Virtual Private Server Hosting or VPS Hosting is one of the more popular and cost-effective methods of hosting a website. Here, multiple websites reside on a single server and share the resources of that server. However, unlike Shared Hosting, each virtual server and, by extension, each website is independent of and isolated from all the other websites on the server and gets dedicated resources. Thus, each virtual server behaves like a miniature Dedicated Server, giving it the name Virtual Private Server.
Alternatively, in Shared Hosting, there’s no isolation or independence of websites. Instead, there’s a pool of resources (the server) that all websites in the server use. As a result, Shared Hosting is one of the most affordable hosting platforms for small websites that need minimal resources. However, as the site traffic grows and the data required to host your website becomes more and more critical, you need a hosting platform that guarantees control and privacy – like VPS Hosting with root access.
As a result, the benefits of VPS Hosting outweigh those offered by a basic Shared Hosting website, especially when it comes to the control over the hosting server and isolation that your site enjoys.
In this article, we will look at what benefits VPS has over Shared Hosting, specifically in terms of isolation and control. And for that, let us understand how VPS Hosting works.
How does VPS Hosting Offer Control and Isolation?
A VPS Hosting setup is powered by two important factors – server virtualisation and hypervisor. Server virtualisation allows multiple virtual servers to be set up over a single physical server. It further uses a hypervisor to ensure privacy, isolation and control for each virtual server.
A hypervisor is a piece of software or hardware (a combination of both, sometimes) installed on a physical server. Hypervisors are used to create Virtual Machines (VMs). Each VM acts as an independent machine. The resources to run these VMs come from a central pool, i.e. the single physical server where all VMs are hosted. Each VM is allotted a fixed number of dedicated resources. These resources will then become the VM’s resources. The process is, of course, virtual.
Many VMs can be created on a single server. Each VM is isolated and independent of other VMs in the network. VMs cannot recognise that they’re in a network. So, they work as if they’re an independent machine or an independent server. In VPS Hosting, each VM becomes a website. Thus, VPS Hosting guarantees dedicated resources, isolation, privacy and control for each website hosted.
Let’s consider a practical example –
You buy a VPS Hosting plan with 4GB RAM, 200GB storage, and 2 CPU cores. The hypervisor will create a new VM for that exact specification. However, the resources allotted to this VM are now unavailable to other websites on the server and are dedicated to your virtual server exclusively.
One of the benefits of VPS Hosting – control – is guaranteed through full root access. Let us see how.
Full Root Access in VPS Hosting
One of the biggest advantages of VPS Hosting is something called root access. ‘Root’ simply refers to a username that’s used across all Linux operating systems. The root user is assumed to be the system admin, has access to all files, and can do anything.
If you have the credentials to the ‘root’ username, you have root access.
Shared Hosting plans aren’t offered with root access because there’s no isolation of websites, meaning everyone’s pretty much playing in the same field. So, unilateral changes that one website owner makes can harm other websites.
However, VPS Hosting offers complete, comprehensive isolation. So, any changes that you make to your server will affect your VM only. All other VMs, and therefore all other websites, remain completely unaffected. With this being the case, web hosting companies offer root access with their VPS Hosting plans.
Why is Root Access Important?
Root access is essentially about control over your website and your server (your part of it, so to say).
As your website grows, you’ll see that you need more control over the way your website works. For example, you may want to install security software that your web hosting company doesn’t natively support, you may want to change the server configurations, or you may want to optimise your server to deliver better performance.
To achieve these tasks, you need complete control over your server that only root access can provide. In summation, root access allows you to set up your website and your server exactly the way you want them to be.
The reason that root access is such a big selling point is the pricing of VPS Hosting. Root access is also available with Dedicated Hosting, which is a more powerful hosting method. However, it’s also quite expensive. Therefore, it’s usually only used by websites with very high traffic and can afford Dedicated Hosting.
On the other hand, VPS Hosting is marginally more expensive than Shared Hosting but offers Dedicated Hosting-like features, including root access, which is crucial if you want to have a decent degree of control over your website.
How does the VPS Hosting Control Help Website Owners?
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Improves website security
When you have root access, you don’t need the permission of your web hosting company to install third-party applications, meaning you can install a security software of your choice. You can also close all unused open ports. This way, hackers cannot exploit those ports to attack your website.
Additionally, you can regulate access to the internet. Not all applications on your server need to be connected to your website continuously. However, each online application is a potential risk point. With root access, you can disable applications from accessing the internet.
These are just some of the more important security optimisations you can do to your website with root access.
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Improves website performance
Root access helps you improve the speed of your website in several different ways. Two of the most important ones are optimising JavaScript delivery and allowing you to disable hotlinking.
When a browser accesses your website, your server sends information to it in the form of images, videos, files, text, etc. One of the files that your server sends is called the Javascript file. Browsers will not open a website until the Javascript file is read. This takes time and therefore reduces website speed.
With root access, you can change the settings so that the browser loads the website first and then reads the JavaScript file in the background, thus increasing your website speed.
Hotlinking is when someone copies an image URL from your website and just pastes that link on another website. When links to your images are placed on some other website, it’s still your server that has to load those images. So you end up spending server resources to load images on websites that aren’t your own and won’t necessarily bring you any traffic.
Hotlinking is bandwidth theft, and if it happens for a long time, it can affect your server performance significantly. However, with root access, you can completely disable hotlinking.
Conclusion
VPS Hosting is getting more popular each day because of what it has to offer — Dedicated Server-like features at a fraction of the price. The primary benefits of VPS Hosting – control and isolation, along with the dedicated allocation of resources, is guaranteed through its unique architecture powered by server virtualisation and hypervisor. Moreover, VPS plans strike that perfect balance between price and features, making VPS a popular choice for many website owners.
If you’re looking to buy VPS Hosting in India, check out the plans by HostGator . With a proven history of offering secure, fast, and reliable hosting services, we allow you to concentrate on growing your website rather than worrying about the technical aspects of hosting.
For more details, get in touch with us today.