Virtual Server (VPS) is a hybrid of a physical dedicated server and virtual hosting. It differs from the first VPS in that the client receives not physical, but virtual computing resources (CPU, RAM, HDD / SSD). From the second – the fact that these resources are allocated and assigned strictly to one client, and not “smeared” at all. Virtual servers are rented from VPS-providers, which are chosen, focusing mainly on the technical capabilities and performance of virtual servers, as well as on the cost of services. Rankings and tests of hosting providers are regularly published on specialized resources – they are recommended to be taken into account by those who are going to rent VDS for the first time …
Website traffic growth
In most scenarios, a virtual server is chosen when simple shared hosting is no longer enough. If more and more visitors begin to come to the company’s website – up to several thousand a day – for the normal operation of the resource, it is necessary to expand the server capacity. VPS servers are relevant for companies that are engaged in e-commerce: online stores and any sites that act as trading platforms. For these companies, slow loading of web pages and website downtime becomes especially critical.
Regular hosting is cheaper than a virtual server, but it is limited in performance: several sites are running on one physical server, and they all share the computing power. When one of the sites has a sharp increase in traffic, the rest begin to experience problems, visitors are increasingly faced with errors like 503 (Service Unavailable). The way out is to rent a VPS that does not need to be shared with anyone and which, if necessary, can be quickly scaled by increasing the number of CPU cores, memory, and storage.
Application development
If the task is to develop your software, VPS is the best option to start. The virtual server can run a variety of environments, from Code to Deploy. Flexibility in the choice of configuration allows you to deploy even highly loaded applications on VPS. Often, providers make it easier for developers to administer the backend: they offer a simple API for managing the server, the ability to quickly replace the operating system, additional ready-to-use tools and frameworks: Docker, WordPress, Vesta, etc.
Test environment
Not only IT startups, but also large development companies willingly use VPS hosting to create, test, and deploy software before the official release. A VPS server is a suitable base for modeling any scenario and debugging applications. A virtual server, in this case, is like a “sandbox” in which you can experiment without fear that the experiments will negatively affect the product and users. The ease of setting up and managing a VPS is what distinguishes this service from renting a physical server when you often have to wait for a response from technical support for several hours or even days to change the configuration.
Highly loaded databases
When the business develops, the staff increases, the client base expands, the company needs to upgrade its corporate applications: CRM, BPM, DBMS, and so on. In this case, VPS hosting again turns out to be the optimal solution, since it offers the necessary capacities for this. Also, a VPS is cheaper than a dedicated physical server (not to mention purchasing your own IT infrastructure that needs to be maintained and developed).
Backup storage
Creating and storing backups on a VPS server is another popular option for using the service. Usually providers offer several server configurations specifically for this task: customers can choose the type of disk storage (SSD or HDD), volume, backup schedule, etc. Here you can save on processor cores and memory since server performance is less priority than storage capacity. The ISP must provide an Internet channel with guaranteed bandwidth.
How to choose a VPS provider
Choosing a hosting provider is not limited to just analyzing the proposed VPS configurations and the cost of packages. It is important to pay attention to what equipment the provider chooses for the IaaS infrastructure, in which data centers this equipment is located, where these data centers are located, what level of service, and server availability the supplier guarantees.
