Virtualization operation: comparison of virtual server and shared-hosting

Many owners of Internet resources place their web applications on virtual servers or use shared-hosting . In this article we will try to consider both services in detail, and based on the experience of the CloudLITE customer support service, we conclude: which of these services can be given its preference and under what circumstances. Read all the details under the cut!

Introduction

Suppose you have a website or plans to create one. You turned to a specialist who knows with what technologies to develop the site. Most likely, he already has a personal idea on which hosting to host it, and will offer a resource from his own work. But you love to understand everything yourself, and therefore, to get to the truth, you need to be puzzled by the search for a reliable and truly suitable web hosting service. That same resource that determines how your site will be placed on the Internet.

VPS / VDS

These abbreviations are quite common. Some write VPS, others use VDS. Both concepts appeared at about the same time and actually mean the same thing. VPS ( Virtual Private Server ) or VDS ( Virtual Dedicated Server ) is a virtual dedicated server.

Physical server

This is the same computer as your home, and sometimes more powerful. For physical servers , processors from a special series are used, which are more expensive than for most home computers. Together with a special type of memory, such processors guarantee accurate program execution. In addition, NVIDIA GRID and NVIDIA TESLA M60 video cards can be used in the servers, which are needed for specific tasks and mostly architects.

Virtualization

Virtualization is a technology that runs on one physical computer several virtual machines isolated from each other. In order to implement virtualization, the necessary technical tools. A hypervisor is installed on each physical server (the provider can have hundreds of them). Servers are combined into a cluster, the management server manages the cluster. In VMware, it is called vCenter, and allows you to efficiently distribute virtual machines across virtualization servers, manage hypervisors (servers, networks, storage, etc.).

In order to create many virtual data centers in the described infrastructure and to give control to the end client, another product is used - vCloud Director. It allows you to manage virtual machines, virtual networks and a virtual switch.

Types of virtual servers

Historically, the first in the market appeared shared-server VPS . They are built, as a rule, based on Linux upstream containers . Each client on this hosting receives an isolated container to host its files and applications. At the same time, the user has access with limited rights within his VPS.

Today, this technology is already becoming obsolete, and in time, cloud VPS will completely replace it, which has several advantages :

1. User virtual machines are independent - the influence of one user on others is excluded;
2. Each VM can use its own OS;
3. The client receives full administrative access inside the VM and can install any software;
4. VMs can be transferred between servers and exported \ imported;
5. When a physical server crashes, the VMs are immediately launched on other servers;
6. With a high load on the physical server, the VMs are moved to the less loaded servers.

This solution is successfully used in tens of thousands of companies, and over time, more and more organizations are discovering virtualization .

Shared hosting

As a rule, it is a very simple type of hosting. A set of applications is installed on the provider's server - web-server, DBMS, PHP, and so on. Each user has access to a folder for placing files and a control panel, from which he can configure the provided parts of the web server and DBMS for the needs of the site. The advantage of this hosting is low cost and simplicity.

Minuses:

1. User projects have a big impact on performance. If one site needs more resources, then other sites on the host may work significantly slower;
2. When a physical server crashes, all client sites hosted on it do not work;
3. You can not install your software and libraries.

Expert Experience

According to the observations of our engineers, the virtual server works the same way as the physical one. The performance loss due to the presence of a hypervisor is no more than 5% compared to a similar physical server . If necessary, the size of the resources allocated to the VM can be changed in one click.
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Shared hosting and virtual server can perform both the same tasks and different. If only sites are placed on the “shared”, then high-load applications (SAP HANA, Oracle databases, 1C: Accounting) can be run on the VPS or PHP scripts can be run.

ISP Manager Lite

From the ordered virtual server, the user can make his own shared-hosting. You can manage it together, just add the necessary colleagues in ISP Manager Lite. Management occurs both from the PC, and from the smartphone.

When purchasing a virtual server service, the customer is given the opportunity to install ISP Manager Lite for free. To start using it, simply select the desired menu item. With ISP Manager Lite, you can install a web server with a few clicks. ISP Manager Lite can also manage SSL certificates for sites and share hosting with its clients or colleagues.

Who should choose shared hosting?

Shared hosting is a solution that is suitable for sites with attendance of no more than 2000 people, or for those who find it difficult to configure the server. The advantage of this solution is the low price.

Who should choose a virtual server?

If you purchased a virtual server , you can count on a much larger number of visitors than in the case of using shared-hosting . In addition, it is not much more expensive if you really want to get high speed and smooth operation of the site. A dedicated Internet channel will allow visitors to work with your site at any desired time.

The difference between technologies

Conclusion

As with everything, you first need to decide what your requests are for the project. If you plan to grow and increase your influence in the selected segment, then you need to stop at the virtual server . It is with him that your site will be able to take more visitors at the same time and avoid unexpected breakdowns. Otherwise, shared hosting will do .

We recommend from the very start to use the resource that is most appropriate for your task.