Most Important Things To Look For When Choosing a VPS Provider

Creating a website is the best choice for your growing business. It opens up new avenues for growth, tons of fresh traffic to your business, and much more. However, picking the right web hosting for your website can be hard. If you’re considering VPS hosting as your go-to platform, you’re in the right place. In this article, we’ll cover what to look for when choosing a VPS hosting provider.

To give you the big picture, you need to inspect the provider’s reliability, customer support, and service pricing before you purchase a VPS. All of those should be convenient for you. Technical-wise, there are other things to consider, like the hardware, Operating System (OS), and backend operation management. For these, choose a plan that really suits your needs.

A great example of a reliable VPS, comes from Hostinger VPS offers. It’s a great mix of resources, flexible plans, and an attractive price tag. Of course, not all projects are made equal and might require different features, so we’ll use a lot of what the company offers as a baseline.

#1 Hardware (CPU, RAM, Storage, Bandwidth)

An excellent hardware infrastructure will result in a reliable service. The system contains the most crucial elements for building your sites, such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU) and Random Access Memory (RAM).

You ought to realize that your website’s data will consume your hardware resources. Moreover, it will only take up more and more space as time goes on. Therefore, you need to match your needs to the hardware specifications.

The CPU resources determine the site’s capability to receive and fulfil requests. In the hardware, CPU cores process the tasks. The core number affects your site’s ability to handle multiple requests. Typically, a dual-core processor is sufficient to achieve a great website’s performance.

RAM stores your running programs for short-term use. This allows clients to access your data more quickly. The recommended memory for a website new to VPS hosting is 2 GB. However, if too many programs are running in the background, your site will be vulnerable to a crash.

Storage space also plays a crucial role in your site’s performance. Opt for a solid-state drive (SSD) as it is newer and faster than a hard-drive. A 40GB storage size allows your site to run smoothly, even if the operating system and software have taken up considerable space.

Although you can store your backup on VPS storage, you should plan for redundancy. Data redundancy enables you to access all of your data in real-time, even when there’s a VPS problem. To replicate your data, you can utilize RAID Arrays or SQL Replication.

Often misunderstood as speed, bandwidth measures how much a particular connection can transmit data in one second. In VPS hosting, the provider typically gives a monthly bandwidth limit. While a terabyte quota of bandwidth sounds plenty, you want to scale up if your website displays many media.

#2 Server Uptime and Response Time

The server uptime refers to how long a system is available online. When your server has inadequate resources and an unstable connection, it may result in your website being offline. Further, website outages may cause a low rank on the search engine.

It’s advised that you avoid a hosting provider when its server uptime rate is below 99%. It’s highly recommended that you go with one of which uptime rate is 99.5% or higher.

In terms of response time, you ought to go with a provider with a server response time-speed under 200 ms. It reflects the time a web browser takes to receive a response. Therefore, a good server should provide low response time, enabling users to receive a response as quickly as possible.

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#3 Location

Your data center location is one crucial element you cannot leave behind. The closer your server to the target audience, the better your website will perform. Therefore, get a VPS just where your target audience resides.

#4 Customer Service and Support

No matter how sophisticated a provider’s VPS is, problems come every now and then. Yet, you need your website to be available at any given time. You should choose a provider that is ready to provide you with 24/7 customer service and support. Also, it’s always chat rooms over emails, as you want your provider to fix your site quickly.

#5 Flexibility and Scalability

VPS hosting can be attractive for users who look for flexibility. As root access is accessible for you, you can install software to benefit your site’s growth. However, you need to ensure your VPS provides a beginner-friendly control panel. This will ease your journey in customizing your website.

If your website has grown exceeding your plan’s limit, don’t fret. With VPS hosting, you can upgrade all your resources in a relatively short period. Therefore, you can start small, as scalability comes in handy with VPS solutions.

#6 Managed, Semi-Managed, or Unmanaged VPS?

Managed VPS best suits users with very minimal technical skills. It covers almost every server-related issue, including troubleshooting and virtual server maintenance. However, configurations for additional software and script installations are the users’ responsibilities.

Suppose you’re familiar with Linux and its CLI, and only need a little boost in managing your VPS. In that case, the semi-managed one is the recommended solution. Your provider will support you with OS and Control Panel reinstallation, DNS management, kernel upgrades, and the likes.

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With unmanaged VPS, users are responsible for all server administration, security, configurations, and management. For this, end-users should have excellent knowledge of Linux’s administration server.

#7 Linux VPS or Windows VPS?

Linux offers a free and open-source operating system and has always been popular among developers. Its open-source nature allows users to make the system more resistant to malware and virus threats. Besides, it being free helps you save your budget.

On the other hand, Windows’ friendly User Interface is very convenient to use if you have limited technical skills. Accessing Windows VPS has also made it more comfortable, thanks to remote desktop access. However, you need to prepare an extra dollar, as its license costs some money.

#8 Price

VPS’s pricing ranges from $10 to $250. However, when it comes to rate, the best is not always the most expensive. You want a VPS to support your business’ growth, choose the one that fits your company’s needs, and make it worth every penny.

Wrapping Up

Before purchasing a plan, you ought to do your research and compare one provider to another. Choose one with a high server uptime, money-back guarantee, and 24/7 customer support via live chat rooms. The warranty allows you to performance-test the VPS and cancel if it doesn’t meet your expectation.