How to choose VPS (VDS)

You decided that you need a virtual private server for your website? This is a great solution, but there are several "buts". Despite all the advantages of the technology, your site may be slow, unstable and may lose money - and all because the hosting does not meet the tasks or is of poor quality. That's why it's important to understand what VPS to choose - and what to look for when evaluating the service. And we will help you to understand all the nuances!

Technical features of VPS-server

We will not talk in detail about VPS/VDS and what are its advantages - you can read everything about it at this link. So let's get straight to the point and highlight the most significant characteristics of this type of server:

• Location. Find out where the data centers are located. This is important for two reasons. One: The closer they are to your target audience, the lower the response time and faster the load time. Second: locating data centers in different countries increases reliability - if there are problems with the equipment, the data can be moved to another region, independent of the first.

• Performance. If you want to choose a VDS that is suitable for your requirements, pay attention to the hardware. Key details: processor and RAM. The first has the number of cores and frequency (the more and higher the better), the second - the volume (minimum 512 MB, but better at least from 1 GB). You also need the ability to scale - to increase the resources, if the project expands or one or two others are added to it.

• Hard Disk. Another important part of the hardware should be considered from two sides. First, determine the type of the storage: the usual HDD or solid state SDD. The former are more durable, but the latter are faster, which will be useful in projects where users download content. Secondly, decide on the amount of disk space required. It is better to have at least 50% more space than the space your project requires at the start.

• Dedicated IP. Since the choice of VPS is usually sought by those who would like to have more independence from the neighboring websites with which the server itself is shared, the question of having your own IP addresses is critical. Be sure that you will be able to add more "IPs" for new tasks, and the cost of such service will be at an acceptable level for you.

• Administration. By default, the provider monitors only the physical server and the client himself is in charge of the dedicated part. It is called a VPS without support or unmanaged VPS. Its opposite: managed one, when the hoster takes care of all such tasks, which is reflected in the cost of the service. Yet there are compromises: the basic support from the provider, and more fine-tuning - from you.

• Control panel. If you are going to manage your dedicated private server yourself, you need to clarify which solutions are available. Their choice is vast: Webuzo, ISPmanager, cPanel, DirectAdmin, etc. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages (something cheaper, something easier, and something has an open API). Which VDS provider to choose in this case? The one that has a wide choice of panels and more suitable for your tasks.

• Operating system. There are two options: Linux in all its derivatives like CentOS, Debian, Ubuntu or Windows. The first is favorable due to the price of a license, the flexibility of settings and a wide range of applications. But if your web project is based on ASP and ASP.NET technologies, then you need Windows servers. By the way, specify the version of the OS: a good hoster has a choice of both current and specific older versions.

• Backup. Among the answers to the question of how to choose a VDS-server, one of the main: with a reliable backup, that is, a backup of the stored data. The minimum condition: that you can run the process yourself. Pay attention to the amount of FTP space provided for copies, and its price (ideally, if free). Plus find out how often the backup is run (e.g. once a week) and how long the data is stored.

• Security. Last but not least: Although this point is the last one in our list, it is not the last one. On the security of the server should think holistically. So it is good if the hosting has support for many current SSL-certificates, reliable antivirus, intelligently configured firewall, protection against DDoS-attacks, provides a ban on access to the site specific IP - and so on and so forth.

Recommendations for choosing the type of virtualization

In the discussion of which VPS to choose, many experts among the characteristics of the server indicate the so-called virtualization. This is a way of dividing the physical "machine" into sectors for each virtual server. Two points are important to you:

1. Virtualization technology. It can be containerized (another name: software) or full (or hardware). If you do not go into the technical maze, then to summarize the main thing - the first has a higher speed, easier setup and easier to add a resource, but there is a certain dependence on "neighboring" sites and problems with some solutions (such as those written in Java). In the second case, you have freedom of action and a guarantee of performance.
2. Virtualization implementation. Whether you have decided to choose VDS on software or hardware type, it is very important to decide on its implementation next step. After all, there are many methods to run these types of virtualization! Although it usually comes down to the recommended solutions: for container - Xen or OpenVZ (works with any Linux, inexpensive and flexible), and for full - KVM (it has a maximum configuration, as a dedicated server).

Tips for choosing a hosting provider

Even the most powerful and reliable hardware is meaningless without a competent approach to organizing work with it. So it is necessary to find out what is behind a company that provides hosting services. This cheat sheet will help:

• Reviews. Evaluating this point should be as voluminous and holistic. Look for independent tests and evaluations from the specific media resources, find out what websites already use the services of the provider, read the reviews on forums. In the latter case, it is important to see not only scores, their nature, but also feedback from the hoster: how it responds to public criticism and identified problems.

• The technical basis. On the subject of how to choose a VPS, it is often forgotten: the provider's physical servers may not be in the property, but in the lease. Yes, the prices in the latter case will be slightly lower, but the "someone else's" data center may work intermittently or close for reasons beyond the control of the hosting company. By the way, a company's age is secondary in many ways: both young and old companies can work both well and poorly.

• Pricing. The more diverse schemes the hoster has, the better. You are more likely to find the best price for your requirements. Usually there are two approaches: a fixed fee or on the number and volume of resources you used. The first is more convenient, you can clearly predict the costs, and the second allows you to work flexibly with projects with unequal load in time - but it is only available on the cloud servers.

• Traffic. To better understand which VDS to choose, pay attention to the volume of transferred data. If you already have a working website, there will be no problem with this; otherwise, look for traffic calculation schemes. Or you can just order an unlimited one. But keep in mind: when you exceed a certain threshold, there may be restrictions for your website - they must be clarified in advance. And it is also good if the provider allows you to change the plan without reloading.

• Short deadlines. A good trend among hosting companies is to rent a virtual dedicated server for a period of 1 month. This time is enough to evaluate their work. And the test for 2-4 weeks may be offered even for free - it is a sign of a confident provider. Another option: a possible refund within a certain period of time, if you are not satisfied with something in the hosting.

• Payment. Wire transfers to bank account details, Mastercard, Visa - the more the merrier. If the company is working only with PayPal or Webmoney, it is advisable to give up on working with such a provider.

• Techsupport. Hosting providers usually work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - this is actually the standard that the market offers. It is also unacceptable for the user to wait too long for an answer. The reaction of support specialists to appeals in chat, via tickets and phone calls must be fast and with a high-quality, complete answer and analysis of the situation. You can learn about all this just in the test rentals.

What VDS (VPS) to choose in the end?

We recommend contacting our company HostZealot. There are plenty of reasons for this:

• Our own hardware in partner data centers in Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East;
• VPS with 2-6 cores 3.3 GHz processor, 512 MB RAM to 16 GB
• HDD and SSD with 10-150GB of space and SSD caching, traffic from 1TB;
• Up to 5 dedicated IPs, with a free IPv6 address offered;
• Stand-alone, managed or combined administration;
• Range of control panels with one-click application installation;
• VDS servers on Linux from CentOS to Ubuntu in both the latest and older versions on demand, as well as different options for Windows;
• Full, hardware virtualization based on KVM technology;
• Data backup of 1GB to 200GB and more;
• Unlimited number of ftp-users, email-accounts, MySQL databases;
• SSH, SSL/TSL certificates from Let's Encrypt, password protection with .htaccess;
• Uptime reaches 99.9%, as confirmed by independent monitoring;
• positive feedback of our customers on specialized sites;
• 24/7 qualified support via tickets, chat, Skype and phone;
• Easy, seamless upgrade plan without server downtime;
• Ability to pay in $ and €, from Mastercard and Visa to QIWI and bitcoin;
• Favorable prices - especially with discounts for a long period!

VPS server rental in HostZealot is one of the best answers to the question of how to choose a VDS. With us you will have real flexibility, reliability and convenience of a dedicated private server!