What are the pros of VDS Hosting, and what are the Cons of VDS hosting?
We
often find that prospective customers ask us, what are the pro's and
con's of VDS hosting? Well, let's go back to basics and apologise for
those familiar with some of these definitions;
A short definition of Virtual hosting, VDS hosting is the term used to describe multiple domains that are
hosted on the same server and that share some or all of the machines
resources. This allows each virtual server to run its own full-fledged
operating system, and be independently rebooted. A 'virtual' machine
should offer you some or all of the following features:
- Basic server features (i.e. root access)
- Software licenses
- Control panel access such as cPanel or Plesk control panel
- Internet connection services
- Domain name registration
- File storage and directory services
- An e-mail account with related services.
Naturally you are not leasing a dedicated server, or even hosting your site on a shared hosting platform but rather are able to run a 'virtual' or leased server.
Advantages of Virtual Hosting, or VDS Hosting
- Support.
Virtual or VDS servers generally are provided extensive support. This
provides an added security should you need help. This support is
generally provided at no additional charge to the client of most
hosting providers
- Security. As
you are 'leasing' your 'virtual' or VDS system directly from the
hosting providers own infrastructure or backbone these servers tend to
be set behind their own firewalls, and are shielded away from curious
hackers
- Flexibility.
Virtualised platforms are ideally suited for trial and flexibility. You
are able to try a variety of features without the need to sign up to
long-term contracts and commitment, and are able to sometimes customize
or vary your plan to make arrangements for bandwidth, memory, hard disk
or even database access that matches your business needs
- Instant Upgradeablitiy. You are able to vary the amount of resources such as memory or hardisk space with minimal disruption to your hosted sites assuming that it is using a software based virtualization platform
- Cost. Virtual
hosting is excellent value for medium, smaller companies or even start
ups that are on tighter budgets, or that are just trying to minimise
their capital commitments and refrain from having to make any
significant equipment purchase.
Disadvantages of Virtual Hosting, or VDS Hosting
- Limitations.
At the end of the day you are sharing the servers services with other
people, and therefore your customers, in theory, could be competing for resources
and your site may have slower server response times during peak periods
resulting in your visitors receiving 'Website not responding' type
messages as they browse your pages
- Risks. Your
hosting company may not issue you with your own IP address, and thus
you may be sharing your IP address with other less scrupulous tenants. Since hosted
sites on the same IP addresses are sometimes grouped together this may
result in your site being banned from search engines that are actively
seeking to remove such sites
- Control. Under
some VDS platforms users share software components. This sharing may
result in an inability to configure individual settings independently
of other clients that are hosting on the same virtual server.
As
you can see, there are many advantages and disadvantages to virtual
hosting, when looking to choose between different hosting providers you
must way the definitive cost advantages in sharing a server provided
by Virtual platforms with some of the disadvantages that come with such
a solution. These should all be weighed in light of your goals,
budget, modus operandi and target audience.
How does VDShosting.co.uk mitigate some of these disadvantages
At VDShosting.co.uk we always seek ways to improve our services and offerings, that is why we offer the following;
- Powerful dual Quad core blades for all our virtualized platforms
- Our virtualization platforms allow you to install whatever software that you may wish to independently of other VDS host environments
- An Independent IP address for each leased virtual server.
We believe that these solutions go along way in reducing the disadvantages of virtualised platforms and allow our customers to benefit from these solutions.
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