Cloud Hosting vs. VPS Hosting - What's the Difference & Why Does it Matter?
Understanding the key differences between cloud hosting and VPS hosting will help you determine which type of hosting best serves the needs of your business.
Articles published February 6, 2020 by Steve Simpson
Your data is only as secure as your host, and that means choosing who hosts your data is critically important. So, how should you choose?
The hosting market is certainly booming. Statista forecasts the cloud hosting, storage, and computer services market to grow to $163 billion in 2021 from $140 billion only a couple years prior. The virtual private server market is not nearly as sizable but continues to grow. After being valued at $2.6 billion in 2018, Allied Market Research expects it to reach a valuation of $8.3 billion by 2026.
Clearly cloud hosting has skyrocketed in popularity, yet there are reasons that Virtual Private Servers (VPS) hosting continues to maintain a strong presence in the industry. If you don’t know much about hosting or are unfamiliar with the differentiating factors between VPS hosting and cloud hosting, we can illuminate both options to help you make a more informed decision.
What is VPS Hosting?
VPS Hosting takes one physical server and divides it into several smaller virtual servers, each of which acts as its own dedicated server space. You then have the freedom to customize and configure your own section of the server to suit your needs, without having to worry about exchange of data or file access between the different servers.
Virtual servers allow you to store and preserve vital information efficiently, making it easier for members of your organization to work from the office or on the go. VPS hosting is ideally suited to tech savvy users who desire more personal control over their server space and have the knowledge and expertise to install and manage the software their operations need.
What is Cloud Hosting?
The distinction between VPS hosting and cloud hosting is that the former dedicates a single server to your infrastructure and data, whereas the latter spreads your resources across several physical servers. Multiple servers mean more resources, providing support from a virtually limitless network of servers. If one cloud server reaches capacity, the overflow will then be routed to an idle cloud server in the cluster, allowing for seamless and efficient operation.
The large network of cloud servers also protects against failures. Even if one of the servers crashes, your operations will be unaffected. It may slightly diminish the level of resources available to you and your business, but it will still be accessible from anywhere.
Cloud hosting might not afford the same level of customization as VPS hosting, with the trade-off being reliability, security, and an envious amount of resources.
What type of hosting is best for my business?
There are enough similarities between VPS hosting and cloud hosting that the most important distinctions come down to scalability, efficiency, and performance.
In terms of scale, the resources available to you from a VPS server are finite. VPS hosting is ideal for users who are simply starting out, so it is important to monitor resource needs. If those needs exceed the amount of server horsepower allocated to them, the system will crash. Cloud hosting, with its virtually unlimited supply of servers, is more flexible and can enhance your network’s reliability and uptime.
No matter which option you choose, having a third party managing your infrastructure provides simplicity, cost savings, and access to technical experts. You won’t be responsible for purchasing and maintaining your servers, allowing you to focus on managing and growing your business. Equally important is secure hosting, and a managed IT service provider can offer automated data backup and recovery services to offer you peace of mind.
Put simply, there is no wrong choice between VPS hosting and cloud hosting. The right choice is whatever best serves the needs of your business now and in the future.
Ready to find the right host for your data and infrastructure? Connect with Aureon and make sure your network is safe, scalable and secure.