Top Six Factors That Will Help in Choosing the Right VPS Hosting

February 4, 2016 / vps hosting

Virtual Private Server Hosting is booming day by day. VPS is a virtualization technology that helps in performance and functionality enhancement which is supposed to continue. There are several other reasons behind businesses choosing Virtual Private Server hosting for website hosting. But still, there’s confusion about choosing the right VPS hosting.

Below are the factors that will help you to determine the right VPS hosting –

Factor 1: Windows or Linux

You need to first decide on the type of VPS environment – Linux or Windows. Linux and Windows are two different hosting environments and have their own pros and cons. If your site is performing on ASP or ASP.net you will need a Windows environment.

Factor 2: Unmanaged or Managed

In VPS hosting, the entire virtual server conveyed to the user. Monitoring a server requires good IT knowledge and so, there needs to be an expert to manage its performance. Managed VPS hosting means your server taken care of by the VPS provider while unmanaged hosting means you are responsible for complete care of the VPS server.

In unmanaged hosting, performance monitoring and server health is your responsibility. In case of server software faults or security issues, you will need to fix it on your own as an administrator.

Only a seasoned geek, who knows the details of server management and is intimate with terms like shutting down, restarting, repairing rebooting the server, etc., can easily handle the VPS server. If you aren’t skilled with these techniques then managed VPS is best for you.

The extent of VPS management depends on your vendor and the plans you choose with the same vendor. So, this is an important point to consider while comparing different VPS plans or vendors prior to finalizing one.

Several VPS hosting providers offer managed hosting on priority but unmanaged hosting gives additional freedom only if you have the knowledge and are comfortable in managing and configuring the server yourself.

Factor 3: Scalability and Redundancy

In a data center, having a backup resource in place referred to as redundancy. Suppose there’s a failure in the regular power supply, you need to have generators and UPS systems as a backup. Or if the services of the ISP interrupted, there should be another alternative to it or if one server gets overloaded, you should have an additional standby server, and so on. Scalability refers to managing sudden/occasional high server loads, generally by using redundant resources in the system. The collaboration of redundancy and scalability results in consistent performance and higher uptime.

Factor 4: Cloud-based or Conventional VPS

Do you know the difference between cloud-based VPS and conventional VPS? Let’s understand the differences –

a) Cloud-based VPS –

Cloud-based VPS operates on clusters of servers. It pulls resources from a single machine but this machine is a combination of multiple servers and so, appears to be big than conventional VPS.

b) Conventional VPS –

A small server within a big server referred to as a conventional VPS. Let’s name the big server as a “parent server”. The parent server is actually a physical server – similar to one of the rigs in a server room or data center. There are several small servers in the parent server rented out as VPS hosting accounts.

The physical limitations of a parent server challenged if there’s enough traffic. It means there can be limitations on the addition of memory bars added into the mother server or the number of disks the parent server can hold and much more.

Which is the best?

Cloud-based VPS doesn’t have a limit virtually since you can add another server into the cluster and more storage into the centralized storage system (SAN).

So conclusion would be, cloud-based VPS hosting is better than conventional VPS type due to flexibility.

Factor 5: Server Specifications and Configurations

Processor capacity, RAM, and disk size are the server configurations that matter. Besides these, the quality of the physical machine on which VPS created also needs to be considered. The physical server should be of high capacity and reputed brand.

Let’s look at the server specifications –

Data TransferAre your provider restricting you while data transfer? If there’s a restriction, how can you eliminate that restriction? Usually, VPS hosts will impose restrictions – you need to ensure what are they and what would be the result if you surpass them.

Server RAM and Storage – At least 1GB RAM and 20 GB storage are required for a VPS hosting account. The exact amount of RAM and storage will vary depending on the website traffic, space requirements, etc.

Distributions – What are the options for operating systems with VPS? Is that your site should run on a specific Linux distribution? You need to check that your service provider whether you are receiving the right distribution and OS updates regularly.

Backup – The types of backup protocols need to be checked. Also, ensure that your data and site architecture are secure.

IP address – You need to be aware of the number of IP addresses included with your service. Also, you need to know the cost for additional addresses when there’s a limit.

CPU Core – As the utilization of CPU power by web servers is quite less (unless you are using a game server), you may want to have the information on the number of cores in your VPS account.

Factor 6: Customer Support

Good customer support is a must for resolving the issues with your VPS hosting. When any serious issue on your website taking too long to be resolved, it may hamper your website traffic. Prior to choosing a hosting provider, you need to test the customer support staff and then decided to go with them.

These six factors will surely eliminate all your queries and help you select the perfect VPS hosting for your website.