When it’s time to find the right hosting for you, there are so many choices it can be overwhelming. You have to look at your specific needs before you try to make the decision between virtual, dedicated and cloud servers.
Virtual Servers
Typically, virtual servers or VPS hosting is used for those looking to scale from a shared account. Often, these smaller companies don’t have the budget to handle a dedicated server yet, so they turn to a virtual server. This allows for many of the same benefits for a lower price.
Dedicated Servers
Companies with a larger budget may want to use a dedicated server for hosting. Sometimes this is the only option that will work. If you require a higher level of security, prefer to have full control over your hosting or plan to create websites with a large traffic volume, a dedicated server will be the best option for your needs.
Cloud Servers
Most companies choosing cloud servers do so for a few different reasons. If they use a public cloud, this is a cost cutting measure, in most cases. However, if they choose cloud servers on their own private network, they may be interested in giving multiple employees access to the cloud from all over the world.
Larger companies will create their own private cloud to gain many advantages. This is a very popular type of hosting, especially when it fits the business needs perfectly.
What’s the Difference in Cost?
The major difference between virtual, dedicated and cloud servers comes in the cost. They all three provide specific advantages and disadvantages, but the first thing most companies will look at is the cost.
Virtual private servers can start as low as $50 and go as high as $200. Of course, there are some packages for even cheaper prices, but they tend to give you very little resources for the cost. The best VPS hosting packages start around $50 per month.
Dedicated servers, on the other hand, are more expensive. They start around $150 and go as high as about $1,000. For the companies with the budget to support this type of hosting, it can be well worth the cost.
Cloud servers can be very expensive, if you plan to set up your own private cloud. However, if you plan to use cloud services from a hosting company, you pay for only the resources you use. This means, you can spend a few dollars to a few hundred dollar per month, based on the space and traffic volume of your websites.
Other Important Differences
Other than just looking at the cost, reliability and performance are also very important. As long as you choose a good hosting company, you will see that dedicated, cloud and VPS hosting all perform about the same. Sometimes, dedicated and VPS hosting can become bogged down, if you don’t get a hosting company with around the clock server monitoring.
The reliability is the largest difference between the three. Since a virtual server is still shared, they can experience slowdowns and even crash because of somebody else on the server. However, with cloud and dedicated hosting this isn’t an issue. Cloud hosting tends to be the most reliable of all three because it uses multiple servers.
Should You Choose Cloud Servers for Your Hosting?
In the right situation cloud servers will provide the best hosting for your company. However, if it doesn’t match up with your goals or needs, you may need to find a different type of hosting. It’s not the most customizable hosting and it won’t give you the best security. Make sure you look at your specific need before finalizing your decision.
Taking your company online is vital to your success. The right hosting matters, whether it’s a virtual, dedicated or cloud server.