VPS Hosting

A VPS or virtual private server, is form of virtualization that allows an instance of an operating system to be hosted on a virtual machine that is isolated from other operating systems on the same physical server. This provides the virtual machine with its own dedicated resources and isolates your instance from other instances in the hosting environment, without the need to purchase an entire bare metal server. The VPS lives in a hardware clustered environment so it is resilient to any hardware failures that might otherwise cause a single bare metal server to experience an outage.

It is often used by websites and other applications that require more resources or control than can be provided by shared hosting, but do not need the resources or cost of a dedicated bare metal server. Some common use cases for VPS hosting include:

• Websites and other applications with high traffic or that expect to see a significant increase in traffic in the future
• Applications that require a high level of security, such as e-commerce or financial sites
• Sites that need a high level of customization, such as those that require the use of custom software or scripts
• Applications other than a typical website, such as ETL processing, game servers, email servers, personal development environments or test servers – if it runs on x86, a VPS might be the perfect place for it

Overall, VPS hosting is a good option for applications that need more resources, customization, or control than shared hosting can provide.

There are several key differences between VPS hosting and shared hosting:

• Resources: In shared hosting, your tenant shares resources with other tenants on the same server. In VPS hosting, an instance has its own dedicated resources on a virtual private server.
• Control: With shared hosting you may be restricted from running certain software or from having root access to the server. With VPS hosting the instance is your own and you have full root/administrator privileges and full console/shell access to customize or install whatever software you need.
• Performance: Because an instance in VPS hosting has its own dedicated resources, it can provide a consistent level of performance that you may not find in a shared hosting environment.
• Cost: Shared hosting is generally less expensive than VPS hosting but comes at the trade-off of less predictable performance. VPS hosting is more expensive, but provides better performance and control.

• Scalability: VPS hosting allows the instance owner to increase resources (additional CPU, RAM, or disk space or bandwidth) as their application’s needs increase.

Using a Windows or Linux virtual private server (VPS) does not necessarily require a lot of technical knowledge, FirstLink offers tools to make management easy and we offer technical assistance to help you get up and running.

At FirstLink we offer both fully-managed and self-managed VPS. With fully-managed VPS, we handle the installation, configuration, and maintenance of the operating system, applications, and any other software or services on the VPS. This option is suitable for users who are not familiar with operating systems or do not wish to manage their own server – this lets you focus on your business and we can take care of the tech stuff for you.

Self-managed VPS does not include any management or support from FirstLink. This means that after selecting the size of the VPS and what Operating System, the customer is responsible for the configuration and maintenance of the operating system, applications, and any other software or services on the VPS.

A self-managed VPS is generally more suitable for experienced users who have the technical skills and resources to manage their own server. It offers a high degree of privacy, flexibility, and control.

How do I back-up my VPS data? Our VPS hosting includes snapshot backup capability and you can always configure your own custom backup solution to keep a copy of your data anywhere you wish.