website puts all other websites at risk, it’s worth choosing dedicated servers if security is your main concern. Just keep in mind, you need a security expert to harden your server against attacks. If you don’t want to hire someone, then consider a fully-managed hosting account.
Cost
Dedicated servers are generally more costly than VPS servers. This is because many websites are sharing resources from one main server even though each website is allocated a virtual private server. You can expect to get low-end VPS service at around $10-20 per month while entry-level dedicated servers are available at around $99 per month. Both types of hosting accounts can run up into the thousands of dollars, however, based on processing power, tech support and other factors.
Your needs are more important when choosing a hosting plan though. For instance, if your website gets millions of visitors per month, you will want a hosting plan that can keep your website functioning effectively.
Still not sure which web hosting solution to pick?
Let’s simplify things further.
If you’re just getting started or your business isn’t generating enough revenue, VPS web hosting would make the best option for you. If security is a huge concern then you might want to consider having a dedicated server. Well, of course, the VPS web hosting plan offers excellent security, so don’t get us wrong here. If you want to configure your server as you want, then a dedicated hosting plan would be a good option for you.
Wrapping Up
In conclusion, always choose a hosting plan that fits your business needs. If security is your priority, choose a dedicated server, if you want a cost-effective option, choose the VPS web hosting.
Also Read,
- How to Install & Create Conversational Forms with WPForms
- How to Use Email Marketing to Skyrocket Your Sales
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