Dedicated servers are expensive. There’s no getting around that fact; if you opt for using an entire server for your site or business, you are going to pay a pretty premium for that service.

Virtual private servers, or VPS, are cheap. So why should you opt for something that is clearly going to cost you more money?

The Dedicated Advantage

As with anything, you get what you pay for. With servers, that is especially true. A dedicated server is a much more capable machine than a VPS. With a dedicated server, you are getting an entire machine dedicated to your site. If your site is getting consistent traffic, this is a very, very good thing. A dedicated server is capable of handling far more traffic than a VPS, and that is without factoring in stability concerns.

With a dedicated machine, you also have your own IP address, something that can’t be said about VPS. Having an IP address means you can do all sorts of useful things, such as running non-standard servers. You can point people to the IP and it will always be right, without software having to reroute the packets. It also means that less work has to be done to get the packet to the machine. Losing that layer of abstraction shaves crucial milliseconds from each packet exchange, meaning that a dedicated server will always have better performance compared to a similarly spec’d VPS. That makes a dedicated machine a virtual necessity if you plan on creating any web apps that need any level of responsiveness.

But the real reason to opt for a dedicated machine is stability. Dedicated machines are able to handle far more traffic than a VPS, even if you factor in the traffic going to all the VPS’s on a server. A dedicated machine has to run less software and is executing far less code. There is less to go wrong, and fewer ways for the server to get bogged down. This is critical when you have a spike in traffic. A dedicated server is capable of handling a large number of visitors without failing. They are designed for stability. The same usually can’t be said of a VPS. And if there are problems with your server, your provider doesn’t have to worry about affecting other sites when doing maintenance on yours.

Do you Need a Dedicated Server?

You can run a website just fine without a dedicated private server. Most of the sites on the internet are sharing hardware with other sites. But most of the sites on the internet get very little traffic. The more popular your site becomes, the more important a stable site becomes. With a VPS, you will be risking slowdowns, site delays, and even traffic rejection. Dedicated servers only have those problems during incredible traffic spikes.

So if you care about your site, or if you are expecting a significant amount of traffic, you can’t afford not to use a dedicated server.

There are many different types of web hosting companies out there. For the site just starting out, few are better than the Virtual Private Server, or VPS. A VPS manages to maintain a great balance of performance and value. They provide an ideal entry point for those just starting out in the hosting world, those who don’t need the brawn of a full dedicated server. So why should you choose a VPS, proxy service and when is it appropriate?

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When a VPS Isn’t Right

If you are expecting your site to get lots of traffic, or if minute lags in performance could hinder who visits, then you shouldn’t opt for a VPS. Many businesses should avoid VPS’s simply because slow sites don’t come across as professional.

Any site that relies heavily on the CPU should also avoid VPS. With a VPS, the resources are shared between many different sites. If you happen to run a site that needs a complicated script to work, avoid choosing a VPS. You are asking for trouble.

When is a VPS Right?

That last paragraph might have scared you a bit about virtualization. But the thing is, while there are some problems with virtualization, VPS technology drastically reduces the cost of running a website. And most websites don’t need the full power of a dedicated private server, until business speeds up and the cost is no longer an issue.

A VPS is a great way to get a small site up quickly and easily. If you need a web presence but can’t afford to spend triple digits on it every month, or if your traffic is limited enough that having a full server would just be silly, then a VPS is perfect for you.

Most sites on the internet don’t need the full power of a dedicated web server, which is why most web sites on the internet are virtualized. Those sites occupy the long tail: sites that account for very little of the web’s total monthly traffic yet account for the majority of sites out there.

Your site will probably be in this long tail for quite a while. If nothing else, you will know beforehand whether you are going to have to upgrade your site to a dedicated server when your traffic spikes enough to cause problems.

Virtual Private Servers aren’t without their drawbacks, but they provide a service that you can’t get elsewhere. It makes web hosting cheap enough that a small local store can afford it, that a little-league sports team can create a site for the team, that a group of high school students can throw together a forum for their friends. Sure, a VPS won’t run Facebook. But it will run a blog, or a site about cats, or a small, private wiki about a game or project or personal subject.

The VPS is the launching point of the web, and many companies offer upgrades to keep you from running into problems. A virtual private server will get the job done until the job outgrows the services offered.