VPS and Dedicated Server Comparison
Some companies claim that a Virtual Private Server behaves exactly like a dedicated or colocated server, which just isn't true. A VPS is very similar, but there are a few differences.
What a VPS Cannot Do
The limitations below are specific to VPSs implemented with Virtuozzo.
- You can't upgrade the Linux kernel or load additional kernel modules. If the kernel needs to be upgraded, we do it on the underlying Aktiom host machine, which propagates to your VPS.
- "Stateful" firewalls aren't supported. However, your VPS can use standard firewall rules – such as blocking specific IPs and opening certain ports.
- A VPS doesn't have direct, programmatic access to the hardware. This keeps VPSs secure and stable from one another.
You might wonder if these differences will impact your use of the server – our clients don't even notice them for the vast majority of server tasks, like serving webpages, querying databases, or routing email.
What a VPS Can Do
- Has its own processes, users, files, disk quotas, and full root access
- Has its own IP address, full spectrum of TCP/UDP ports, and firewall rules
- Has its own configuration files for system and application software
- Has its own version of system libraries which can be upgraded
- Can add, modify, and delete any file in the filesystem, including
/root - Can install and delete any software applications, including compiling your own
This isn't a comprehensive list, but it shows that a VPS is much like what you expect from a dedicated Linux server.
VPS Advantages
First is price. A VPS is more affordable than a dedicated server, but gives nearly the same functionality.
Second, your VPS is running on fault-tolerant hardware most people only dream of being on. If you want a server able to stay online when a power supply or disk drive fails, you'll pay at least $500.00 per month for a high-end machine. This reason alone is why most clients choose an Aktiom VPS.
Last, your VPS is guaranteed a certain level of hardware resources, but can also burst to higher usage. It's rare to have servers like ours with dual Xeon CPUs, eight gigabytes of RAM, and SCSI RAID-10 to take advantage of.
Of course, if our machines were overloaded with VPSs there wouldn't be much burst capacity. We choose to run fewer VPSs per machine and keep our clients happy. We also have a system keeping watch for high resource usage – if needed, we can easily move a VPS to another machine and reduce the load.