VPS Hosting vs Dedicated Hosting: Which one is Right for your Business Needs?

If you own a website that’s gaining traction and witnessing an increase in the number of web visitors, you may eventually feel the need to upgrade your web hosting plan. If your website is running on shared servers, you have two great options to choose from: VPS and dedicated. However, deciding between these options can be mind-boggling considering both offer a range of benefits.

In this blog, we will have a look at both the hosting models to help you decide which one is right for your business needs.

VPS Hosting

VPS hosting offers a middle ground between shared and dedicated servers. In this hosting model, a large physical server gets split into several smaller virtual servers, each of these is called a virtual private server aka VPS. Each VPS acts like a dedicated server- it works with a reserved set of resources and hosts a separate account. These servers function in a sandboxed environment and remain isolated from their neighboring servers.

Besides, the resources of the parent server are divided evenly among the virtual servers; so, every hosting account gets a fixed set of resources and cannot draw resources from other accounts.

Hosting your website on a VPS is similar to living in a condo. You can arrange your home according to your preference but cannot knock down the walls and take your neighbor’s space.

Dedicated Hosting

In dedicated hosting, you get a physical server that’s dedicated entirely to your website/business. So, you have an entire server to yourself and you can customize it according to your preferences.

Because a dedicated server comes with a massive pool of resources, they are suitable for websites that demand heavy resource usage. Dedicated hosting stands in stark contrast with shared hosting where you have little to no control over your server environment and VPS hosting where you enjoy some control over your server environment but work within the limits posed by your hosting provider.

Owning a dedicated server is like living in a bungalow where you have the entire space to yourself and can arrange it according to your choice.

VPS Hosting vs Dedicated Hosting

There are a lot of similarities between VPS and dedicated servers. Both offer root access and increased control over your server environment. In fact, a VPS can be considered a miniature version of a dedicated server. It offers many benefits of a dedicated server within a budget. Nevertheless, there are differences that must be taken into consideration when deciding between these two hosting plans.

Cost

VPS hosting services are cheaper than dedicated ones. A VPS is created by dividing the resources of a dedicated server, so they are much more economical than their dedicated counterparts. VPS hosting services can be availed for as low as $5 per month; some high-end options cost up to $80 per month. As far as dedicated servers are concerned, low-end plans can be availed for $30-40 per month while premium quality plans need you to spend around $100/month or more.

It is also vital to mention that both the hosting models come with both managed hosting and unmanaged options. In an unmanaged option, you are responsible for the day-to-day management of your servers including tasks like monitoring the servers, configuring updates and applying patches. In contrast, in a managed plan, your hosting provider takes care of everything related to the management of your servers. Managed plans are understandably costlier than unmanaged ones.

Then every managed or unmanaged plan differs with respect to the tasks you will need to handle, so you need to consider your budget accordingly.

Control and Customization

When it comes to customization, dedicated servers take the edge. This is because you are the only one using the server, so you have almost complete control over the server. You can configure it the way you want and change the various parts of its hardware and software.

A VPS also allows you to customize your server environment as per your needs but there are limitations. You have much less capacity, so you cannot install large-scale software packages.

So, all in all, if you need a very specific configuration or need to run an immensely specialized application, a dedicated server is the right choice. Otherwise, a VPS will serve the purpose.

Scalability

A VPS comes with a virtual environment that is easier to scale when compared to dedicated hosting. Here, a client uses only a part of the total resources available on the physical server, so additional resources can be allocated with no change to the hardware.

A dedicated server, on the contrary, offers you access to the complete resource base of the hardware. If you want to expand these resources, you will need to add slots to the physical server. This is both expensive and time-consuming. So, there need to be redundant resources in place to prevent the occurrence of downtime.

Security

In both dedicated and VPS hosting plans, your website is hosted in your own space. So you don’t need to worry about what’s happening in your neighboring accounts. When your site is hosted on a shared server and one of your neighboring websites get infected by a malware, it is likely to affect your site as well. Not with VPS or dedicated servers.

Both VPS and dedicated servers offer dedicated IPs, so your website is less likely to be misidentified with another website. Your site remains immune if a neighboring site suffers a malware attack or gets blacklisted.

If, however, you are working with sensitive data and seek a high level of security, dedicated servers take the edge as they operate in complete isolation.

Technical Support

Both VPS and dedicated hosting plans incur high costs, so they usually come with top-of-the-line customer support. The amount of support you will receive will vary depending on the type of plan chosen (managed or unmanaged) as well as your hosting provider. It is essential to remember that if you have chosen a premium plan, your hosting provider will happily go the extra mile to address your questions or issues.

VPS vs Dedicated: Which Option to Choose for your Website?

Now that we have discussed the pros and cons of each hosting plan, let us summarize how these plans compare with each other.

You should choose VPS hosting if:

• You need to upgrade your shared hosting plan but budget is a constraint.
• You need additional resources but can do without purchasing an extra server.
• You need a secure solution but do not work with sensitive data.

You should choose dedicated hosting if:

• Your website attracts lots of traffic or is content-heavy with high-resolution images and videos and demands massive resources.
• Your business deals with sensitive data, so you need a secure hosting solution.
• You need a highly customized hosting environment for a specialized application, etc.

Need a VPS or dedicated hosting service for your business? If yes, get in touch with our hosting professionals and get a free quote today