The three main types of web hosting services that web owners go for are dedicated, VPS, and shared hosting. Already, shared hosting is regarded as the common type of hosting that bloggers and small static sites go for. Therefore, we shall be looking at the two major players which are dedicated and VPS hosting.
VPS Hosting
VPS which is the acronym for Virtual Private Server is where you have different websites making use of one particular server, but these websites have their own bandwidth and RAM. In a process where a particular website is using up most of its resources, it can borrow from other websites that still have some resources left. Large personal websites and small businesses prefer this type of hosting as it isn’t very expensive and handles traffic pretty well.
Dedicated Hosting
Just as its name, dedicated hosting is for those that want the whole package. It is owning the entire package with total resource control. Since it is the whole package, it is usually more expensive.
Since we have briefly looked at the two, let us now look deeper into the major differences between them.
1. Security
When it comes to security, VPS shares its security with the different websites under it, while dedicated hosting owns and is responsible for its security. Using a house as an example, VPS is like a block of flats that shares one staircase, which leads to every flat. So, if one of the owners of the flat is careless and leaves the staircase door open, other flats will be at security risk.
Whereas in dedicated hosting, it is a duplex that only one person owns, and therefore the security is strictly for the owner to enjoy. But this is not to say that VPS does not have strong security, it’s just that one carelessness on the part of one user can affect that of other users.
2. Resource Allocation
Resource allocation in VPS is like ordering a meal where everyone that paid for the meal will take a piece. Everyone is sharing the same quantity of meal proportion, but there could be some that their portion may not be enough for them that they will have to hope that others will be full and have some leftover. But you are not guaranteed of getting an extra piece of meal from other users.
Dedicated hosting is having the whole meal to yourself. Whether the meal is little or much, you are not sharing it with anyone. This package allows you to have as much resources as you want.
3. Customization and Configuration
This is one aspect that both dedicated and VPS hosting share the same features. Both of them offer managed plans and unmanaged plans. For managed plans, you have everything built and also maintained for you. While an unmanaged plan gives you the necessary tools but does not build it for you. So, for both dedicated and VPS hosting, you can adapt your website’s resource limit for every month. The only edge with VPS is that you can borrow resources from other sources in the same hosting when you run out of yours.
4. Performance
This looks at how fast your web hosting loads and also runs for users. VPS equips your website with fast loading speed, but when you start having too many site visitors, you will need to expand the bandwidth from others or you stand the risk of having your website run slow. Dedicated gives you more room to accommodate as much site visitors at super speed.
5. Pricing
Without even going into much details, dedicated hosting costs more than VPS hosting because of all the features it comes with. VPS allows you to choose from different plans with different prices, which also determines the resources limit you get. Most of the hosts offer coupon codes and special deals on forums such as Webhostingtalk,Warrior etc and these are not shown on the websites. So,make sure you check deals websites to know the final price before making a purchase decision.
6. Scalability
Scalability simply refers to how much your website can grow with its hosting plan. VPS gives you space to grow while dedicated hosting has all that in place. With dedicated hosting, you can adjust your limit every month, but these usually come with the package outrightly so nothing new to scale up to. But VPS allows you to start at a place and then scale up or upgrade when you are ready.
Pros and Cons of Dedicated and VPS Hosting
Pros of Dedicated Hosting
· Allows your website to grow as much as it wants to without the need for upgrading
· Great performance and access to huge resource allocation
· More secured with full control
Cons of Dedicated Hosting
· Quite expensive in terms of price
· Requires the user to have technical knowledge
Pros of VPS Hosting
· Cheaper to run than dedicated hosting
· Performance level is adequate and runs across most websites
Cons of VPS Hosting
· Resource allocation has to be shared
· No full control over security
Final Thoughts!
Both VPS and Dedicated hosting are good hosting plans that can serve website owners. The difference is really on how much you are willing to pay. If you can pay higher, you will get all the benefits that come with dedicated hosting. But if you are still testing the waters, you can start with VPS and see what and what you will need along the way.
