8 Things to Keep In Mind Before You Buy a VPS
When it comes to hosting your own website, a Virtual Private Server (VPS) is the next level of advancement from a shared hosting plan. As your website continues to grow and the need for resources becomes greater, a shared hosting plan won’t suffice and you will need more resources at hand to ensure that your website works smoothly without hiccups and there is no compromise in your user’s experience. If you decide to buy a VPS online, then there are a plethora of options to choose from that suits your needs best and in this article, we look at 8 things that you should keep in mind before you buy a VPS.
What is a VPS?
A VPS or Virtual Private Server is a virtual machine that implements virtualization technology to provide your website with dedicated resources such as RAM, disk space and CPU on a server with multiple users. It is a siloed space on a server that has the characteristics of a dedicated server and its own Operating System (OS), resources, applications, configuration. There are plenty of cheap and expensive VPS plans to select from and a virtual private server is perfect for those users who have exhausted the resources of their shared plan and need an upgrade that allows them to scale with ease.
What is the difference between VPS and a shared plan?
A virtual private server is best explained in comparison with a shared plan. In a shared plan, the server is utilized by multiple users at the same time and all the resources are shared unevenly between them as per their requirements. The downside of a shared plan is obvious — the resources are limited and this could affect the performance of your website. If a certain website has more traffic and requires more resources then this will result in fewer resources available for the other websites that are sometimes fit alongside hundreds and possibly even thousands of websites on the same server. Whereas a VPS server is still a “shared” environment but the technology used to assign resources and separate users give it a performance that is comparable to that of a dedicated server. In a shared environment, the resources are divided on a first-come, first-served basis so a single website could potentially expend all of the available resources on a server. A shared plan is suitable for basic websites such as blogs and for startups when your traffic isn’t high and the requirement for resources is low so slower speeds and lack of features becomes negligible. A VPS hosting is a step up and is ideal for more resource-heavy websites such as online stores, large personal websites and small businesses.
8 things to keep in mind before buying a VPS
1. Location — Regardless of which hosting plan you chose, the location of the server is important. Your website’s data is saved virtually but the computer storing the file needs to have a physical location. While deploying your VPS, It is recommended that the location is as close to the majority of your traffic as possible. This will optimize the speed of your website for the largest set of visitors.
2. Managed Vs Unmanaged Server — A Virtual Private Server comes in two options — managed and unmanaged. If you are tech-savvy and confident that you can handle all the technical aspects of VPS hosting such as the operating system, applications and services by yourself then you can choose unmanaged hosting. Otherwise, you can opt for a managed plan where everything is handled for you by your web host.
3. Value for Money — Price might not be the most important factor when you buy a VPS but a cheap VPS might offer fewer features compared to an expensive VPS. It is important that your plan offers value for money and the best practice is to select a web host that offers a money-back guarantee such as IndSoft. This allows you to test the performance and reliability of the VPS and cancel the plan if it does not suit your needs.
4. Flexibility — The main reason to select a VPS plan over a shared one is that it offers flexibility. If you have outgrown your sharing plan then a virtual private server offers a solution that is more flexible. Make sure that the VPS you choose allows you to grow as per your requirements so that you can scale accordingly.
5. Uptime — Your website’s uptime is the business hours that it is open for that should never close. When you buy a VPS it is essential to analyze the uptime offered by various web hosts. The best web hosting providers offer up to 99% uptime so that you are never closed for business. Indsoft’s servers come with the highest uptime available in the industry of 99.69+%.
6. Support — It is advisable to select a host that offers 24×7 support. This way you can resolve any technical difficulties immediately at any time. Indsoft has a team of experienced technical experts to handle any support queries by customers.
7. Reliability — When it comes to reliability, the hardware that your VPS is built on is extremely important to ensure reliable service. A conventional virtual server utilizes a single dedicated server that is built with a single or dual CPU, RAM and multiple drives in a RAID array. This type of offering allows a decent performance and reliability at a relatively lower cost of entry. There are also drawbacks associated with it that include the dedicated server being a single point of failure, limited scalability and capped disk I/O which is dependent on the number of drives in the server. You can also select a virtual server which is also referred to as a cloud server built on SAN and Blade environments. These environments are enterprise-grade and offer higher levels of scalability and redundancy to the user. At IndSoft Systems, we offer a variety of VPS plans based on RAID storage and Operating Systems options such as Linux and Windows.
8. Backup Service — In a worst-case scenario where your website is hacked or VPS is affected, you could lose all your data. To avoid such a situation, it is best to be safe rather than sorry and choose a web host that regularly backs up your website and all of its files. So even if your website is affected you will be able to recover all your lost files almost immediately.
Conclusion
These are just a few important factors to consider before you buy a VPS. If you decide that a VPS plan is the right choice for you then consider an established and reputed company such as IndSoft Systems to host your website. IndSoft Systems is a leading internet infrastructure company offering ground-breaking solutions built specifically to power the real-time internet economy. Our team comprises industry experts across various areas of expertise such as web design, app development, SEO, and other tech-related professionals. IndSoft has been the torch-bearer of innovation and digital transformation in the industry for over two decades and offers ground-breaking solutions from web to cloud hosting which are tailored fit according to your organization’s needs. We guarantee the use of the best technology, robust infrastructure and high-tech support to deliver clients with the most satisfactory cloud experience and you can visit indsoft.net to avail yourself services from the industry leaders at the most competitive rates.
