Choosing the right VPS hosting can be daunting unless you know the parameters you need to evaluate. With the sheer number of web hosts in the market, making a decision is more complicated now.
All right, this article can make you feel better. In it, we will discuss how to choose the right VPS hosting for your business, considering all the key aspects of a perfect web host.
But before we get into it, we need to understand what a VPS is and why we need one instead of a typical shared hosting.
Table of Contents
What Is A Virtual Private Server (VPS)
As the name suggests, a VPS is a virtual private server. It is called virtual because the resource allocation is virtual.
You won’t get access to dedicated physical resources. However, you will get access to dedicated virtual resources through virtualization technology.
VPS is mostly faster than shared hosting as you can access dedicated virtual resources. In VPS hosting, you can choose the amount of RAM you need, the number of CPU cores you require, and other computing resources.
Upscaling is also possible in VPS hosting. This means that when traffic spikes, you can upscale your resources to handle the spike.
There are two types of VPS mainly offered by web hosts.
- Traditional VPS: A Traditional physical server is allocated to many users using virtualization
- Cloud VPS: An array of cloud servers are allocated to many users using virtualization
As shown below, cloud VPS can be divided into various types based on the application requirement.
- General Purpose VPS
- Memory Optimized VPS
- Storage Optimized VPS
- Compute Optimized VPS
Why VPS?
As per Google, speed is a ranking factor. So, everyone is behind in improving their website’s core vitals. This is justified, too, as better speed carries better customer satisfaction.
The speed component can be divided into two types. One is the web server speed, which decides how good your server’s Time To First Byte (TTFB) is, and the other is web page speed (TTLB—Time To Last Byte), which ensures how fast the webpage loads for your visitors.
Web page speed vastly depends on the web server speed, although you can improve it by caching. However, having a fast web server speed is important for first-time visitors.
So, our main focus has to be improving our server’s TTFB; everything else will fall into place automatically.
So, if your server offers good TTFB, you can improve the TTLB by caching, CDN, and other web optimization methods.
Most shared hosting suffers from poor speed as you share your resources with others. There is also a security concern.
That’s where VPS comes into the picture. In VPS, you will get dedicated server resources (Virtual). Your account will be isolated, and resources won’t be shared with other tenants on the same server.
You are likely to get better speed and good security in VPS. The best thing about VPS is that you can control the server however you want, unlike in shared hosting, where your host controls everything.
How To Choose The Right VPS Hosting [ 10 Key Points]
Here are the factors you should consider while choosing VPS hosting for your business. Although there could be many other factors, the listed factors are the most important ones and can’t be ignored.
Managed Or Unmanaged
Managed VPS hosting means that your hosting environment will be managed by the web host’s support team, such as AccuWeb Hosting.
The support team handles all your hosting activities, security, and software patches.
On the other hand, in the case of Unmanaged VPS hosting, you will have to set up your server, install applications, manage the server, and perform numerous other tasks.
You should not choose unmanaged VPS hosting unless you have the required skills to manage a server.
Managed VPS hosting plans are relatively costly, as the support team handles your server. However, they bring peace of mind, which is more important as you can focus more on your business than your hosting.
Speed
Getting dedicated resources does not always mean getting good speed. Before you choose a VPS, ensure that it offers good speed.
Check the web server configurations and RAM before you take a call. For example, a lite-speed-powered web server is much faster than an Apache-powered server.
Nowadays, most VPS hosts offer a free trial. Ensure you check the speed during the trial, and if you are satisfied, then continue.
If you are choosing managed VPS hosting, your web host could already have many speed tweaks in place. However, testing the speed will ensure you do not choose the wrong host.
Security
Although VPS hosting is much more secure than shared hosting, it is not immune to threats. You are in danger, especially if you choose an unmanaged VPS and don’t know how to secure your server.
That is why I always suggest choosing a managed web host so you don’t have to worry about security, as the support team will mostly take care of that.
However, at the application level, you can use reputed security plugins like WordFence to protect your application.
Backup
Managed web hosts mainly offer free backups; however, unmanaged web hosts charge additional for backups.
You need to look for how frequently your web host takes backups and how long they keep them.
You may be able to quickly create server snapshots that can be restored faster than a conventional backup.
VPS backup usually means backing up the whole server. You only have to take care of the application-level backups.
You can use plugins like WPVivid to take care of your backups if you use WordPress CMS.
I hate spending money on server backups, as they are mostly useless in case of issues. I prefer to arrange backups by other means rather than depending on the web host.
Upscaling
Your VPS should allow for upscaling when there is a spike in traffic, and you need additional resources.
In the case of shared hosting, you usually sign up for a year or so. But in the case of VPS, it is generally every month, so you always have the chance to change the plan.
But there is a catch. Changing the plan means you must set up your server again, which is not always convenient.
Upscaling is essential, as you can upgrade your resources without changing the plan.
Resource Selection
Go for a VPS host that offers a wide range of resource selections so that you can decide based on your needs.
Just look at Accuweb Hosting’s offering. They have a VPS plan for almost any type of business, whether small or large.
Uptime
Most web hosts will commit 99.99% uptime, but you need to check the history of their uptime record before you make a decision.
Stay away from cheap VPS web hosts. They promise great uptime, but in reality, you may see your server go down occasionally.
Don’t even consider if the uptime is below 99.95%, as anything below that number is regarded as an unstable host. Your website may lose a chunk of traffic if you choose an unstable host.
Control Panel
Hmm, that’s a grey area for most VPS web hosts. Unless you choose a managed web host, you will unlikely get a control panel.
You must use your Linux skills to operate the VPS using a command-line interface. Unless you have that expertise, don’t choose a VPS without a control panel.
The good news is that numerous free web hosting control panels are available on the market. However, you may also need some Linux skills. So, choose your VPS wisely.
Cost
VPS hosting is a little pricier than shared hosting, but it is justified, too, as you get dedicated resources, better speed, and better security.
In an online business, you should not get stressed about spending a couple of dollars more on hosting and should focus more on your business.
You need to do a cost versus service analysis and see if the extra dollar yields any benefit.
Cheap web hosting plans may look great, but in the long run, they will hamper your business more than anything good.
However, you should always check the price against the kind of service they are offering, and based on that, you can take a call.
Special Features
Special features are differentiators. Check for special features that web hosts offer and whether those features are helpful to you.
For example, a VPS host may offer free email hosting, and another VPS host may offer a free Cloudflare Pro plan.
You should always choose the VPS that offers Cloudflare Pro, as it justifies the money that you are paying. Email hosting can be done elsewhere for a very cheap price.
Our Recommended VPS Host
I would recommend AccuWeb Hosting for its excellent VPS plans that offer a tremendous price-to-feature ratio. They have been in this business for over 20 years and know what is right for your business.
They offer traditional VPS hosting as well as Cloud VPS hosting. I recommend Cloud VPS hosting because it offers better speed and a wider choice of resources.
Some salient features make it one of the best and cheapest VPS hosts.
Fully-Scalable Resources
As I said earlier, “Upscaling” is a key differentiator in VPS hosting, and you will get it in Accuweb Hosting. You can upgrade your resources anytime you want.
You won’t lose your data while upgrading; there is almost no downtime during the transition. Your IP address will also remain the same.
DDoS Protection
Other web hosts charge around $10-$15 for DDoS protection. However, AccuWeb Hosting offers that feature for free with all cloud VPS hosting plans.
With DDoS protection, you can control your Cloud VPS and get real-time monitoring to alleviate traffic, defend your website, and manage sudden attacks.
Free Backup
Unlike other VPS hosts, Accuweb Hosting offers weekly free backups with all its VPS hosting plans. You can restore your server in no time using those backups.
Choice Of Operating Systems
With all Cloud VPS hosting plans, you can choose your operating system from an exhaustive list of reputed Linux distributions and Windows. I prefer that Ubuntu host my websites on a VPS.
Full Root Access
Since AccuWeb Cloud VPS hosting plans are unmanaged, you are responsible for managing your server.
You will get root access to your server, and you can do whatever you want with it. This gives you a lot of freedom to manage your server.
Conclusion: How To Choose The Right VPS Hosting
Choosing the right VPS hosting is not rocket science if you know the basics. First, you should know your requirements and narrow down your selection based on those.
Whatever parameters we listed here should be good to start with to choose the right VPS host, however, there could be special requirements and we can help you out if you comment your queries down below.
