England, UK -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/21/2011 -- A Virtual private server (VPS) is a type of web hosting server where hosting is done by segregating a main physical server into multiple virtual servers. Each server in the system gets their part of resources based on custom requirements. Each part of this VPS has capabilities of performing independent operations with its own operating system and hardware resources dedicated to it. These resources are completely saturated from the other servers on the same platform. VPS offers great choice of customization and flexibility to manage and restructure resource unlike its counterpart of dedicated server.

The VPS fills the gap economically by providing a bridge between less expensive shared server hosting and more expensive dedicated server hosting. There are several advantages that VPS has over the shared server and dedicated server. These advantages are mentioned below:

Cost: As it receives a fraction of the actual dedicated server, the cost of such servers is much less than with dedicated servers.

Segregation: Each virtual server is segregated from other servers on the same platform and there is no direct effect of one server’s activity and customization over the other server.

Performance: The performance of VPS is noticeably higher than the shared server and little lower than the dedicated server. As it has allocated amount of resources in terms of CPU usage, memory and RAM; virtualization works best for small and medium size website.

Security: Another advantage of this system is its security. As individual servers are separated with each other, each website gets its own operating system and resources. This makes difficult for another server to invade the security.

As like any other system, virtual private server also has some disadvantages. They are mentioned below:

The leading disadvantage of such system is its maintenance problem. As each website has its own operating system and other software, it is very difficult for web host to maintain all the operating system and ensuring maximum uptime. There are many factors attached to it like security, maintenance and updates.

Sometimes the hosting provider does not provide the allocated resources. This is because most of the time virtual server does not use its full resources.

It becomes difficult to manage virtual server during the large or unexpected traffic as most of the time resources are taken on the base of minimum requirements.

Break of security or software failure can cause a larger issue by affecting one server’s activity to other.

Though having certain disadvantages of using VPS, its efficiency and cost offers outstanding advantages for small and medium websites. If you are planning for switching to virtual private server from shared server, make sure you research well on your option and choose your hosting company with lot care. While choosing hosting provider take a look at the customer service performance and testimonials provided by past customers. Also check for network uptime rates offered by the provider.