VPS hosting is a Virtual Private Server, and is a virtualized server. A VPS hosting environment mimics a dedicated server within a shared hosting environment. It is technically both shared hosting and dedicated hosting.
VPS Hosting is one of several types of web hosting accounts you can choose from to host your website online. To have a website on the internet, you need to have your website files on a web server. Setting up and managing a server can not only be expensive, but difficult too. Purchasing web hosting allows someone to rent space on a web server, making it easier for the average person to have host a website online because all they need to do is upload their site files (no server setup is needed on their part).
All three of these hosting account types are similar in the fact that they all give you a web server to run your website on. They vary in how they are setup, the features they offer, and the level of customization you can have with each one. Check out more information about our various VPS plans and features.
Why is VPS Hosting different than Shared and Dedicated
With our dedicated servers, you rent an entire server. This is optimal for people that have very high traffic to their websites or need to setup their server in a very specific way. Not everyone needs to have a fully dedicated web server however. If you’re just getting started with your website, you can save quite a bit of money if you rent a small portion of the server. Shared hosting is when you share a portion of the server with other users rather than rent an entire server to yourself.
If you are considering a dedicated server and are unsure if it is right for you, perhaps you will need to get VPS hosting.
How does VPS Hosting Work?
The technology behind VPS hosting is similar to that of VMware or Virtual Box. These programs allow you to run several virtualized operating systems on one machine. For example, your desktop may be running Windows 7, but you can also run other operating systems such as Windows XP or Linux without needing to restart your computer.
Operating System Virtualization
Our VPS hosting envionments function in the same manner. While we have one physical server, we can run several different virtualized operating systems on that one server. Each virtualized operating system acts as if it was a dedicated server. This allows you to have all of the benefits of a dedicated server at a fraction of the cost.
InMotion Hosting uses Parallels Virtuozzo Containers in order to virtualize the Operative System. Each VPS hosting environment is referred to as a container, and the physical server each container is provisioned to is referred to as a node.
What are the benefits of VPS Hosting?
VPS hosting gives you the affordability of shared hosting while at the same time giving you more power and control like a dedicated server.
Privacy As you don’t share your OS with anyone else, there are no other websites on your server that potentially have access to your files.
Customization With a VPS Server, you have your own Operating System. This also means that you have your own instances of all server applications such as Apache, PHP, and MySQL. If you need to have any of these services customized, you can make changes to suit the server to your needs.
Control If you’re installing server applications that require a system restart, you can do so at any time. Even though technically you share a server with other VPS servers, your VPS server can be restarted without affecting anyone else.
Dedicated Resources On a VPS Server, you have dedicated amounts of RAM available to you at any time. Unlike shared hosting, there is no one else on your server that can use utilize all the RAM when you need it most!
VPS Server Management Options
Our VPS hosting platform offers a choice between two distinct management styles. Managed cPanel VPS Hosting includes Optimized Configurations for better performance, free cPanel/WHM license, and automatic backups for easier server management. Self-Managed VPS includes full root access, burstable RAM and CPUs, and a lower price for more cont
