A Beginner's Guide to VPS Technology
A Beginner’s Guide to VPS
Despite the increasing number of businesses now looking at VPS to boost their business performance, the most commonly asked questions related to VPS are still “What is VPS?” “Where can I find cheap windows VPS?” “How to use a VPS for my business?”.
All the answers lie in this article. In general, VPS, the goldilocks of the three main types of hosting options offers users full control and customisation options of a dedicated server without the exorbitant cost.
One of its unique features that makes it the favourite option to businesses is its flexibility where the resources can be upgraded or downgraded within minutes.
What is VPS hosting?
A Virtual Private Server is a physical server where several virtual compartments are divided. Within each of the virtual compartment is its own operating system, resources allocation and storage which makes its function similar to dedicated server.
Advantages of VPS
It isn’t hard to understand why VPS hosting has exploded in popularity over the past years in the hosting industry. Simply put, VPS hosting has contributed significantly to the success of many small to medium size businesses.
And here’s why.
As the website runs on its own set of resources from dedicated RAM, bandwidth allocation and CPU, you can expect the website’s performance to be impressive. A more effective performance means higher accessibility and reach to the relevant market audience.
Let’s look at the benefits of VPS in detail to know how you can take the fullest advantage of it.
- Reliability
Unlike shared hosting where your website’s uptime and performance is wholly dependent on the other websites on the same server, VPS servers are completely isolated from one another ensuring optimal uptime of websites and applications.
The question to ask yourself is whether you are willing to put your business at stake by taking on the risks of collapsed or corrupted websites in a shared hosting environment.
- Full control of server
Do you know that VPS hosting provides root access to the business owner? With such access, you are able to control the VPS environment like an administrator and create a system that would suit your business purpose.
You are no longer limited to performing only a few basic tasks or having to be subjected by the security limitations set by the shared web host. From customising software, running multiple operating systems, hosting various websites to third-party software applications, you can bypass the limitations by tweaking and creating in accordance with your needs.
- PCI qualified
If you want to start accepting credit cards for your online store, you must pass the Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance test by following the PCI Data Security Standard.
This PCI standard is established by worldwide major credit and debit card brands such as Visa, Mastercard and American Express to protect against data theft and other kinds of fraud. It also helps ensure that the data by online merchants is processed, stored and transmitted in a secured manner.
Credit card payment is the preferred payment for consumers nowadays due to convenience. As such, by passing the PCI test, you will likely see an improvement of business performance on the online platform. Websites that run in VPS are more likely to pass the PCI test.
- Scalable resources
For startup businesses that set up website hoping that it would grow into something large in the near future, the unique feature of VPS allowing resources to be scaled up or down without downtime or technical issues is something that shared hosting cannot provide.
When you expect a large influx of visitors on a certain period, you can simply notify the VPS service provider to upgrade your RAM which can be done within the click of a button. This feature ensures that there is no waste of resources and ultimately, money.
7 Signs that you need to upgrade to a VPS
There may come a time when you question whether VPS is required for your business. If you encounter any of the following scenarios, then it is a clear sign that you need to upgrade to VPS.
- Your website takes a long time to load
If your website takes longer than 5 seconds to load, then it is considered slow. There are many reasons contributing to the slow loading time. One of these include reaching your shared hosting limits or when there is an overload of content and media on the website.
If you want your website to be attractive and convincing, then it must contain a lot of media content such as background videos, giant product images, short product or feature videos, large responsive hero image, or other enticing visual content.
Slow loading speed will result in visitors abandoning the website and go for an alternative website in the search engine results which can attract them visually.
If you don’t want your visitors to become distracted due to a slow loading time, then you should upgrade to a VPS so that your website can load within seconds or milliseconds. Fast loading page is able to capture the attention of the visitors and eventually turn them into customers.
- You run an online store
When you run an online store, you will most definitely have credit card transactions on your website. When you process payments on your website store, you will need a PCI compliance certificate.
Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance test is established by worldwide major credit and debit card brands such as Visa, Mastercard and American Express. The PIC test protects credit card users against data theft in the course of passing the data to the online merchants. It seeks to ensure that the data is processed, stored and transmitted in a secured manner.
Most websites that subscribed to shared hosting plans fail the test due to high security risks. On the other hand, thanks to the well established security of VPS, it is highly likely that your VPS website will tick the boxes as long as it is configured correctly. These include maintaining a firewall configuration, developing and maintaining secure systems and applications, testing security systems and processes regularly.
- You have a medium to high amount of traffic
Unfortunately, as your website evolves to become more popular, you may run into the trouble of website slowing down as shared hosting just cannot keep up with the traffic volume. This is exactly the reason why you need to allocate extra space to grow.
VPS allows your website to welcome high levels of traffic with the option of upgrading the resources by just the click of a button. Remember, you will need about 50% tolerance in resources when traffic spikes.
- You collect data from customers
If your website contains and collects sensitive information, then it is a must to incorporate VPS into your business. Sensitive information is data which must be protected to safeguard the privacy of your business and can include personal information if your customer, financial data, custom requirements, etc.
Securing sensitive data from being stolen is one of the primary ongoing battles even for big businesses nowadays. Data protection is extremely weak when using shared hosting due to shared use of an IP address. This means that if your neighbouring website is attacked, then you are at very high risk of being attacked by the hacker too.
Using a VPS, you will receive your own dedicated IP address. A VPS is also highly secured if you choose the right VPS service provider. A good VPS service provider should firewall out any unwanted traffic at the hardware level before it even reaches your VPS.
- You encounter server errors
For every second of your website down, you are losing potential customers and business. Server errors normally happen when your servers can’t fulfill the web requests due to limited memory in your hosting plan. If your website contains video or high quality graphics then it does not take long to max out the resources allocated to your website.
- You need custom software or application
To make the website sophisticated enough to help sell the products or services, business owners usually adopt unique software or application. As multiple websites share the server in a shared hosting plan, it is usually unable to deliver support for loading the features swiftly.
Customisation options such as podcasts, radio stations, interactive application, and so on, require a more dedicated VPS to make it work.
- You want to improve SEO ranking
What is the point of having a website if it is not attracting revenue for your business? SEO is not only about the search engine results but also factors in the general user experience and usability of a website. Search engine result is the most trusted tool by the customers, and having a presence in the top positions increases the website’s trust and ultimately drives increased site traffic.
If you are using shared hosting, you are sharing the same IP with other sites and if your neighbouring websites are affected by bad ranking, it may affect your SEO ranking too.
- You need private backups
On top of the uses above, it is also cheaper to use cloud-based storage. Apart from the multiple uses of VPS, it is a perfect place for users to use up the leftover space for free file storage. Many reliable and well established VPS providers also provide managed server backups or offsite server backups.
What to look for in a VPS package?
For beginners who have a vague understanding of the server technology, VPS is definitely worth exploring as it provides the users with the flexibility and freedom to configure the settings and set up own software. As your business grows, you can scale up your resources accordingly or scale it down during the expected quiet period of your business.
You should definitely look for the important factors when choosing a VPS hosting service.
- Unmanaged, semi-managed, or managed VPS
That is the first thing that you should look at when choosing a VPS plan. It all depends on your needs and technical know-how.
Unmanaged VPS is only suitable for a small number of users who are specialised in not only IT but server technology itself. These are typically software developers, application developers or programmers as the unmanaged VPS hosting offers greater flexibility by giving the users more freedom to update and strategise the security.
However, not all IT experts consider it worth getting an unmanaged VPS plan as managing a VPS is time consuming and labour intensive for having to keep up to date when it comes to security and administration.
Thankfully, there is a semi-managed VPS option. A semi managed VPS plan is where the VPS service provider handles all hardware, operating system or basic configuration issues. Website related issues such as internal server errors, slow loading page, or firewall issues at a hardware level are taken care of by the VPS service provider even before it reaches your VPS.
A semi managed VPS plan is ideal for those who are either inexperienced in command line Linux administration or those who prefer to invest their time in the core of the business while maintaining control on the management of their VPS.
Lastly, managed VPS is where the expert sets up and provides support for almost every single server management task. You may ask “What is a VPS server manager going to do for me?”.
They handle all the management tasks almost from A-Z such as software installation, configurations, network issues, troubleshooting, etc. Essentially, you just need to create the hosting account, update your domain dns and take a backseat. This is suitable for business owners who are unskilled in server administration.
- Reliability
The best VPS host is reliable at providing a quality VPS plan, and excellent service will contribute greatly to the success of your business. You should expect exceptional server performances with high uptime, well-guarded security, fast server speed in addition to solid customer service.
If you are questioning the reliability of a VPS service provider, just contact them and ask how frequent does the downtime occur and how long does it usually take them to fix it. The answer should be no more than a few hours.
- Reputation
If you are lucky to come by a VPS service provider that allows you to customise the resources, i.e. you get to select your operating system and choose your resources (CPU cores, dedicated RAM, SSD Disk, SATA Disk, Bandwidth), then it is more likely than not that the VPS service provider is a reputable one.
Reputable VPS service providers are able to show that they prioritise the needs of the users by allowing resources to be custom made in accordance with the necessity.
Other points to look out for is whether the VPS service provider is able to provide intuitive support service and respond to any issues in an urgent manner. Conduct a simple search on Google which will display all the negative and positive results about the company and check the company reviews on different niche review websites to get the real picture.
- Self-healing failover
When the physical computer behind the VPS is running on fails, this unique feature is able to detect it instantly and automatically mount your VPS on another node so that your VPS is back online in the exact condition it was when the failure first occurred.
Effectively, this means that there is no downtime even during the maintenance session by the VPS service provider. The VPS service provider must have invested heavily on top notch technology such as Fast SSD Raid array in order to offer this feature that requires a fast transition. If you happen to come across this feature, take it as an added bonus!
- Data Centre
The location of the data centre site selection speaks reliability itself. Remember, a brief shutdown on power can be devastating to hundreds of thousands of users which is why the location of the data centre must be in an area that can handle high speed and high volume data transmission.
An Australian VPS service provider of good repute should have their data centre located in Australia and preferably in an area with reliable telecommunications infrastructure and proximity to suppliers such as big cities like Melbourne or Sydney.
Avoid choosing a VPS service provider that outsources their data centre to another country as the security and technology have a higher risk of being compromised.
- Cost
More often than not, the price offered by top rated VPS service providers is around the same range. A basic Aus VPS package cost about $15 to $20 a month that increases as you require more resources or special features.
However, this is not the essential factor to consider when choosing a VPS service provider as the resources are scalable at any point in time. Since a VPS will play a vital role in your company’s performance and online presence, the initial cost will definitely be outweighed by the advantages that it brings in the long run.
- Customer support
The importance of good and reliable customer support cannot be overstated. Good technical support is of utmost importance whether or not you have selected unmanaged, semi managed or fully managed VPS package.
Simple questions such as how to use a VPS? How to access my VPS? Can leave beginner scratching their head for the whole day.
Even for those who are experts in server technology, having a reliable and good customer support may save the day especially when certain information is only available at the provider’s end.
Apart from enquiring with the VPS service provider on the responding timeframe and communication methods, you should also enquire on the level of expertise that the technician is equipped with.
One final note is to choose one with local Australian call centre as you definitely do not want to find yourself straining to understand unfamiliar accents or assisted by someone who lacks the technical knowledge.
5 mistakes to avoid when switching to VPS
It is fairly common to see business owners finally giving it a leap of faith to upgrade to the VPS after having lived with the poor quality of services provided by the current web host for months, or worse, years.
When making the move, the recommended process by a free migration services provided by the VPS service provider as it is faster. Immediately after you sign up for the VPS package, the support team will kickstart and handle the rest of the setup process.
Although it may sound fairly straightforward and simple, there are a few mistakes you should avoid when switching to VPS as it can be costly to your business operations.
- Look at price instead of value
When choosing a VPS service provider, don’t let the pricing become the sole or the most influencing factor. Expensive plans normally come with a bundle of features, some even though may be justified, are hardly necessary or too sophisticated for your early business stage while some extra cost are just not justified at all.
Likewise, cheap VPS plans may be budget friendly but be aware that you may end up getting a poor customer service or no guaranteed uptime instead of quality service. Time and again, business owners that choose free or cheap VPS plan to save the initial cost ended up sacrificing their business reputation and profit in the long run. Always evaluate your needs and weigh it against the hosting options.
- Agree to all the terms and conditions
The terms of service are often too long to read, but it is important to understand what it contains as your business rights depend on them. This is especially true for free or cheap VPS plan as it tends to limit the resource usage.
Another reason to look at the terms and conditions is that different VPS service providers have different consumer payment policies. Some may charge regressively whilst some proportionally, and some does not refund if you decide to terminate the contract halfway through.
Remember how a security breach is still the biggest fear for businesses online? Be sure to read the terms on data security, disclaimer and assurances against security breaches to know the measures that VPS service provider adopt when security related issues arise.
- Failure to prioritise page loading speed
Yes, page speed impact your website ranking. A low page load is penalised by the Google search engine and has a direct impact on your ranking. That is exactly why you should prioritise page loading speed when you look for VPS service provider.
Some VPS service providers may promise a lot of sophisticated special features but fail to allocate the most basic dedicated resources resulting in deteriorating load speed.
- Request too many domain names
It is common for VPS service providers to offer the option of adding more than one domain. Thanks to the “add-on domains” feature in the cPanel, users can create and host several different domains under one account using the very user-friendly control panel.
While this is definitely advantageous for those who want to operate a few websites without extra charges under different accounts, it is also risky as it means that all websites are controlled by one account only.
If the account is compromised, then all the websites will face security threat. We recommend trimming it down to only one or two websites for security reasons.
- Choose VPS provided by a foreign country
It may be the low price or outstanding features that entice you to sign up for a VPS plan offered by VPS service provider from other countries. That will be a decision you wish you had never made. The location of your VPS plays a significant role in the management of your website’s position on the search engine results page.
Put simply, a search made in Australia will give priority to sites located in Australia. The focus is on the IP address of the website as it shows location and relevance of the search. For example, an Australian website that switches to servers located in China is going to suffer from poor search engine rankings back home.
Should you also utilise a Virtual Private Email Server?
Perhaps the primary reason that entices you to switch over to a VPS is that it can increase the performance of your website as well as giving you greater control on the content of the website.
However, do you know that your business’s email can be switched over to the same VPS too?
If you have already decided to purchase a VPS plan, you might as well add the mail server system to your VPS platform since it doesn’t take much to do it and involves just a few extra steps.
Having the mail server and your website running in the same VPS provides an umbrella that does not only protect privacy, but also security. Let’s look more into it in detail.
- Privacy
Having your own email server means that all the email correspondence from your company is created in a private business environment making you less vulnerable.
You are able to run your own email server for communication amongst a closed group or adjust it so that it is accessible only from an internal network away from hackers and eavesdroppers. When you choose service like Google, your information can be used by them to generate ads and revenue.
Running your own email infrastructure also makes it significantly harder for other parties to extract the content from your email database. If you depend on email for your business, then you should have a virtual private email server.
- Better control
Now that you are in complete control of your email server system, you can blacklist certain countries from sending you emails or tune the sensitivity of your spam filter.
- Online security
Compared to those that outsourced their emails to services, running your own email infrastructure provides more security. In the former scenario, you are a potential target if and when the company is attacked, causing business data to be stolen.
Many free email providers also suffered from being hacked, resulting in some accounts being shut down. With your own business domain name, you can invest and tighten on the security.
- Branding
Privatising your business email server allows positive brand building. Business owners often commit the mistake of having their business email.gmail.com.
Firstly, having an email address with your business domain is like having a professional online business card. It appears to be more professional when the recipient sees an email from say, support@yourbusinessdomain.com.
Secondly, your business will be identified easier as you are putting your business website out there. That will result in increasing online presence, making potential customers easier to get the information about your products and services.
- Stand out from competitors
Your competitors may be using a free email account such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, and so on. By using your business domain name email address, you will be one step ahead of them as your clients, associates and prospective customers will see a higher level of professionalism and devotion from your business.
- Maximise functionality
By switching your email, contacts, calendars, and so on, to VPS server, you and your employees are able to get instant access to all the vital information that are synchronised. This ensures that your business management platform is constantly updated with the latest feedback and changes.
- Backup
If the correspondence in relation to your business consists of large data such as attachments, then having a trustworthy backup is a requirement.
By switching your email to VPS, you are able to enjoy the benefit of backup storage on a periodic basis. Some VPS service providers offer option feature of offsite server backups while some VPS service providers retain at least 5 backups guaranteeing maximum reliability.
When your business is dependent on emails, the last thing you want to encounter is missing emails for an unknown reason, late delivery and receipt of emails, inability to send large attachments, frequent downtime and lack of privacy and confidentiality.
Switch your email to a VPS server now to make sure that your online business is established the right way.
Linux vs Windows VPS – which is better?
The newbies who are looking to switch to VPS are often forced to make a choice on which of the two types of operating systems which are currently dominating the market that they should use.
What is Windows VPS and how does it differ from Linux VPS? Let’s have a look below.
Cost
Linux VPS is a little bit cheaper than Windows VPS since it is an open source platform. In fact, most Linux software and applications are free to use. However, that does not mean that you can’t find cheap Windows VPS in the market.
It is true that users must pay a licensing fee for Windows VPS which is owned by Microsoft. However, at only a few extra dollars a month, you are able to enjoy well established strong core applications and support from the expert.
Performance
Linux VPS is secured with Secure Shell (SSH) which is used to managed VPS with command lines. Due to its straightforward command structure, it is more resource efficient as it does not require the administrator to perform reboots even under high loads of resources.
With Windows VPS, every driver or software update requires a reboot either immediately or automatically later on based on its own internal schedule. Also, Windows VPS comes with Graphical User Interface and a number of default Microsoft applications that take up a lot of VPU power.
Compatibility
Linux VPS pairs well with almost all form of open source software including PHP, Perl, MySQL whereas Windows VPS is tailored to work hand in hand with Windows specific applications which are written in Windows only languages such as .NET or ASP.
Certain applications such as Sharepoint and Exchange are also exclusively available for Windows’ users only.
User friendly
It depends on the level of expertise you have in relation to server technology. Non IT professionals may feel more comfortable using the familiar Windows as it uses Graphic User Interface (GUI).
The downside is that it consumes a lot of memory and resources as well as time to complete a task. Linux VPS, on the other hand, is command line based. It is a relatively straightforward display of information that is necessary without distraction.
For new Linux users, you will be glad to know that GUI is now also available to Linux and it just requires some learning on how to use.
Security
Common threats such as DDoS attacks, malware and data breaches are amongst the common threats. Users of Linux VPS have the flexibility to devise its own security strategy against cyberattacks. This also allows bugs to be fixed swiftly.
On the other hand, Windows VPS sort of takes care of this by providing regular updates to protect against security related errors. This could also mean that there is no need to employ extra staff to keep a lookout against cyber threats.
Server access
Server access is essential for users to have better control over the settings and configuration of their VPS. Linux VPS uses File Transfer Protocol (FTP) for uploading and downloading of files that are commonly used in building a website.
Another server access which is directly available for Linux VPS users only is Secure Shell (SSH) protocol, which is a cryptographic network protocol to operate network services securely over an unsecured network. Windows VPS users can access SSH too by installing PuTTY.
Support
When technical issues arise which are wholly unavoidable in the world of technology, you will want a professional and experienced support team to assist you instantly.
While there is a huge community of professional coders behind the Linux VPS that can give you advice and examine sources codes to fix backdoors, don’t expect them to be available 24/7 on standby at your service as they are usually not paid to do so.
On the contrary, Windows VPS has the upper hand as it is backed by a team of professional technicians that are equipped with the right knowledge to help you anytime.
Generally, Linux VPS is more versatile and cheaper, making it popular amongst small businesses, software developers, IT companies, and so on, whereas big businesses prefer Windows VPS due to its solid and reputable services over the years.
Which Australian VPS hosting provider can I trust?
You should look for a company that is reliable and trustworthy that provides the best VPS package. It is not hard to find out, just Google for actual feedback and reviews for the companies that you have shortlisted and you will soon be able to identify which of the Australian VPS hosting companies actually deliver their promises.
VPSBlocks, a leading Aus VPS service provider, has been one of the leading companies in the VPS Australia market.
As server performance is one of the priorities of VPSBlocks, we have invested heavily in making sure that our users are able to access the server anytime anywhere as long as there is an internet connection.
A unique feature offered by VPSBlocks, called self-healing failovers, gets rid of the server downtime and fix the unexpected lapses efficiently thanks to the clustering technology that uses Fast SSD Raid array.
VPSBlocks is also one of the few VPS service providers that are truly Australian. Both our data centre and call centre are based in Melbourne.
From beginner question like how to access my VPS to the most technical ones, VPSBlocks can sail you through any issues which you may face using VPS in an effective manner that you can understand.
Our VPS users can freely use the server without having to worry about the data storage being outsourced and compromised or receiving slow and confusing advice by a call centre that is based in a foreign country.
One of the best VPS features that VPSBlocks offers is that we allow users to select the resources of their plan ranging from OS, RAM, CPU, storage space, and so on, that fit well with their business.
Our payment plans are flexible with the ability to pay monthly, semi-annually or annually. Our aim is to set up a customisation option that is friendly for businesses of all sizes.
When it comes to business, every second and every cent count. If you have the vision of seeing your business take off, then opting for a VPS should be in your business strategy.
As an experienced hosting provider in the industry, VPSBlocks is ready to lend you a hand and grow alongside your business.
Learn more about our VPS plans here.