VPS vs cloud

Cloud hosting vs VPS: 6 key features

Both VPS and dedicated cloud solutions offer flexible, single-tenant virtual hosting services with security benefits and root access. The largest difference between the two is the isolation and amount of resources available.

1. Configurability

The flexibility to tailor your server to your unique needs can help optimize performance, enhance security, and maximize efficiency.

VPS configurability

With a VPS solution, you get root access to the virtual server. This allows for far more configuration and customization than you get with shared hosting. For example, you can install custom software, allocate resources, automate backups, and tailor security settings.

That said, every VPS deploys from previously created automated scripts, which means you have to choose from VPS instances that have been defined by the hosting company.

Cloud hosting configurability

Like VPS, cloud dedicated hosting gives you root access and, in turn, provides full administrative control over the server environment.

With root access, you have the flexibility to use custom code and software to tailor the server to your needs, such as fine-tuning security settings. Another benefit of root access is the ability to configure resource allocation to optimize performance specifically for your website or application.

In addition to letting you configure the software, cloud-dedicated hosting allows you to tailor the hardware to your unique needs because you’re the only one using the physical server.

2. Scalability

Finding a hosting plan that scales easily lets you eliminate unnecessary server migration and enable seamless growth.

VPS scalability

Unlike a traditional server, VPS allows for dynamic resource allocation and easy scaling up or down with a single click. That means that if your traffic varies or spikes seasonally, you can easily scale your VPS up or down so you only pay for the resources you need.

Leading hosting providers also offer automatic scaling on some plans, so you never have to worry about resources.

Cloud hosting scalability

Cloud-dedicated configurations make it easy to scale in both directions to adapt to business seasonality. They offer both horizontal (adding more servers) and vertical (increasing resources on one server) scaling options.

The difficulty is that dedicated servers only scale up until the hardware is maxed out. Scaling past that point requires adding hardware, which can be an investment. The same is true of VPS, but since larger organizations tend to start with cloud dedicated, they hit this ceiling more often.

3. Resource availability

Your website and applications need consistent access to computing resources to ensure consistent performance.

VPS availability

On VPS instances, your hosting instance is isolated from other instances on the same parent server, which means your traffic and resources are yours alone.

As the single tenant on your virtual server, you’ll receive consistent, high-quality performance because you don’t have to share resources. This isolation level also allows for more server customization and a lower risk of data breaches resulting from other tenants’ vulnerabilities.

Cloud hosting availability

Dedicated cloud hosting also offers single-tenancy for all the resources on the physical server, because there’s only one virtual server on the physical one.

This is in contrast to the VPS cloud, which is a single-tenant environment on virtual servers, but multiple virtual servers are set up on one physical server.

With all the server’s resources dedicated to your website or app, you get faster loading times and optimal uptime, even when you get spikes in traffic.

4. Security

Choosing a hosting plan that optimizes security is essential for preventing downtime, protecting your company’s data, and keeping sensitive customer information private. Let’s dive into the different benefits VPS and cloud-dedicated provide in terms of security.

VPS security

A VPS creates virtual isolation, which provides much better security than traditional shared hosting. You can also use root access to configure your own firewalls and security tools, such as encryption, that you couldn’t set up in a shared environment.

That said, there is potential for security vulnerabilities if there’s an attack at the hypervisor level, which is the intermediary software that divides the physical server’s resources among several virtual servers.

Cloud hosting security

Cloud hosting offers full hardware isolation, giving you maximum protection against vulnerabilities from noisy neighbors. Because you can fully configure the software and hardware, you get the most control over security settings.

Not to mention, with only one virtual server, the attack surface is smaller than that of VPS hosting or shared hosting.

5. Support

Unless you’re extremely confident in your hosting IT skills, or team, you’ll probably need some level of support along the way.

VPS support

Most VPS hosting providers offer a level of customer support to help you get set up or troubleshoot problems that arise. Reputable hosts will often advertise 24/7/365 support on a variety of channels.

If you need even more support, managed VPS plans are available from many providers as well. These are almost “full service” hosting arrangements, with a lot of extra support considerations included.

Cloud hosting support

Similarly, hosting providers often offer the same level of support for cloud dedicated services. Additional support services can sometimes be added ala carte, or you can look into managed cloud hosting for maximum expert support.

6. Cost

Understanding the pricing implications of your hosting plan is especially helpful when determining the right fit for your business.

VPS cost

VPS hosting plans have lower initial and ongoing costs when compared to cloud-dedicated options. Since you’re sharing space on a physical server, you only pay for the resources allocated to your virtual server. Most VPS plans are tiered, so your monthly costs depend on how many resources you need.

Cloud dedicated cost

Dedicated cloud plans can be more expensive than shared and VPS hosting, because you pay for all of the server’s resources up-front, whether you use them or not. It’s worth noting that 35% of organizations say idle or underused resources are a factor in avoidable cloud spending.

However, large organizations that need a lot of space or a lot of computing power for their applications, will usually save in the long-run by investing in cloud dedicated hosting.

Additionally, organizations in strict industries, like healthcare or enterprise ecommerce, need the extra security that a dedicated server can provide. Dedicated hosting is much more affordable than a data breach.