One of the things I get asked often is “what exactly is a VPS“? So I’ve decided to write this article to explain it as simple as possible. If you’ve ever created a website, you know that one of the first things you’ll need to get it online (besides a domain) is a hosting package. So you ask around or google for webhosts and you’re presented with a plethora of choices.

Chances are you’ll pick the cheapest intro package which will give you x amount of space for something like $9.90 a month. This will also allow you to host a few domains on it. This simplest form of hosting is often known as Shared Hosting which means that you share the server with up to hundreds of other users. The pros on this is that its cheap and easy to manage with a control panel and the techs take care of everything else for you. The cons of it is that you can’t have access to the inner workings on the server such as installing/upgrading software like PHP, MySQL, Perl, etc. Another minus is that you have to share resources (RAM) with others, meaning if someone else uses a lot of processes (in the case of a huge traffic spike), your website can be affected.

On the other end of the scale there’s the Dedicated Server. This basically gives you control of the entire server, so you get something like 160GB of space plus 1GB of RAM. The great thing is obviously the total control that you have over the server. However, such power comes with a price, often up to hundreds a month. Also, you’re pretty much on your own in terms of technical support. Depending on the hosts, they will have to charge you to fix something on your server.

A VPS (Virtual Private Server) on the other hand is somewhere in between. It usually comes with something like 30GB and allows you to host unlimited domains at fairly affordable price (as in the ServInt Essential VPS @ $49/mo) and is basically a partitioned dedicated server into smaller ’servers’ – each with its own processes, software, users, etc. Its usually semi-managed meaning the techs take care of the high-end software upgrade stuff such as kernels but you’re responsible for keeping your PHP, etc up to date. In our case, a typical ServInt VPS can be seamlessly upgraded right up to SuperVPS which gives you 150GB and dedicated server-type capabilities.

I’ve found this analogy helpful – Shared hosting if pretty much like renting a room. A couple of room mates might live together but you don’t really have much input into the way the house is run and you can only hope for nice house mates and landlord.

Dedicated servers on the other hand is like owning your own house. Although its nice, you’ll now have to start worrying about plumbing and heating and garbage disposals and mowing the lawn, etc.

A VPS is somewhat like an apartment. You rent the entire apartment and you sub-let it out to others, while you have some responsibilities in maintaining it, the bulk of the repairs are borne by your landlord.

I hope that little example will give you a good idea on what a VPS is. My typical VPSes take up to 50 domains on it, and if I charge my clients shared hosting type fees, you can easily do the math to see what kinds of profits you can have with one.

This article is obviously simplified for the average user as there’s also Cloud Hosting and other new technologies emerging.