One of the critical aspects of setting up a website is choosing the type of web hosting platform that suits the nature of the website and supports the traffic and growth potential. The popular choices available to website owners are Shared Hosting, Cloud Hosting, VPS Hosting and Dedicated Server Hosting. Shared Hosting is the quintessential beginner’s platform with an easy and affordable setup. Alternatively, Dedicated Hosting is the most robust, powerful and costliest option.
VPS Server Hosting, on the other hand, is positioned as the perfect mean between the affordability of Shared Hosting and the isolation and control of Dedicated Hosting. VPS Hosting platform not only offers the best price-to-performance ratio but also assures a stable and reliable hosting experience.
However, despite the winning features, it is important to check certain facets and aspects of the VPS Hosting platform before proceeding with the purchase. In this article, we will discuss the list of things to check when buying a VPS Hosting plan for a new website. Before that, let us understand VPS Hosting in detail.
What is VPS Hosting?
In VPS Hosting, a bare-metal server (physical webserver) is divided into multiple virtual servers. This process of virtual partitioning of the server is done by a process called server virtualisation. Once the server is partitioned, a hypervisor is installed on the server to further isolate the virtual servers from each other. This ensures that each virtual server on a VPS Hosting Server is completely isolated from other virtual servers, thereby guaranteeing dedicated allocation of server resources like memory, storage and bandwidth.
Your website is hosted on this isolated virtual server. Due to the isolation, your website gets an exclusive hosting environment, just like a Dedicated Server, but on a smaller scale. Even though your website gets its own hosting environment, it is still a part of a bigger shared system. Therefore, as the costs are shared, VPS Hosting plans are available at very reasonable prices. In addition to this, there are numerous advantages to choosing VPS Hosting for a new website, such as full root access, easy customizability, account isolation, cost-effective plans and advanced security.
Though all VPS Hosting services will offer you these advantages, the actual performance will differ from one hosting provider to another. When you’re in the market for VPS Hosting, there are certain things you should be aware of.
Here’s a useful checklist for you to refer when buying a VPS Hosting for your new website.
The Checklist for Buying VPS Hosting
Keep the following checklist handy, and it will help you choose the best-performing VPS Hosting for your website.
- Full root access
Root access is one of the best and the most important features of VPS Hosting. It lets you fine-tune your hosting for a fully customised performance. It will help you offer a truly personalised user experience. It will help you attract new users and ensure better user retention at the same time.
- Hypervisor virtualisation
Virtualisation is the technology that enables VPS Hosting. The hypervisor is the layer of software that sits between a physical machine and its multiple virtual machines. It also acts as a gatekeeper and dynamically allocates computing resources for each virtual machine. It is thus an essential component of VPS Hosting that guarantees account isolation and dedicated allocation of resources.
- Managed vs Unmanaged
This is a crucial choice that will affect how you interact with your website’s hosting environment. Unmanaged VPS Hosting is the cheaper of the two and allows you to manage all your server’s aspects by yourself. If you do not have the technical know-how or a team of experts or do not have the time to spend on the server maintenance, it is best to choose Managed VPS Hosting. It will give you lesser control but will ensure that your hosting is well-maintained and your time is efficiently spent on growing the business.
- Extent of scalability
Check how much scalability a VPS Hosting provider allows with specific plans. The extent of scalability may differ for different plans and providers. Search thoroughly until you find one that fits your website’s needs.
- Quality of support
Technical support is your first line of defence in case anything goes wrong with your website. Good support is essential to ensure that your website remains available at all times. Make sure that you get live support rather than a pre-recorded IVR.
- Quality infrastructure
Though your website will be hosted on a virtual server, it resides on a physical server. The quality of hardware will have a direct impact on your website’s performance. For example, an SSD-powered VPS Hosting will be much faster than an HDD-based VPS.
- Control Panel
A control panel is your gateway of interaction with your site’s hosting space. A powerful and versatile control panel like cPanel enables you to automate repetitive tasks and simplifies maintenance.
- Security Measures
Check the security measures put in place by your hosting provider before signing on. These security measures will keep online threats at bay and protect your website from hacking and malware attacks.
Advantages of VPS Hosting
Here are some more advantages of VPS Hosting that make a case in favour of VPS Hosting for your new website:
- Fast Performance
VPS Hosting gives you blazing-fast performance with its dedicated resources. Since it does not have to share system resources like memory and processing power, VPS Hosting offers one of the top-most performances in the shared server architectures.
- Enhanced Security
Even though your virtual server in VPS Hosting shares the physical space with other virtual servers, it is insulated against the bad-neighbour syndrome. It assures more security for your website with virtual isolation that doesn’t let threats and malware from other virtual servers affect your website.
- Complete Control
VPS Hosting allows you full root access so that you can set up your hosting for undiluted performance. You can fine-tune your hosting server and install relevant and compatible applications and software so your website can make the most of available resources.
- Full Flexibility
A hosting server’s resource restrictions are one of the biggest hurdles that could affect your site. It allows your website to grow at an unrestricted pace with easy scalability. It means that you can scale up your resources at any time they’re needed.
- Better Efficiency
Newer technology can give you an efficient hosting setup that has minimal impact on the environment. If you opt for SSD VPS Hosting, you get an efficient platform that uses less energy.
- Regular Maintenance
As a business owner, you may not have the time to look after your server’s maintenance and update. Choose Managed VPS Hosting as it will make sure that your hosting environment stays updated and regularly maintained.
Conclusion
VPS Hosting is a viable hosting solution for a new business. However, as mentioned earlier, it is crucial to be aware of a few considerations before choosing a VPS Hosting plan. Follow the checklist and make a note of all the advantages while choosing a VPS plan for your website.
You can try HostGator’s VPS Hosting service which bundles full root access and an integrated cPanel for finer control over your hosting. Get your website online quickly with instant provisioning on cutting-edge server hardware and top-of-the-line network. Additionally, get the support of the robust Solid State Drives for a lightning-fast yet energy-conscious hosting experience.
For more information on our VPS Hosting plans, you can contact us or leave a comment below!
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