VPS vs Dedicated Server – Which One Better?

If you want to launch your own website, a host is necessary. This is because all the data required to display the website is stored with the help of a host provider. A website can’t exist without a host. There are ample options available when you are selecting your web host, but choosing the one that is perfect for you is necessary. Firstly, you have to decide the kind of graphics you desire to use and what plugins are necessary. The two of the most widely known web hosts are VPS host and a “dedicated server”. While you could be tempted by the lower price of VPS hosting, you could lead yourself into making a wrong decision based on cost. Just like a regular computer, the amount of RAM, bandwidth and storage needs to be determined in web hosting too. In this article, we will try to help you choose the best option for you by comparing the pros and cons of VPS vs Dedicated server hosting.

 

What is VPS hosting?

It stands for Virtual Private Server hosting. Imagine a computer that has multiple users on it and each user may use the computer in a different method. Regardless of how they use their computer, all their data will be stored on the common hard disk. VPS works similar to this system where the server is the computer and you are one of the users. The resources of the server are hence shared between the users. This is the concept of shared hosting. In shared hosting, everyone can use the computer (host) at the same time. You won’t have complete control or lots of customisations. In VPS there is only one server, and on that server a size is allocated for your website, hence the price of maintaining the server can be divided into the number of users on that server. This is the reason that VPS is cheaper than a Dedicated server hosting. There is a hypervisor appointed for the server who makes sure that one of the users’ website doesn’t disturb the running of other websites. The hypervisor does this by allocating the resources of other website to your own if it is in need of them, but he also makes sure that the website from which the resources were borrowed doesn’t suffer.

Pros of VPS hosting:

  • VPS hosting is cheaper and easy to set up as the administrators are responsible for setting it up.
  • It is cheaper than Dedicated server.
  • No additional staff members required to hire for server maintenance or management.

Cons of VPS hosting:

  • Due to the resources being shared, the features for your website are limited
  • The customisations in a VPS server are far less than compared to a dedicated server.
  • You might experience disruption in the web hosting service if one of the users on the server tries to abuse it.

 

Dedicated server hosting

In a dedicated server type of web hosting, a full server is dedicated specifically for your website only. There are no “other” users on this server. All the resources of this server are yours, nobody can limit them. You also have the independence to configure the environment of your server according to your needs. All of these features will surely cost you more than a VPS. The management of this server, like software updates and protection agains malware can be allocated to the host provider or can be done manually. In a dedicated server, you can choose the parts being installed like the RAM size, type of the hard disk, the processor, etc. Full resources of this server are available to your single website only as there is no need to share it with anyone else. This option is recommended for people who are sure that their website will have more than half a million visitors every month. A technical staff is also necessary to be appointed for the optimisation and the maintenance of your server. Maintenance costs for a server like this start from around $100 per month.

Pros of dedicated server hosting

  • The customisation options for this server are numerous compared to the VPS.
  • The server won’t be affected by the use of someone else as there won’t be someone else using it, unlike VPS.
  • The resources in this system are a lot more than VPS.
  • There are no restrictions because there are no other users, on the server, the whole server belongs to you.

Cons of dedicated server hosting

  • For a beginner, setting up the dedicated server might be a tedious and time consuming process.
  • This system costs more than a VPS server
  • You also need to have a staff for maintenance and optimisation.

 

Choose the hosting type which best suits your company and your website. The websites with a large amount of traffic, like online e-commerce websites need a dedicated server hosting, whereas smaller websites like blogs or personal websites are best suited for VPS. Make a list of the requirements of your website and choose your hosting type accordingly. It is suggested to start working with a VPS first, and when you gradually start generating more visitors and revenue then you can think about having a private dedicated server.