The future of dedicated servers?

[HV | Tracy]

You evidently have a limited experience with shared hosting, even though you are in the business. I've seen situations where those who abuse resources can definitely bring down a shared server. I can't believe you haven't personally encountered such a situation, unless you are very, very conservative about what you put on your servers.

As to VPS, yes I use Virtuozzo. Since you don't know who my host is, you don't know if they are overselling VPS or not. From what they tell me, they aren't. I am aware of the server and its capacity, for example, and how many VPS systems are on it.

The problem with Virtuozzo is that the customer is not guaranteed a minimum of resources, but has a maximum for everything.

Heh... Limited Experience... thats a good one.

You may have crappy servers, I however do not. If not that, you (or your "staff") must have messed something up with your limited experience.

[HV | Tracy]

VPS gives you the features and functionality of a dedicated server without the cost of building and maintaining one. If you need to host unlimited domains, have complete control of your environment and run your own applications, then you will benefit from having a VPS. In addition, a VPS provides the ability to manage your dedicated environment directly through SSH.

Let me ask you this... would you purchase a dedicated server with 256MB of ram and expect it to perform? What if you were not even guaranteed to be able to use your 256MB of ram?

Doesn't sound to enticing now does it?

I am all for VPS's but they are not the best thing since sliced bread. It might make you feel cozy inside that you have the "power of root" but thats about it.

[Gene Steinberg]

The problem with Virtuozzo is that the customer is not guaranteed a minimum of resources, but has a maximum for everything.

Heh... Limited Experience... thats a good one.

You may have crappy servers, I however do not. If not that, you (or your "staff") must have messed something up with your limited experience.

Your comment doesn't follow what I said, which is that I've had great experience with my VPS setup. My host doesn't use crappy servers -- the one handling my setup is an 3GHz 8-core Xeron with 12GB RAM. You call that crappy?

[HV | Tracy]

Your comment doesn't follow what I said, which is that I've had great experience with my VPS setup. My host doesn't use crappy servers -- the one handling my setup is an 3GHz 8-core Xeron with 12GB RAM. You call that crappy?

Ok. I give. You win. Your smart.

[Mark07]

VPS gives you the features and functionality of a dedicated server without the cost of building and maintaining one. If you need to host unlimited domains, have complete control of your environment and run your own applications, then you will benefit from having a VPS. In addition, a VPS provides the ability to manage your dedicated environment directly through SSH.

I would agree with what James mentioned regarding VPS. It is better for specific needs but certainly it would never replace the need for dedicated servers.

[Gene Steinberg]

I would agree with what James mentioned regarding VPS. It is better for specific needs but certainly it would never replace the need for dedicated servers.

And I don't think anyone says that it would. It's a lower-cost way to get a lot of what dedicated servers offer. Consider it an intermediate step, OK?

[Mark07]

And I don't think anyone says that it would. It's a lower-cost way to get a lot of what dedicated servers offer. Consider it an intermediate step, OK?

Yeah definitely we may consider it as one, SIR.

[Colo-UK]

VPS is great for low usage and resources but for things like gaming servers that needed higher an dedicated resources a VPS won't really be up to the job.

VPS is ideal for most web and mail hosting needs though.

[Ryan-Limestone]

VPS are a great way to get into this market, unfortunately many people tend to buy a VPS assuming it will go much further than it will. VPS are very limited, and as such have virtually no expandability (in my experience). I would not buy a 2 thousand dollar car if I could afford to put 2 thousand into a better car that would be more reliable with lower miles. In essence you are buying into your own capacity for the future. A Dedicated is signifgantly more expensive than a VPS, but your capabilities are much greater, and your ability to grow and expand is much greater. A VPS is great for someone who is not planning on growing the online sector of their business/site. There is no need to buy more than you will need, but there is a very distinctive difference between buying what you need now, and what you have the capacity/plans to grow into.


Just my 2 cents.

[Gene Steinberg]

VPS are a great way to get into this market, unfortunately many people tend to buy a VPS assuming it will go much further than it will. VPS are very limited, and as such have virtually no expandability (in my experience). I would not buy a 2 thousand dollar car if I could afford to put 2 thousand into a better car that would be more reliable with lower miles. In essence you are buying into your own capacity for the future. A Dedicated is signifgantly more expensive than a VPS, but your capabilities are much greater, and your ability to grow and expand is much greater. A VPS is great for someone who is not planning on growing the online sector of their business/site. There is no need to buy more than you will need, but there is a very distinctive difference between buying what you need now, and what you have the capacity/plans to grow into.


Just my 2 cents.

This is just not correct. You can definitely add RAM and storage space to your VPS setup. This is a software setting your host can do. Obviously they charge more for that. But within the limits of VPS, it can take you a lot farther in terms of system resources than shared.

Obviously, the ideal is dedicated, but when you can't afford it

[MarbleHost.com]

Honestly, with Google going places (quietly) like Google News in the direction towards a major publisher alongside its switchboard operations, I think the future of hosting will drastically change with any decisions they have on offering hosting themselves.

[Dimension4]

A VPS has it's use, like if you need root access but are not running a lot of sites or don't need a ton of space or processing power. But all in all, you still give up quite a bit of control with a VPS depending on what else is hosted on other VPS on the server. You still cannot beat the performance and control of a dedicated server, I've used plenty of both and a poorly setup VPS (like too many on 1 server) is a real pain. It's like anything in the shared hosting environment, it depends on how "oversold" it is and how well it is managed overall.

[Gene Steinberg]

A VPS has it's use, like if you need root access but are not running a lot of sites or don't need a ton of space or processing power. But all in all, you still give up quite a bit of control with a VPS depending on what else is hosted on other VPS on the server. You still cannot beat the performance and control of a dedicated server, I've used plenty of both and a poorly setup VPS (like too many on 1 server) is a real pain. It's like anything in the shared hosting environment, it depends on how "oversold" it is and how well it is managed overall.

Having recently used VPS, and it was with a properly setup server, I can definitely attest to the fact that it is an affordable and useful intermediary step between shared and dedicated. Not everyone has the budget to cover the costs of the latter even when they outgrow the former.

[Dimension4]

Having recently used VPS, and it was with a properly setup server, I can definitely attest to the fact that it is an affordable and useful intermediary step between shared and dedicated. Not everyone has the budget to cover the costs of the latter even when they outgrow the former.

Very true, a VPS does make a great step in the dedicated direction. It also gives you a chance to get used to a "dedicated" environment, such as using SSH and using a more powerful control panel than was available on a reseller account (Ie: WHM has more functions available on a VPS or Dedicated than on most reseller accounts)

[Gene Steinberg]

Very true, a VPS does make a great step in the dedicated direction. It also gives you a chance to get used to a "dedicated" environment, such as using SSH and using a more powerful control panel than was available on a reseller account (Ie: WHM has more functions available on a VPS or Dedicated than on most reseller accounts)

And, if you get in trouble, you are in a fairly closed environment. But one should proceed with caution beyond the standard stuff. WHM has settings that can cause trouble.