Budget Web Hosting - Budget VPS Web Hosting

In the search for a more robust and secure web hosting environment, many small online businesses turn to a low cost dedicated server. A budget dedicated server offers several advantages over a shared hosting platform. Among those advantages are: increased security, root level access, greater available resources in terms of both bandwidth and disk space, and presumably greater performance and server uptime.

A relatively new alternative has now arisen to compete in budget web hosting with the discount dedicated server. Known as a Virtual Private Server or VPS, this technology offers many of the same advantages as a dedicated server, but at an even lower price.

VPS (virtual private server) is sometimes also referred to as a VDS - which stands for virtual dedicated server. he difference between VPS and a dedicated server is that the server is still being shared with other users. However, VPS is still in an isolated environment, in that each VPS user has its own partition of the server. Therefore, problems with any given user, will not effect other users on that VPS. Root access is provided to the server, as well as the ability to install software, and also the ability to create reseller accounts. Virtually everything that shared and reseller hosting users are offered, as well as complete control over your section of the server, is also provided with a VPS. While a Virtual Private Server shares system resources, such as the CPU and RAM, the resources are allocated so each account sees a system without any other users on it, making the experience very similar to a dedicated server.

VPS plans are provided by companies such as Hostmysite.com , visit the Managed Dedicated Servers section to find out about this great company.

VPS hosting plans are an alternative to entry level web hosting plans that offer specific services (such as PHP/MySQL, or Perl/CGI) with limited disk space on a shared server, and co-location, where you own and manage the hardware and rent space and an Internet connection from a data center. VPS is also a good plan if a shared hosting plan has been outgrown, but the online business does not yet warrant the financial commitment of co-location.

In choosing a virtual private server web host, it's important to determine:

1. The details of hardware resources: Specifications of the host server (RAM, CPU, Network throughput, etc.).
2. How many VPS instances are run on the host server. This is important because you will be sharing the host server's resources with other VPS's.
3. Resource contention. What will happens if all the other VPSes on the host server are running CPU/RAM-intensive processes?
4. Amount of minimum dedicated RAM/CPU/Network usage.
5. Virtualization technology: Underlying operating system: Linux, FreeBSD, Windows.
6. Handling of hardware upgrades.
7. Details of the web hosting company: support, (phone, email, IM, IRC - 24/7); length of time in business; client retention rate; downtime; and backup/redundancy measures.

Remember that while a cheap VPS may seem attractive, low price may be an indication of fewer features or more limited service. However, while weighing the viability of your business model, it may be advisable to begin with a lower end VPS plan, knowing that you can expand from there.

An example of a typical VPS budget plan, is the one offered by IPOWER. Starting at $49.00 per month, the IPOWER Virtual Private Server is designed for self-managed reboots, multiple users, and management of IP addresses, processes, system libraries, and configuration files. Customers may also host unlimited web sites through command line administration. Each plan also includes the Plesk control panel providing ''point and click'' functionality over command line administration.

Website Source also offers entry level VPS plans for small online businesses. According to the Website source web site, a ''Virtual Private Server is the perfect solution for on-line businesses looking for more features and greater control over website administration. Most e-businesses start with shared hosting, a low-cost plan that places several sites on the same server. Indeed, it is low-cost but most successful on-line enterprises quickly outgrow the limitations inherent in shared web hosting. VPS delivers the power and control of a dedicated server at much lower prices.'' In fact, prices for VPS web hosting start at just under $35 per month. You can view the range of VPS accounts offered by Website Source at: www.websitesource.com/hosting/vps.shtml.

For further reference, here is a link to the Wikipedia definition of a Virtual Private Server.

You can also click here to view a list of cheap VPS providers from Google.

Good luck in selecting the VPS plan that suits the needs of your small online business.

Published on: 2006-09-30 (10425 reads)

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