There are a lot of misconceptions about two of the top web hosting types, Cloud Hosting, and VPS hosting. Out of the never-ending choices, Cloud and VPS are two of the most preferred choices by small scale websites. And even if you have VPS and Cloud as your only two choices, choosing a one out of these two might be a tough task.
To choose a one between different options, it is important that you know about all the options. Therefore, let us understand both these web hosting types and the differences between them.
What is VPS Hosting?
VPS hosting is where a server is divided into virtual partitions. VPS stands for Virtual Private Server. VPS is like a dedicated server inside a shared server. It is called a virtual server because a powerful server is divided into multiple servers. And each partition of this powerful server can function as a separate server and is called a Virtual Private Server. In a VPS system, even though the physical storage is stored among many different partitions, one will not have to share the resources like RAM, CPU, etc. With VPS, you get guaranteed resources without having to share them with some other server. Users also get root access to the server, which means one can install any software directly, as how is in the case of a dedicated server. A VPS can be rebooted without letting any other server be on the same dedicated server.
What is Cloud Hosting?
Cloud Hosting functions beyond the concept of hosting a website on a single server. Cloud Hosting is a revolutionary concept where a website is hosted on multiple servers. Cloud Hosting greatly reduces downtime whenever there is any server malfunction. Because the copy of the website is stored on multiple servers and the server which is up will respond to the request and display the requested website. Therefore, Cloud Hosting is known for its reliability. Many industry experts believe that Cloud Hosting is the future. And it indeed is moving in that same direction. Many tech giants have shifted to the cloud and the pricing has also come down by a great margin, which makes it possible for small businesses to move to cloud networks.
Differences between Cloud Hosting and VPS hosting
Pricing
Even though there are other key differences between Cloud Hosting and VPS hosting, their pricing is what makes one more preferred over the other and makes Cloud Hosting less popular than it should have been. When compared to VPS hosting, Cloud Hosting is relatively costly, allowing only the ones with a higher budget to choose Cloud Hosting. Since you get guaranteed resources in VPS and limitations on the scalability, the monthly cost is quite predictable.
But with Cloud Hosting, you get guaranteed uptime and high scalability. This results in paying for a lot of hardware, a complex network as a whole. Usually, Cloud Hosting plans will cost you based on the resources you use. This is unpredictable. You will not get a clear picture of the cost you will have to pay till the end of the month. In case of heavy traffic directed to your website, more resources will be consumed and it???ll result in a hefty bill.
Scalability
VPS hosting comes with very limited scalability when compared to Cloud Hosting. Scalability can be considered as one of the biggest factors that separate Cloud Hosting from VPS hosting. In VPS hosting you get only limited resources within the virtual server or partition. You might also get a little more resources outside your virtual server, but the physical server will have a fixed amount of resources.
But, that is not the case with Cloud Hosting. Cloud Hosting is highly scalable. The scalability of Cloud Hosting can help you spend money on unused resources. Because Cloud Hosting works on pay for what you-use policy. You will have to pay less money at the end of the month if you use fewer resources, pay more money if you use higher resources. You will not have to worry about running out of resources, as the storage space available is infinite and if your website hits higher traffic, you will not have to worry about hitting the resource limit.
Customization
If you want to do any customization, you get complete root access with total control over the OS, your website, and all the files and software related to your website. You can do any customization whenever you want to. You can make any configuration changes as per your requirement.
Cloud networks are very complex. Hence, customizing cloud networks will require expertise. If you are a website owner or admin with no or very less technical expertise, then you will find it very tough to customize the cloud network. And the changes will have to be done across many servers and this might lead to inaccuracy in the hosting settings or configurations.
Security
Compared to shared hosting, VPS is more secure. Because you get virtual private networks that are more secure. But if an owner of another VPS follows insecure practices, then there are chances that your website will also be affected.
The cloud network is physically distributed. This character might make them vulnerable to attacks even if the security of one server is not paid attention to. Other than that, the cloud networks a high on security.
Performance
VPS is quite capable as you get guaranteed resources for yourself. Unlike shared hosting, the high resource consumption of some other websites will not affect the performance of your website. But if the total resource demand exceeds the physical server resources, then the performance of your website might take a hit. And one of the biggest and only prominent drawbacks VPS is that if the physical host fails, all other virtual servers also go down, just like how it is in shared hosting.
But this is where Cloud Hosting stands out. You will always get the uptime guaranteed. Even if one server in the network fails, all the files and everything is instantly migrated to another server with no downtime. The resources you get are also expanded whenever there is a need for it. You will get more storage and RAM whenever there is a sudden rise in the traffic on your website or in other similar situations.
Cloud Hosting v/s VPS Hosting: Which one to choose?
For spending little more than VPS, Cloud Hosting can surely put a wide smile on your face. Because Cloud Hosting comes with only a few downs and a lot of ups.
The biggest difference between both of these web hosting types is their scalability, and Cloud Hosting takes the cake in this matter. If you have a website with wide traffic fluctuations, then Cloud Hosting must be your choice.
And VPS must be the hosting type you choose if you just want to get started online and want to tackle the limitations of VPS hosting.
