Dedicated web hosting services are a step up from standard shared web hosting plans and provide you with the opportunity to expand your website through the higher resource levels that are provided along with your own dedicated web hosting environment. Dedicated web hosting is the term that is generally applied to VPS servers and dedicated servers as these are the two forms of web hosting that can provide users with an isolated hosting environment of their own; because of this when searching for a dedicated web hosting service it is important for you to be clear of whether you would prefer to use a VPS server or a dedicated server. The anatomy of VPS servers is different to dedicated servers and so it is important for you to understand the difference in the structures of these two forms of web hosting prior to making a decision on which dedicated web hosting service to purchase, because after all you are going to be paying out a large amount of money for dedicated web hosting under any circumstances. Dedicated web hosting services can be used for a variety of different purposes with the option there to use a server for a single service/purpose if you want to create a distributed hosting configuration, or if you are going to limit yourself to a single server then there is nothing to prevent you from using a dedicated hosting service for multiple purposes.
Anatomy of VPS Server Hosting
VPS server hosting provides you with a low cost dedicated web hosting environment, much similar to that provided by a dedicated server, just in a different medium. The following features help to make VPS servers distinguishable from dedicated servers:
- Virtual server hosting – even though you are provided with a dedicated web hosting environment, your VPS server is effectively a container on a physical hosting server that is shared with multiple VPS servers – however, your VPS server will have its own guaranteed resources that you will be able to use as you require and these resources won’t be accessible to anyone else and will always be available for you to use, just as long as you don’t go over your set limits – it is the fact that you are sharing a physical hosting node with other VPS servers that helps to keep the cost of VPS server hosting low because it means that web hosting companies are able to spread the overheads of a single node across several VPS hosting clients
- Low cost server hosting – the idea of VPS server hosting is to provide businesses with a low cost option over dedicated server hosting for those who require a dedicated web hosting environment, but are unable to justify the costs that having a physical server can incur – the price of VPS servers can vary dramatically from low cost simple Linux VPS servers all the way up to hybrid VPS servers that can use up to half of the resources available on a physical node to offer optimal performance, although the price of these usually comes into line with the amount that you would pay for a low-end dedicated server
- Virtualization daemon – all VPS servers require a virtualization daemon to run on top of, which is effectively software installed on the physical server that is designed to take the server’s physical resources and then utilize them in a way that will allow you to pass them on to the virtual machines that you create – there are several different virtualization platforms available for different scenarios, with the one that your VPS server is hosted on depending on the operating system that you see as being fit your requirements as well as your chosen web hosting provider.
Anatomy of Dedicated Server Hosting
Dedicated server hosting can provide you with so much more than VPS server hosting, even though the cost of a dedicated server is going to be more. The main defining features of dedicated server hosting include:
- Physical server – as compared to a VPS server which is simply a virtual server, a dedicated server will provide you with your own physical server that can’t be accessed by anyone else – this is one of the biggest benefits of using dedicated server hosting because it will allow you full use of the resources that form your dedicated server, including the CPU, which will allow you to host your website in a scalable web hosting environment that will be able to cope with high visitor spikes that you are likely to experience every now and then – however, because you are using a physical server it is important to note that maintenance may not be that simple because in some situations you may require direct access to the server and this may only be possible through your web hosting provider’s support team
- Improved reliability and security – having your own physical server means that you have full control over the reliability and security of your web hosting service, which is something that not many people are able to say they have – if you require a high-security web hosting environment then there is nothing to stop you from installing the applications that you wish to use in order to prevent hackers from gaining access to your server – as you are the only user of your server then you will be able to regulate the resources that individual applications and services consume, allowing you to ensure that you enjoy a reliable hosting experience.
In conclusion, understanding dedicated web hosting will allow you to make the right choice of whether you want to be using VPS server hosting or dedicated server hosting. Dedicated web hosting services need to be managed properly if you wish to capitalize on a dedicated web hosting environment; this includes selecting the right applications and services to meet your needs whilst ensuring that you leave a good level of slack with your resources to ensure that your server will be able to cope with any load spikes or visitor spikes that you experience.
