A Virtual Private Server (VPS) is designed to provide the features of a fully dedicated server for many different customers by presenting them with virtual computers. Although this may seem the same thing as shared web hosting, there is one significant difference: there is no way to tell that multiple users are on the system. System resources such as RAM and CPU time (processing power) are shared in such a way that the hardware server that the VPS runs on is literally split into smaller, less powerful virtual computers.



Each customer using a VPS is given access to a certain percentage of the server's hardware, and in this way, any resources assigned to each customer remain available to them. Every virtual server functions just like a dedicated server.

Why go with VPS web hosting?

Many companies want to have full control over how their server operates and is configured, and they don't want hundreds of other users sharing their website's server, with the potential to over-use resources and crash it, meaning downtime for them.

VPS is often seen as a good middle ground between dedicated web hosting and shared web hosting. The stability and reliability of dedicated server, but on a reduced scale, means that many web hosting customers go with VPS because it is far cheaper than a dedicated server, and is also more secure than a shared web hosting system. This is because each user has their own file system which cannot be accessed by other users or hackers who gain access to other users' accounts.

VPS web hosting drawbacks

Although VPS systems work very well in most cases, it is essential that you find a good provider in order to ensure that you get the benefits you need from a VPS. Also known as Virtual Dedicated Servers, VPS systems go dangerously badly with a practice known as "overselling". You've probably heard about how airlines over-book their flights in the expectation that some people won't turn up. Well, there's a similar philosophy adopted by many web service providers. For example, free e-mail providers who offer large amounts of storage space often don't actually have all of the storage space for all of their users ? they bank on the fact that some, if not many, users will not use the full amount of storage they promise. Although this may sound like a questionable practice, it actually works out when done properly, and is an effective way of keeping costs low.

However, overselling when it comes to VPS systems is a big no-no. Because a VPS is all about providing a better, more powerful environment in which you can run custom software and have more resources at your disposal, a large number of customers will take advantage of this. If there are too many customers on a VPS (due to overselling), everyone's share of the resources can be encroached upon and things can start to go wrong. You should make sure that any web hosting VPS provider does not engage in overselling before buying even an affordable web site hosting plan from them.

As well as bandwidth and storage space, when you're getting a VPS web hosting solution, you need to make sure it offers good CPU cycles (processing power) and RAM. CPU cycles are normally advertised in megahertz (MHz) and RAM is advertised in megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB).