What is the Difference Between VPS and Shared Hosting?

Virtual Private Servers (VPS) and Shared Hosting are similar as webhosting services because they rely on dividing one physical server into separately-rented pieces. In general, these pieces are larger and stronger with a VPS. Their differences are numerous, and each is an effective tool for different types of jobs and needs.

Shared hosting uses a shared hardware resource pool, meaning that all shared hosting clients on one server are supported by the same processor cores, RAM, SSD's, etc. A VPS, on the other hand, has a dedicated allocation of hardware resources, including bandwidth speeds. This means that your VPS never needs to wait for a turn to think, and has consistently high performance.

It should be emphasized that even though shared hosting accounts use a pool of hardware resources, a low or mid-traffic website will not be slowed down by a neighbor trying to run a heavy website next door, due to modern resource allocation strategies. If said neighbor is consistently pushing the limits of their shared hosting package, they will be contacted and recommended to upgrade to a VPS for increased performance, bandwidth, and higher quality end-user experiences.

So far, these differences have been largely based on performance, but some of the most fascinating differences between Shared hosting and VPS hosting are in the functionality.

As you may know, a VPS is super customizable - a clean slate for which you are the ruler. With root level access and full control over your virtual environment, you can run anything* (see TOS & AUP) that the operating system could normally. This contrasts heavily to shared hosting, where you do not have the ability to run every script or function that you may want, nor root access to the server. Most clients that run a website + control panel with shared hosting do not find this to be a problem whatsoever. But for some, having the added powers that come with a VPS and the room to grow is an amazing improvement.

  • VPS, Shared
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