Choosing the most suitable hosting type for your website isn’t tricky if you know its purpose. For example, if you are creating a large eCommerce store or expect a large amount of traffic, VPS hosting might be the right choice for you.
This article will cover the definition of VPS hosting, what makes it different from other hosting types, its key features, and several tips to choose the right VPS hosting.
What Is VPS Hosting?
VPS stands for Virtual Private Server. As the name suggests, it gives you a virtual private space in one shared hard drive.
Even though you’re still sharing a single hard drive resource with other webmasters, the resources are allocated for your own virtual server.
Thus, VPS hosting combines the features of shared hosting and dedicated server hosting. You are virtually guaranteed a personal space in the server, and you will have a similar experience as managing a dedicated server.
If you are looking for upscaling from shared hosting and aiming for more security, VPS hosting is an excellent option.
This type of hosting is suitable for many purposes, such as eCommerce stores, large-scale blogs, or any kind of website expecting much traffic.
Key Features of VPS Hosting
Following the explanation above, this section uncovers the features to expect when using VPS hosting:
- High customization. You can configure your own server since VPS hosting gives you full root access. Furthermore, you can install a custom software program or a set of security measures depending on your needs.
- Improved security. Even though you share a single hardware device, the virtual partition prevents your website from being affected by the other websites’ activity or their received traffic.
- Cost-effective. Though VPS hosting isn’t the cheapest option, considering you get the benefits of a dedicated server, this hosting type is worth it. It’s also possible to customize and pay only for the resources you need.
How to Find the Right VPS Hosting for You
Many reliable hosting companies, such as Hostinger, provide different VPS plans. Each of them comes with its advantages and disadvantages. To help you choose, this section will explain how VPS hosting plans differ.
Managed vs. Unmanaged VPS
In managed VPS hosting, you don’t need to take care of server configuration or maintenance by yourself. You won’t need any technical expertise or knowledge about server configuration since the hosting provider will take care of them.
It’s a good choice for beginners or webmasters who don’t want to waste time configuring the server or taking care of other technical aspects.
Technical support will have your back so you can focus on generating your website content.
On the other hand, unmanaged VPS hosting gives you complete control over your server configuration and maintenance. Therefore, it offers you more flexibility and freedom, but requires your technical expertise and time to maintain the server.
Managed VPS hosting will cost you a bit more than unmanaged VPS hosting. Therefore, when choosing, think about your website’s objectives and the time you wish to spare for solving and managing technical issues.
Pricing
Conduct your research and compare the price and features offered by hosting providers thoroughly.
Keep in mind that the cheapest or the most expensive option doesn’t always mean the best. Also, don’t forget to check the renewal price of your subscription since it is usually different from the first time you join.
Choose a price that meets your budget and is reasonable in the market.
Moreover, don’t forget to choose the most comfortable payment option for you. Find out if it also charges you some bucks to use your desired payment method.
Customer Support
If you choose managed VPS hosting, customer support should be your top priority. As you will rely on the company to configure your server, you need to be able to access their customer support 24/7.
Additionally, go to the hosting provider’s website to check if there are tutorials that can help you troubleshoot some problems yourself.
Server Uptime and Loading Speed
When choosing a hosting provider, always aim for the one that guarantees 99.9% uptime. You wouldn’t want to see your website inaccessible since it can irritate your visitors and reduce your income.
Look for any policy of compensation you’ll get just in case the hosting provider can’t fulfill the promise of their guaranteed server uptime.
The other important element of a website is the loading speed. Compare the web host’s claim with their customers’ testimonials about the page loading speed, and check their hardware server location.
Choose a hosting company that provides the closest server location to where you’re residing to ensure a good quality of loading speed.
When evaluating your website or using a free trial, use tools to measure your website’s uptime and loading speed.
Backups
Server back-up will help you get through the worst-case scenario of cyberattacks. Hence, it’s an important factor of a hosting provider to research.
Generally, VPS hosting users store a large amount of data. Make sure that you can backup your data regularly.
In addition, check the data restoration policy, as well as the place where your backup data will be stored.
Conclusion
The VPS hosting type is a great choice for creating a business website that expects medium to large traffic. VPS hosting will also make your website more secure and improve its performance compared to shared hosting.
The key advantage of VPS hosting is giving people a similar experience and features to a dedicated server website without paying a fortune. It’s also beneficial for storing large-scale data or having several websites under different domains or subdomains.
If you decide to go with VPS hosting, don’t forget to consider the other factors mentioned above, such as its price, customer support availability, server uptime, loading speed, and the possibility to create backups, when choosing your hosting provider and plan.
