Virtual dedicated server (explanation of the term VDS, Virtual Virtual Dedicated Server) is a service that provides the client emulation of a physical server.
End customers as well as the users of its site, will not notice the difference – because the VDS in its functionality is no different from the real servers of the boards and wires. I can imagine that bought a physical server and installed it in the data center – in this case, you also the server itself can see and feel, and will operate them remotely.
What is VDS for?
There comes a time when any developing project “outgrows” service normal hosting. And then there are several options for further development and one of the options is VDS.
Hosting – the simplest and cheapest service on placing your website on the provider’s server. The worst thing about it is that the files of all clients (i.e., data from all sites) are on the same physical (or virtual – no difference) server.
In this scheme, there are two drawbacks. First, you can’t configure the server for yourself the way you need it. The maximum that you can do is to move to another tariff, where there are more lenient limits on resources and, in some cases, to edit the file .htaccess, but it does not provide full server configuration. For better configuration you have to edit the configuration files of the web server, and that you will not be allowed, as well as to make changes in the configuration of the DB server and PHP.
Second, if you did not order a dedicated IP address, the sites of different customers are on the same IP. If your neighbor is a spammer, your shared IP will be blacklisted too, as a result, the newsletter from your site will go to spam.
In the case of VDS, you get full control over the server: you can install any software, change any configuration files, etc. in Other words, the first disadvantage of hosting is completely eliminated.
Usually when you order VDS and you get a private IP address – it will differ from your neighbors, the other customers of the cloud provider. Therefore, it solves the second disadvantage of hosting you will have your own IP address.
The virtual machine in the case of the VDS technology completely isolated from each other, so the presence on a single physical host multiple VDS does not affect the performance of each virtual server.
VDS specifications
When ordering VDS services you need to pay attention to the specifications:
- The type of operating system – here all depends on tasks. If, for example, the scenario of an online store “designed” by a bunch of Apache+PHP+MySQL, it is preferable to choose Linux – it’s easier to move a scenario from the host. If you choose Windows + IIS, we have to adapt scripts, and it needed more time.
- Equipment performance – some providers offer a choice of pool equipment. It’s simple: a pool of high performance makes it easier to use virtual servers. As a rule, from the pool with the baseline performance, it is characterized by the type of processor used the best processor with a high clock frequency.
- The number of processors the more processors the better the performance, but we recommend starting with small amounts and then increase the resources as necessary. Some resource-intensive engines like Magento can be directly installed in 5-8 virtual processors.
- What is a virtual processor – the choice of the number of virtual processors you should ask the provider what is the vCPU? Ideally, one vCPU should be equal to one physical core of a real processor. Some providers set the coefficients of 0.25 or 0.5, i.e. 1 vCPU = 0.25 CPU core. Therefore, to obtain a fully one core, you need to order 4 vCPU. About this moment you need to remember it is better to choose providers, where 1 vCPU = 1 core.
- Memory – as with the number of processors, no need to order a lot of RAM is to add a resource at any time. Remember that in most cases on hosting use the limitation of 256 – 512 MB per client. Therefore, if you order a VDS with 4 GB of RAM, that will be quite enough – at least to start.
- Disk size and type are preferable to order SSD drives, but they are expensive – so the final decision is up to you. As for the amount of disk space, it is not necessary to forget that in addition to your application files to your space on the virtual disk will occupy the operating system itself, as well as additional files of all installed services – web server, FTP server, database server, etc. will Also need a place to temporary files. The minimum size of your app (site) + 4 GB. But since the expansion of space (not in the control panel, virtual server) – the operation is not simple (need to change the disk layout) and requires certain skills, we recommend you to set the disk size to allow, given the further growth of the project.
- Bandwidth – the default providers do not provide “wide” channels. Typically, this is 10 Mbps. If you need more, don’t forget to specify this when ordering servers.
Features and benefits of VDS
Consider the advantages of VDS:
- Having access to the root file system VDS, which provides the hosting service. As a result, you will be able to edit the server configuration files as you need.
- Root access allows the installation of any software, manages the firewall to start and stop any service on the server.
- A dedicated IP address (dedicated IP is already included in the service cost).
- The possibility of creating snapshots – the snapshot, you can instantly restore the server to its previous state to restore “everything”. Because when you configure the server by yourself easy to make a mistake, and a snapshot allows you to correct the situation.
At VDS, there is one feature: you get a bare metal server, which is yet to be set. If you don’t understand, you will need an administrator and this is an additional cost and you need to consider. However, it is not only the lack of VDS: if you want to move further, you will need to spend. Any scenario after hosting: VDS, dedicated server, the physical server requires administrator in the state of the company. But VDS is the cheapest option – the rest will cost more.
Conclusion
VDS is a service that allows you to get a full server, albeit a virtual one. The cost of VDS is higher than the cost of hosting, but you get almost unlimited possibilities for configuring the server and be independent of their “neighbors”.