VPS vs Dedicated

As has been said, you really don't need to move up to a dedicated server until you've grown to the point where a VPS is no longer the feasible solution.
 
Hi guys, I added this response to another post but its just as relevant here.

We use a VPS (and dedicated) and sometimes our sites/applications slow down. Remember if your host has one big 16GB dual CPU Server with say 4 disks in a RAID conf with a 10MB pipe BUT has 16 VPS environments all possibly running multiple sites in those environments then there is a lot of disk activity. Those disks can only read and write certain amounts of data no matter what. So if your host oversells and all the sites on all the nodes go wild then you will see a performance hit.

We are suffering slow speed on our sites from heavy bandwidth and disk activity from other VPS users. One of our VPS is idle much of the time and runs pretty fast, but sometimes we suffer slow speeds in those idles times because of the hardware activity. VPS environments are great, but they cannot allocate you dedicated resources on the NIC and disks (OpenVZ for certain) so you will suffer performance issues if others on the node are hogging!

In my opinion and testing, dedicated servers are much better and perform better consequently in line with our apps. VPS are cheap, quick and easy to setup.

With a dedicated server it means just that its all yours. Although VPS you get all your own software and environment and you share hardware. Anything that you share means slower.

As for security, there is an added layer of access for the host to get into any part of the VPS file system. It adds a security risk in my eyes, because you really do not know who has access to the nodes. That is my only concern with VPS along with the disk issues.
 
If you looking for hosting numerous domains, resell hosting to others, high traffic site, ecommerce site and concern about stability and security and needs more controls then its time to upgrade to dedicated hosting.
 
I was about 5 months ago deciding between VPS and dedicated servers and I just chose VPS mainly due to cost reasons.

************* had this package building option so I kind of got everything I wanted. Pretty neat if you ask me. Costs were way lower than dedicated servers and speeds were good.
 
I use 1and1 Hosting at this moment for my VPS. and its been great so far. VPS's are great for small hosting and even game server hosting (counterstrike servers, ventrilo, team speak) you can run a few server with no problems. as long as you have the ram for it of course :)
 
If you have a high traffic web site and VPS aren't enought for your web site, you should change to a dedicated server.
 
You don't need a dedicated server as long as you get good specs with a VPS. Some vpses are more powerful than dedicated servers.
 
************* recommended me a VPS over a dedicated server because it is just more worth it in the long run. The VPS package was cheaper and quite frankly I am more satisfied with it.
 
I think a good rule of thumb with technology in general is to build to your budget. If you are serious about your website and your online business then the only logical direction will be to look towards a dedicated server.
Even though you may save money by going with a VPS, you will most likely spend twice the amount you saved when your site outgrows the VPS and you are forced to migrate your site to a fully dedicated.
If you are running an ecommerce site of decent size, streaming any kind of media services, or hosting multiple domains, dedicated is the only way.

Good Luck
 
CocoaHost-Mike said:
start using VPS, migration is really easy nowadays. You lose nothing when you find out vps is not enough for you.
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Unfortunately, that is just not true in every case.

DNS itself is essentially a numbers game but when moving site files, confirming directory permissions or ACL’s, moving email data files, database setup, configuring third party components and many other unknowns, there can potentially be several obstacles that translate into $$$.

This does not take into account the individual or organization that is actually doing the work. If you are the site owner, developer and server admin all rolled into one then maybe you can save a few dollars there doing the work yourself. Speaking from experience, there are very few times when you have all those roles and expertise bundled into one individual.

Most of the site and server owners will end up contracting services that can vary greatly in cost and can without much work at all, exceed a given budget.

I think it is very important to set a truthful expectation to a customer and not one that paints a perfect picture just to seal the deal. This is not to say that not all service migrations or site moves are problematic but the potential for a long weekend is always looming.
 
I disagree and agree with Mike.

It should be really easy now with hosts like MyHosting out there to migrate toward VPS.

When I made a small switch from regular hosting to VPS, they made it easy for me as possible. I think your hosts should be doing the same or else they are basically stealing money from you.
 
That's okay, I won't hold it against you. ;)

All I am saying is that it can potentially be more then just transferring files from one location to another and preparation is the key.

The success of a migration depends greatly on understanding your application, its limitations and the environment. I have migrated many applications and the associated resources and there is always adjustments that need to be made.
 
If A VPS is setup correctly it should be hard to outgrow unless you have a completely Huge site. You can get some very large VPS nowadays. I have seen up to 8GB VPS with 8GB swap (xen).
 
IfusionAlistair said:
If A VPS is setup correctly it should be hard to outgrow unless you have a completely Huge site. You can get some very large VPS nowadays. I have seen up to 8GB VPS with 8GB swap (xen).
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Totally agreed here. It has to be set up properly which helps a lot in the long run.

You can almost feel and see the difference of an improper set up vs a proper one. I used a cheap web host who is out of business now via their VPS package and it was no where as good as *************'s package.

Speed differences are very noticeable.

That is why I am going to upgrade to their dedicated servers when I REALLY REALLY must.
 
IfusionAlistair said:
If A VPS is setup correctly it should be hard to outgrow unless you have a completely Huge site. You can get some very large VPS nowadays. I have seen up to 8GB VPS with 8GB swap (xen).
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I disagree. If your site gains massive popularity, outgrowing a VPS package is not difficult
 
The best time to move to a dedicated server is when you find that you need more resources and more control. A VPS is an excellent way to start out keeping your costs low, if its not broken do not fix it :)
 
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