What is cloud hosting?
Cloud hosting is essentially a collection of many servers connected to each other through a public network to form a large server. Contrary to traditional hosting, cloud hosting distributes its resources like RAM, CPU, disk space among servers. Therefore, there is no delay in the delivery of CPU power or the availability of RAM. Cloud hosting is not limited to powering websites and web apps, but also includes storage, high-end security needs, root access, and more.
Advantages of cloud hosting:
With multiple servers, cloud hosting is easily scalable as the load is distributed equally among all nodes. If your traffic suddenly increases, your website won't suffer from lack of resources because they can be taken from others immediately. Therefore, your website's performance will never be affected.
As mentioned above, resources in cloud hosting are distributed, which means there is no single point of failure if a server fails. Not only does this feature guarantee your website’s uptime, it also provides an extra layer of security since hackers don’t have a single point of contact through which to get through. Hence, cloud hosting is proven to be reliable.
What is a VPS host?
A virtual private server, also known as VPS hosting, is a combined version of shared hosting and dedicated hosting. With VPS hosting, you as a web professional get the best of both worlds. In VPS hosting, a large machine is divided into several virtual boxes. These virtual boxes then have their own individual resources such as RAM, CPU, OS and disk space.
Advantages of VPS hosting:
One of the benefits of VPS hosting is that you get full root access to the server, just like in dedicated hosting. Thus, you can customize your server environment according to your needs, i.e. you can install any application you wish.
With VPS hosting, your resources are not shared with anyone, and you get the features and functions of a dedicated server. Pricing is low in comparison, after all you share the same physical server with other websites.
Another advantage of VPS is the dedicated IP capability and ultra-fast KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) that scales the performance of your website. Basically, KVM allows users to set minimum and maximum values for their resources, so you as a user only use those resources that your application needs. This virtualization capability enables your website to run better with fewer hypervisor requirements.
Which one should I choose between cloud hosting and VPS hosting?
Both cloud hosting and VPS hosting have their own advantages, and what is suitable for one may not be suitable for the other. If you are a new business that expects to grow with increased traffic in the future, then it is better to go for VPS hosting as it is cost-effective, requires less technical knowledge and is therefore easier to manage. On the other hand, if you are scaling your business and your current servers cannot effectively handle the load and requirements of incoming online traffic, it is recommended to switch to cloud hosting.
