About Virtual Server Hosting
Virtual server hosting is a way for servers to be partitioned into multiple virtual
servers (VPS) with each VPS having the same privilidges and appearing to the end
user like a physical server.
VPS hosting is one of the most popular hosting options around—probably largely because
it is one of the most cost effective options available. Virtual server hosting allows
a server owner to share resources with other users in an effective way. In simple
terms, the virtual server hosting company's server will allocate virtual server
hosting services and bandwidth to more than one VPS.
Virtual server hosting makes financial sense because you are not paying for a dedicated
server to host just your website.
Virtual server hosting is a good solution for small-to medium-sized (and even some
larger) websites which don’t have vast amounts of traffic, and whose bandwidth needs
are reasonable.
Virtual server hosting is often used in companies who provide low cost website hosting.
Most web hosting service customer websites worldwide are hosted on VPS, using virtual
server hosting technology.
About Virtual Servers
Virtual servers are also known as virtual private
servers or virtual dedicated servers.
Using virtual servers is a way of partitioning a physical server computer into multiple
servers, giving each the appearance and capacity to run on its own dedicated machine.
Virtual servers can run their own full-fledged operating system, and each server
can be independently rebooted.
The practice of partitioning a single server so that it appears as multiple servers
has long been commonplace with mainframe computers, but has seen a resurgence lately
with the development of virtualisation software and technologies for other architectures.
The way is works is that the physical server boots normally. It then runs a program
that boots all the virtual servers within a virtualisation environment. The virtual
servers have no direct access to hardware and are usually booted from a disk image.
Virtual servers bridge the gap between shared web hosting services and dedicated
hosting services, giving independence from other customers of the same service in
software terms but more cheaply than physical dedicated servers. Virtual servers
run their own copy of their operating systems, and customers have superuser-level
access to that operating system, and can install almost any software that runs on
it.
Because of their isolated nature, private virtual servers have become common sandboxes
for potentially insecure public services or update testing. For example, a single
physical server might have two private virtual servers running: one hosting the
live website, and a second housing a copy of it. When updates to crucial parts of
software need to be made, they can be tested in the second of the virtual servers,
without the need for several physical servers.
RapidSwitch Virtual Server Hosting
A growing number of companies offer virtual server hosting, as an extension to their
web hosting services. One such UK organisation, based in Maidenhead, is RapidSwitch.
We offer a wide range of services including virtual server hosting, and take pride
in what we offer.
At RapidSwitch, we are dedicated server specialists who celebrates a decade in business
this year, host more than 4,000 servers for a broad variety of clients, employ over
20 staff, and have a multi-million pound turnover.
We announced the launch of our virtual server hosting service earlier this year,
giving the flexibility of a dedicated server for applications which do not demand
all the resources of a dedicated server. For the launch, we ran a special offer
allowing clients to try our virtual servers for just £1 per month to start off with.
RapidSwitch’s virtual server hosting service allows you to enjoy the flexibility
of a dedicated server, without the associated extra cost. Your service has a privately
segmented section of a physical server, so you can install all your own applications
and software. You also get full root/administrator access to your virtual private
server. This is perfect if your site does not demand all the resources of a physical
dedicated server, but needs to go one level above shared hosting.
Our virtual server hosting packages are based on OpenVZ technology, include RAID
10 SAS hard drives for fast disk performance, and can be provisioned in minutes.
We also offer a choice of Linux distributions, and free reinstalls.
So, before you check out other kinds of virtual server hosting, it’s well worth
checking out what RapidSwitch can do for you.