Dedicated Server vs. VPS: What Are The Main Differences

Web hosting plays an essential part in your site’s growth. As not only does it store your data, but it also affects your site’s performance.

Though it doesn’t require a genius mind to choose the right web hosting for your website, it does need a lot of research and consideration to finally decide on the right platform for you.

If you’ve been comparing VPS hosting and dedicated servers for some time now, but still haven’t decided which one is the right fit, don’t worry. You’ve come to the right place.

To better understand the dedicated servers and VPS hosting, we’ll break down the differences between the two in this article.

VPS Hosting

Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting hosts multiple websites on one physical server. To maintain each client site’s performance, it divides the primary server into numerous virtual ones. This allows each hosting account registered on the same physical server to have its own space.

In terms of resources, each site has its own limit. The limit enables all websites to run based on their proportion. For instance, if your account has a 1GB share of RAM, you can’t take up more than that. Therefore, monopolizing resources is no problem for VPS hosting.

If you’re a business owner, choosing to go with VPS hosting is the best you can do to support your growth. It’s cost-effective and allows for easy scaling. As your website has its own virtual server, any obstructions happen with another site hosted in the same physical server won’t affect yours.

As an example, you can explore the Hostinger’s VPS plans to find one that fits your needs. You can start with whatever plan you think is the best for your site at the moment, and scale once it gets higher traffic.

Pros of VPS Hosting

• Compared to dedicated servers, VPS hosting wins the pricing game. VPS hosting can accommodate you with the right resource for your business’ size without you having to spend a crazy amount of money.
• Because you and the other websites only use a chunk of the physical server’s resources, it’s very convenient to upgrade your site’s resources with VPS hosting. All your hosting provider needs to do is allocate more resources to your site.

Cons of VPS Hosting

• As VPS hosting doesn’t provide you with that much storage space, you will have to adjust what you want to put on your site if you’re going for an extensive website. The limited resource also leaves you with little room for configuration and customization.
• Since you’ll be getting root access and setting up a site from the OS up, you’ll need to research what security software and other measures are right for you. While server security depends on the host, website security is all on you.

VPS Hosting Is Best Suited for:

• People involved in the environment usually spend a considerable amount of time to follow the discussions. Therefore, forum websites need stable connections on an everyday basis.

• Especially those of companies, they should be capable of holding many visitors accessing the blog simultaneously to maintain their reputations.
• eCommerce websites. We may never know when a traffic surge will occur within an eCommerce website. And we clearly don’t want the server’s downturn to harm our potential customers’ experience, resulting in customer loss.
• A group of people may access these sites on a scheduled list – for example, in a seminar or a meeting. Therefore, we need to prepare for the flux.

Dedicated Servers

Given your business’ growth has surpassed the VPS hosting plan’s limit. In this case, you’d want to move to dedicated servers.

Dedicated servers are the strongest hosting infrastructure you can find. They provide your website with a whole unit of a physical server. All the storage, bandwidth, and other processing powers are yours to utilize. With all these immense facilities, you can flexibly add and install as many programs to optimize your site’s performance.

However, you need to be ready to go premium when using dedicated servers. The cost tends to be a little on the pricey side because you have to pay for the whole server. Upscaling will also cost you some money, as when it happens, your provider needs to upgrade the hardware.

Pros of Dedicated Servers

• Long gone are the days you spent worrying about your site’s storage space, memory, and CPU power. With dedicated servers, all the powers are in your hands. When employed correctly, it will result in top website performance.
• CPU power and bandwidth relate to your site’s loading speed. Therefore, when it comes to speed, dedicated servers enable a faster loading experience for your visitors and a quicker response for the requests they made.
• With dedicated servers come limitless configurations. The resources coming with this service allow you to add plugins and software to minimize security breaches.

Cons of Dedicated Servers

• Because going with dedicated servers means renting a whole physical server to your website, it sure costs you a lot of money. This service is also the most expensive of all plans, given all the facilities it provides for the clients.
• Technical knowledge. You can always hire staff to do all the maintenance. However, that will increase your spending. Should you not have the extra dollar, you need to master some technical knowledge to take full advantage of the server. The skills enable you to configure the site to meet your needs.

Dedicated Servers Are Best Suited for:

• Real-time online games are as popular as ever. With millions of users playing these games simultaneously, the developers ought to be wise enough to host them on a dedicated server.
• Streaming services. Very similar to online games, streaming services also need to consider a dedicated server. As they send sound and videos to millions of viewers worldwide, they need to make sure the connection won’t plummet.

• Web applications. These are software that can run on your browsers, including spreadsheets, forms, Google Drive, and the likes. As they contain sensitive information, security should be their number one priority.

• High-traffic business websites. If your company has more than 500k visitors each month, it’s time to upgrade to a dedicated server. The server will ensure your site runs smoothly and effectively, resulting in a great customer’s journey.

Concluding

At the end of the day, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all platform out there. When comparing VPS and dedicated server hosting, it comes down to power. How many resources will you need, and have you got the money for them? Dedicated server hosting is simply the best option out there for extensive sites, web apps, and similar projects. However, if you’re not using most of its power, VPS is the better choice, as you can scale according to your needs and get plenty of bang for your buck.

Author: Mary