Not sure what the difference is between VPS hosting vs dedicated hosting? Vastly different from a shared hosting environment, both VPS and dedicated hosting furnish your site with its server resources. However, they achieve this in different ways and at varying price points, therefore you need to be sure to choose the right hosting environment for your website’s needs.
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Differences between VPS and Dedicated Hosting
To start, we’ll compare VPS hosting vs dedicated hosting. By the end, you should better understand the main differences and similarities of both services. This is key to choosing the right choice for you and your budget. Let’s jump right in.
VPS hosting meaning
The term VPS stands for a virtual private server. VPS operates in a shared environment while having virtual compartments on a dedicated server. What does this mean? It means that each server is broken up into small virtual compartments on a larger dedicated server. This way, all of its resources allocated to serving one website even though the server is in a shared environment.
Even though you are technically still sharing the server with other users; all of the server’s resources belong to your website. So, in reality, VPS is the best of both worlds—a shared environment with the power of a dedicated server.
Consider a housing analogy. VPS can be compared to a condominium. When you purchase a condo in a complex that space becomes 100% yours. You may have neighbors who have purchased similar buildings but it is your condo and a neighbor can never come and take your resources (like in shared hosting).
It is well to note that you don’t own the entire building—just your condo. This means you can only make modifications to your space, not the entire building. When it comes to a VPS server, this translates to being unable to customize the hardware to suit your needs. This is because you’re only a tenant and you don’t own the entire building. Apply the same principle to your VPS hosting environment.
What is dedicated hosting?
A dedicated server performs exactly the way it is named. That is, all of the server’s resources are dedicated to one website. With dedicated hosting, you are renting an entire server and all its resources – unlike a VPS, where you only use a portion of the server.
A dedicated server doesn’t only mean more resources for your website, but also more control over the server’s physical hardware. What’s more, is you can fully customize the type of software on your server. To run a dedicated server, you’ll need a bit more technical know-how, as you have more access to integral parts of your server.
Perhaps you’re the type that knows your processors and has a particular model you prefer using, like AMD processors over Intel processors—with a dedicated server you have the ultimate control. You can choose your processor, operating system and so much more. You have the customization ability to choose every piece of software on the physical hardware.
Let’s revisit the housing analogy. A dedicated server would be the equivalent of buying your own house. You can customize it 100% because it is yours. You’re the sole owner of the building and you have full authority to make as many modifications as you desire. That’s the beauty of a dedicated server.
Here are four reasons to choose dedicated hosting.
Managed versus Unmanaged VPS and Dedicated Hosting
Understanding both VPS and dedicated hosting environment means knowing the difference between managed and unmanaged versions of the hosting environments. VPS and dedicated servers both come in managed or unmanaged, but what does that mean?
Unmanaged VPS or dedicated server
When you opt for an unmanaged VPS or dedicated server you only get the basic hardware. The rest of the server modification is your responsibility. From adding custom settings to maintaining it. This is recommended for tech-savvy webmasters or businesses with an outfitted technical support team. With unmanaged VPS or dedicated hosting, you will need to carry out the installation process for all the underlying technology associated with running a server as well.
For example, if you wanted WordPress as your main CMS, you would first need to install PHP (a database), and then a web server (Nginx, Apache, or LiteSpeed), etc.
Sounds like a lot? Well, needless to say, unmanaged VPS and dedicated servers are highly complex and take a keen technology eye to run successfully. They are excellent for companies with developers and technical users who want the free reign to tweak their server.
Which to choose? Managed VPS or Dedicated
When opting for a managed VPS or dedicated server you purchase a hosting environment that comes with all the fixings. With a managed setup, you get the dedicated resources for your website as discussed above. However, with managed VPS or dedicated hosting, your hosting provider takes care of the configuring, managing, and maintenance for you. Quite plainly, your hosting provider manages the server for you and does all the heavy lifting.
For this reason, a managed server costs a bit more than an unmanaged server. If you’re not an experienced web developer or have a technical background then a managed server is the best solution for you and your wallet.
What are the Pros and Cons of VPS and Dedicated Hosting?
Let’s start with the pros:
| VPS Hosting | Dedicated Hosting |
| Has a more affordable price point than dedicated hosting. | You have carte blanche on the server resources. The complete server is dedicated to your website. |
| You have all the benefits of dedicated server resources for your website but within a shared environment. | Built-in security as your website is on a server by itself. |
| You can scale your hosting experience to get more server resources if you need them. Especially with cloud VPS hosting. | You have a fully customizable server to make as many modifications as you like. |
The cons
| VPS Hosting | Dedicated Hosting |
| No control over your server’s physical hardware. | A very expensive price point for this hosting environment. |
| Assessing the resources, you may need to run a great server may be difficult. |
Should you choose VPS or a Dedicated Server?
We’ve given you a lot to think about but if you want our advice, most people benefit more from opting for managed VPS hosting.
Running a dedicated server is ideal for large corporations with a fully staffed IT team. When it comes to getting the same resources for a much lower price point VPS hosting is the choice to make. A cloud VPS comes with the same benefits as a dedicated server but at much lower prices. This is why most businesses use VPS hosting for their websites.
