Many companies that are investigating VPS hosting are considering that strategy as an alternative to dedicated server hosting. Companies generally require dedicated server hosting if they have very large website applications, or if their website applications require special software components not normally supported by a hosting company. However, if they also have requirements for a very high-reliability site, then they may also be considering a dedicated server, even though their setup and monthly service charges will become much higher. On the other hand, a less expensive alternative that can also serve their needs is to specify a VPS system.
A virtual private server (VPS) is a software server that has evolved from many years of secure software design. In the 1960s and 1970s, computers were huge mainframes that could only run a single program at a time. Later, a concept called an operating system (OS) was invented, which could operate two or more programs at a time by allocating time slices of the computer to each. Executing programs worked much like a single cook dividing his time among preparing several dishes. The problem is that a well-designed program, running at the same time as a poorly designed program, would crash along with the second program. Decades of operating system development have been dedicated to isolating computers so that two programs could share resources (such as an email program and a word processor sharing a single internet connection) without the possibility of one program crashing another. The ultimate design of this effort is the virtual server.
The best way to make sure that one computer program does not crash a second program is to run the two programs on separate machines. However, a virtual server can setup the functional equivalent of two machines on a single piece of hardware. This means that a company can take advantage of the safety of using VPS hosting without paying the costs of specifying a dedicated server.
The important thing to remember when considering VPS hosting is that it is not as secure as a dedicated server is. However, it is much more secure than a standard shared system. The reliability of a VPS system is between that of a shared hosting system and a dedicated system. The reliability numbers for each configuration are available and should be used to make the decision, based on balancing cost and reliability.
If you wish to increase the immunity of your website to any potential problems from the website code of the host’s other customers, consider VPS hosting. Consider VPS hosting as a lower-cost alternative to dedicated server hosting.