VPS vs. Shared Servers: What’s the Difference?

Through interacting with our clients on a daily basis, we’ve noticed that many don’t really seem to know the differences between the types of hosting servers. As simple as it is, to really understand it, we have to dig into how true cloud servers are built from a physical to a virtual architecture.

So what exactly is shared hosting?

Shared hosting is when a single physical server is shared among multiple users. Various users utilize the resources on one single server, which helps keep the costs low. Each user gets a section of a server in which they can host their own website files. Customers using the shared hosting platform’s server have access to features like databases, monthly traffic, disk space, email accounts, FTP accounts and other add-ons offered by the host.

Key benefits for using shared hosting:

• Cost effective for startups.
• Usually managed by the host.
• User friendly control panels.

Disadvantages of using shared hosting:

• Resource limitations.
• Poor performance.
• Huge attraction for hackers.
• Usually not secure or compliant.

What’s a Virtual Private Server (VPS)?

Some define a VPS as a virtual machine that resides on a single dedicated server where virtualization is used. We believe the definition of a VPS is a virtual machine that resides on a Cloud infrastructure. Although the resources may still be shared, virtualization offers a higher level of security. The machine is not dependent on a single server, but instead, draws resiliency and strength across multiple servers.

Get in touch with us today to see which support solution is right for you!