VPS or Virtual Private Servers are a different way of incorporating servers into your business. They are different to dedicated servers that you might find in some companies. While they’re a great solution to do many things, they’re not limited to specific tasks. There might be certain things that you’re doing as a business that could be much more beneficial through a VPS. Firstly, though, we need to know exactly what a VPS is. Let’s have a look.
So, we’ve already established that VPS stands for Virtual Private Server. What that means is that somewhere, these servers are being hosted for you. They’re powerful, and can be rented out to multiple customers while still preserving customization. Basically; you’re in complete control of them in most cases. This means that you don’t need to have a big and expensive dedicated server to do the work for you. Renting a virtual one will still give you what you need in the majority of circumstances, but for a cheaper cost.
These servers are personal to you because the machines hosting them are powerful, as I mentioned before. If you’ve ever used a virtual machine in a Windows environment, you’ll know what I’m getting at. Virtual machines allow you to open multiple instances of an operating system all at once. Think of these VPS machines as a way of doing this in a much more powerful way. That’s what you’re getting when you go for one of these things.
How can it help you when it comes to maintaining your websites? Well, VPS can actually host your websites for you. You can connect your existing domains to a VPS. You’ll need to look at how to do this with your domain via the tutorials that’ll be available to you. This way, you’ll be able to host your website, and you should see much better results. VPS services will often make it very easy for you to manage your domains.
Now you need to analyse whether VPS is actually worth implementing for your business. There are three realistic options available to you. There are dedicated servers, which are expensive things that are normally limited to companies on the larger end of the scale. With these things, you’ll have full control over your server, but you’ll also be in trouble if they go wrong.
Virtual private servers are hosted elsewhere, but you have full control over them. You can start them up and shut them down, and install anything you desire. You’ll normally have super-user privileges so there’s nothing you can’t do. If something goes wrong, it won’t affect the actual server that your VPS is being hosted on. Problems can be fixed by the company that is hosting the server, so it’s a good choice for someone who is also quite new to this sort of thing.
Finally, shared web hosting is an option for those who are simply concerned with their websites. This is the least favourable option of the three, as it means that your website shares a hosting package with other websites as well. VPS isn’t much more expensive than shared hosting and offers a much better package in the long run.
Alright, so what’s the point of buying into VPS? What else can you do with it besides hosting your website domains? There are actually a lot of possible answers to this. Anything you can do on a traditional computer can be done via a VPS server. The only limitations are the ones that are set by the host. Let’s break this article down a bit and look some examples of what you can do with VPS.
Host A Server
You can use your VPS to act as another server for any business or personal needs that you desire. For example, you could use the VPS as a way to host all of your company files. You can use it for things like running a 24/7 www.twitch.tv server if you’re a gaming nut with some fun ideas. While a VPS can act as just another computer, you can use it to do one specific task while you get on with the rest.
Backup Server
Instead of using your VPS as a host, why not use it as a backup device? Storing daily or weekly backups of your confidential data is a tough task when you’ve got little space on your devices at the office. It’s not even practical either; what if your office burned down tomorrow? Storing that important backup data in a remote location gives you peace of mind.
Create A Dedicated Game Server
We’ve already touched on this, but let’s take it even further. You’ve probably played those multiplayer PC games that have awful servers. Thousands of people are hammering them all at once, and they’re bound to struggle. You can use a VPS to create a private, dedicated server to play games with your friends. You won’t have to suffer from lag, and they can log on and play at any time of the day even if you’re not there.
As A Reliable Security Offering
When you’ve got sensitive data that needs protecting, you want good security behind it. With all the devices and bits of data floating around your office, it’s not always sensible to keep it in-house. VPS solutions often come with heavy security as part of the package. Look at somewhere like vpsserver.com that comes with easy firewall configuration. Contact the company for more information about this if you’re worried. They’ll normally be happy to help.
As A Test Environment
You don’t have to worry too much about breaking something when it comes to a VPS. Think of it as a virtual sandbox that you can do pretty much anything with. If you’re worried about deploying a new piece software to the company, test it out on your VPS first. Identify any potential issues that may arise from this and take steps to correct them. You can play around with the OS and try out new things that you’re a bit wary of. As long as you follow the rules of your hosting company, there’s nothing to worry about. If something goes wrong, they’ll be on hand to help you.
Hosting Blogs & Mail Servers
In addition to hosting websites, VPS solutions can often host things like WordPress blogs and even your emails. Get creative and think about what a VPS could do for your personal websites and interests. By hosting with your VPS, you’ll often find that these pages run much smoother with increased reliability.
Whether you’re a veteran or beginner to the world of servers, VPS is a good solution. Looking to the future, it’ll be interesting to see how it continues to evolve. While VPS solutions haven’t changed much in the last few years, they’ve certainly gotten a lot faster and more reliable. They incorporate cleaner interfaces than they used to, making things much easier to navigate.
The way in which they have been used has also changed in some ways. While business users will continue to host and backup with them, we’ve seen some interesting personal uses. Events like the Twitch Plays Pokemon phenomenon which was broadcast live 24/7 a few years ago used servers. It gained worldwide press attention while it was going on and other gamers continue to use VPS solutions to try and replicate it.
One thing’s for sure; VPS isn’t going away. Dedicated servers are a nuisance for so many people. Yeah, they’re fine for the big businesses and IT corporations, but what about everyone else? For those of us who need them to host our websites from home, they’re an invaluable tool. When we’re setting up a new company and we need extra storage space, there’s no better choice. The most important thing is finding a solution that’s reputable and secure.
If you’re sold on the idea and you’re ready to pick a VPS solution, study their features and see what they can provide for you. Use the contact options and talk about your specific intentions. They’ll often give you tips and help about how to get the most out of your VPS to do this. Look for fast speeds as they’re paramount when it comes to VPS.
I hope you’ve found this article useful as a way of understanding more about VPS and how it can help. It’s entirely possible that you’ll find additional uses for it in the future if you buy-in now. While you might want to use it as a video game server for the time being, you’ll probably find it useful for storage as well. Eventually, you might be using it for a whole bunch of purposes. And guess what!? If you don’t need it anymore, you can cancel! You’re only renting these things, so a lot of packages will allow you to cancel with very little notice. Take all of this into account, and hopefully, you’ll find VPS to be the tool you’re looking for.
