If you’ve been exploring web hosting options for your new site, you’ve likely come across at least three different options; the cheaper, more limited shared hosting, a dedicated server, which may be more expensive yet gives you much greater control over your server, and, right smack in the middle, a Virtual Private Server.
Often seen as something as a transition from shared web hosting to dedicated, virtual servers are more or less exactly what they sound like: A private server where you can host files, websites and programs, all on a cloud platform which emulates a physical computer. I found a great site that lets you setup a dedicated server.
To put that in much simpler terms: Practically anything you can do on a computer, you can do on a VPS. But why bother? Since shared plans are by far the cheapest web hosting options, and since dedicated servers give you an entire physical server to yourself, why compromise?
Here’s just four reasons why it might be a good idea to invest in a Virtual Private Server.
You’ve outgrown your shared hosting plan
Even if your original shared hosting plan promised you unlimited storage and bandwidth, you’ve probably learned the hard-way that when they say ‘unlimited,’ they don’t exactly mean it literally. In most cases, they mean within a certain ‘fair use,’ and if your website has grown to the point that you’ve exceeded that, it’s probably time to upgrade.
The only other option is continue to push your allocations to the limits, meaning slower loading speeds, less room to add new content, and, most critically of all, unhappy customers.
You could go all the way and dive right into a dedicated server, but what if you hit a certain cap and end up paying for far more than you need? With a VPS, you’ll have a lot more storage and bandwidth to play with whilst negating the need to pay the expensive fees for an entire server.
Test-run for buying a dedicated server
Still, there may be times when a dedicated server does seem like the right move for your business, though let’s face it, at first glance, they seem pretty complicated to set up. Given that you have complete control over your server, there may be a lot more involved than simply uploading a bunch of files as you would with shared hosting.
Opt for VPS to begin with, and you give things a test-run, familiarizing yourself with some of the more technical functions and really getting comfortable in knowing what you’re doing before making that big leap.
Plans for expansion
It might well be that you’re not quite there yet. Things seem to be ticking over just nicely on your shared hosting plan, but since you’ve got grand designs in mind, it might well pay to prepare for the future. You already know you want to take your website to the next level, and that shared account may cope for a little while longer, though eventually, you’ll be back to the first point on this list and needing to upgrade.
Getting your VPS ready in advance gives you a lot more scope to grow without encountering any problems en route.
More than just websites
Depending on the size of the server you buy, you’ll likely have a sizeable amount of space that you’re not using. This can be used for everything from a cheaper alternative to cloud hosting to testing new applications or systems, or even setting up an in-house communications platform for your business. You name it, if you could do it on your computer’s hard drive, you can do it on your VPS.
