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Posted by
FS - Michael 
Welcome to another one of our Hosting Tutorials. This week we're going to talk about the services you can get after you've outgrown shared hosting.
Introduction
To start off, an introduction to shared hosting is required to help explain what Semi-Dedicated and Virtual Private servers are:
In a shared environment, you (the customer) have one slice of a server. You cannot change the settings on the server that will effect accounts that you don't own and normally, you will have very limited access to the server itself, in terms of access restrictions to your account and your own files.
Virtual Private Server (VPS)
A VPS is the next step up, along with Semi-Dedicated which I will cover later, from Shared Hosting. If you have not grown big enough for a server to yourself, this is often the best way to save money and have complete access to what is installed and running.
Virtual Private Servers work by taking a very powerful computer and creating smaller, virtual, computers within it . These have their own operating systems (discussed in our last tutorial) and their own files, but do not have their own hardware (processor, RAM or hard drive). A VPS only exists virtually, it may act like a server, but all the resources it uses, including it's internet connection, are shared with other users. As you can see, if you don't need a whole server to yourself, sharing one is a great way of saving money.
The main advantage of a VPS over an SDP is that you can install your own software on the server, for example, if you wanted to run an internet radio station, you could do that easily by installing a streaming server (such as ShoutCast). However, this freedom comes at a cost, unless you are good at managing servers or have a good knowledge of the operating system (Windows Server is very different from Windows Desktop), it can be a daunting and difficult task ensuring that your server is secure and up to date.
However, like Shared Hosting, a problematic user can cause problems for the remaining users on the server by using up the entire internet connection, or by using other resources to a large amount. This is more commonly found when there are too many clients sharing a server, but if it is managed correctly, should not be an issue.
Semi-Dedicated Package (SDP)
Sometimes called a Semi-Dedicated Server, an SDP is exactly the same as Shared Hosting, except, there are far fewer clients on the server. Whereas Shared Hosting may see 200 or more clients on one server, SDP will see as few as 25 per server.
For people who do not mind the fact that they cannot install their own software, or are unable or uninterested in managing their own server, a Semi-Dedicated Package presents an ideal mix of high resource limits and powerful servers for a smaller cost than a dedicated server.
It should be noted however that you can purchase a management package from companies, they will then take to installing security updates, hardening your server against attack and will also install software for you if you need it.
Dedicated Servers
This is the penultimate step in the hosting world, beyond this are clusters which produce a huge amount of computing power and also cost a lot of money (Google make use of clusters for their applications). A dedicated server is exactly what it implies. A whole server, dedicated to your website. It is similar to your home computer in many regards, but will be housed in a Data Centre with high speed internet connections, redundant power and high security.
Like a VPS, you can install almost anything on a dedicated server, and given the right hardware, can handle enormous tasks and websites (tens of thousands of users at a time). However, also like a VPS, a dedicated server requires management and hardening to be secure and worth it's cost.
"Which is the best?"
The most common question asked on hosting. In this instance, the size of the site will tell you which is best. Having a dedicated server is not worth the cost if your website is getting one or two users a day and shared hosting is not going to work if you have thousands of users at once.
If you have any questions regarding this tutorial, comments or would like us to cover something specific in the future, feel free to contact us.
Introduction
To start off, an introduction to shared hosting is required to help explain what Semi-Dedicated and Virtual Private servers are:
In a shared environment, you (the customer) have one slice of a server. You cannot change the settings on the server that will effect accounts that you don't own and normally, you will have very limited access to the server itself, in terms of access restrictions to your account and your own files.
Virtual Private Server (VPS)
A VPS is the next step up, along with Semi-Dedicated which I will cover later, from Shared Hosting. If you have not grown big enough for a server to yourself, this is often the best way to save money and have complete access to what is installed and running.
Virtual Private Servers work by taking a very powerful computer and creating smaller, virtual, computers within it . These have their own operating systems (discussed in our last tutorial) and their own files, but do not have their own hardware (processor, RAM or hard drive). A VPS only exists virtually, it may act like a server, but all the resources it uses, including it's internet connection, are shared with other users. As you can see, if you don't need a whole server to yourself, sharing one is a great way of saving money.
The main advantage of a VPS over an SDP is that you can install your own software on the server, for example, if you wanted to run an internet radio station, you could do that easily by installing a streaming server (such as ShoutCast). However, this freedom comes at a cost, unless you are good at managing servers or have a good knowledge of the operating system (Windows Server is very different from Windows Desktop), it can be a daunting and difficult task ensuring that your server is secure and up to date.
However, like Shared Hosting, a problematic user can cause problems for the remaining users on the server by using up the entire internet connection, or by using other resources to a large amount. This is more commonly found when there are too many clients sharing a server, but if it is managed correctly, should not be an issue.
Semi-Dedicated Package (SDP)
Sometimes called a Semi-Dedicated Server, an SDP is exactly the same as Shared Hosting, except, there are far fewer clients on the server. Whereas Shared Hosting may see 200 or more clients on one server, SDP will see as few as 25 per server.
For people who do not mind the fact that they cannot install their own software, or are unable or uninterested in managing their own server, a Semi-Dedicated Package presents an ideal mix of high resource limits and powerful servers for a smaller cost than a dedicated server.
It should be noted however that you can purchase a management package from companies, they will then take to installing security updates, hardening your server against attack and will also install software for you if you need it.
Dedicated Servers
This is the penultimate step in the hosting world, beyond this are clusters which produce a huge amount of computing power and also cost a lot of money (Google make use of clusters for their applications). A dedicated server is exactly what it implies. A whole server, dedicated to your website. It is similar to your home computer in many regards, but will be housed in a Data Centre with high speed internet connections, redundant power and high security.
Like a VPS, you can install almost anything on a dedicated server, and given the right hardware, can handle enormous tasks and websites (tens of thousands of users at a time). However, also like a VPS, a dedicated server requires management and hardening to be secure and worth it's cost.
"Which is the best?"
The most common question asked on hosting. In this instance, the size of the site will tell you which is best. Having a dedicated server is not worth the cost if your website is getting one or two users a day and shared hosting is not going to work if you have thousands of users at once.
If you have any questions regarding this tutorial, comments or would like us to cover something specific in the future, feel free to contact us.
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