What is a VPS?

VPS is an abbreviation of Virtual Private Server, and is a method of making a physical computer server act as multiple virtual servers. On the network, or the internet, a virtual private server appears no differently than a regular physical server. Virtual servers operate completely independently from each other - they run full-fledged operating systems, and they can be rebooted separately.

VPS is also sometimes referred to as a Virtual Dedicated Server, or VDS. With most hosting providers, there is no difference between a VPS and a VDS.

What is unmetered VPS?

Unmetered VPS simply means that there is no limit imposed on how much bandwidth may be used on that server. The customer may transfer any amount of data on an unmetered VPS, with the only theoretical limit depending on how fast the uplink port speed is.

What is metered VPS?

Many VPS plans are metered, which means they will have a certain limit on how much data the customers websites or other applications may consume over a certain time. This limit is usually between 1,000 - 3,000 GB per month. After this limit is reached, each additional GB is typically prorated and added to the monthly cost of the service. Care should be taken not to ever reach this limit, as the prorated charge is usually rather high.

Why should I use a VPS instead of regular web hosting?

A regular web host can be rented for less than a VPS, but with a regular web host you don't get control of the server, you are only a tenant on a shared server. You don't get to decide what OS the system should run, what software should be installed and so on. With a VPS, you have a choice of what OS to use (normally Linux or Windows, but some VPS providers offers other operative systems too). You get root access (or administrator access in Windows) so you can install whatever software you like.

You are also the only tenant on your system, it is not shared with anyone else.

Which VPS should I choose?

It depends on your needs! There are several different attributes to consider. Is your website particularly bandwidth hungry? If so, you should definitely pick an unmetered plan, and make sure the uplink port speed is fast enough for you. If your application requires a lot of RAM, make sure the VPS plan provides enough RAM. Obviously you will also need to pick a plan with sufficient hard drive space offered.

The uplink port speed is the rate at which you can upload or download data to and from your VPS. It is commonly measured in Megabits (Mbit). Note one Mbit is not the same as one Megabyte. The more Mbits, the faster the uploads and downloads will be. Typical speeds are 10 to 100 Mbit.

At 10 Mbit, you will be able to download a file at approximately 1 Megabyte per second. At 100 Mbit, you will be able to download a file at approximately 10 MB per second.