Archive for the ‘Insider View’ Category

For most users of the web these days it is only a matter of time before they begin to look at the web sites they enjoy visiting in a completely new way and decide that they might just want to go for it and try to set up their own site, either as something to do for fun, or – and this is far more common which is easy to understand – try to actually earn themselves some money online the way so many are doing these days. Once they make the decision to earn themselves a living on the web doing what they love, it is only a matter of time before it begins to occur to them that perhaps they want to have their own hosted site instead of relying on free blog sites and places of that nature that really restrict what they are trying to do. It would be far easier for these people to go with shared hosting in most cases, but the fact is, shared hosting is just not for everyone.
Let’s cover the cons of shared hosting first, shall we? For one, the problem is that it is going to be limiting. Since you are sharing the host with other users that also have sites, if they end up getting a ton of traffic then your site could be slowed way, way down. This is not a problem in most cases since bigger and more popular sites opt for VPS hosting or even larger solutions, but once in a while this could happen and it can be a pain to deal with. You also have a lot less direct control with shared hosting, but that is not always bad for every single person. Those who are not trying to earn a huge living off the web will often be content with shared hosting because it is simple to use and the cheapest option out there by far even if it isn’t very powerful.
The cons of a VPS hosting solution is that you may not need the robust performance it offers and it may not even be appealing to have more bandwidth or speed to work with if you have a small site that is not receiving wave after wave of visitors – and that you do not intend to take to this level. The real advantage of VPS is not for those who simply want a more hobby oriented site that is not about making money. So the cons of the VPS hosting packages end up being the pros of the shared hosting packages. VPS is also a bit more technical so those who are not interested in running a variety of sites will not even need the features it offers and can basically not even worry about using it with no problems.
Getting the most from VPS hosting pros is definitely a lot easier to do than many think. This is a very flexible form of hosting that provides solid value for the money spent and it is definitely easy to use compared to the rigors of running a dedicated server. Pros for VPS include having a ton of power, a lot of privacy and a very affordable cost.

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A lot of people fling the term VPS hosting around a great deal, but very few of them really know what it means. To break things down a bit, let’s explain the meaning of this mysterious Virtual Private Server. The core concept here is that the web hosting provider is taking one massive server and dividing it up in such a way that it can have several servers on it, each of which can run their own operating system. Simple enough, isn’t it? So that begs the question of what managed versus unmanaged VPS would be all about. Quite simply, it is just like it sounds – in the managed version the web host takes care of all the details for each of the users and in the unmanaged VPS solution it is up to the customer to set things up the way that they want it.

This does not mean that unmanaged users are adrift with no tech support if they ever run into problems; it is more of a question of how much freedom they would like in order to be able to do things by themselves without having to wait around.

Most people will have a preference, but it should be noted that unless one is very skilled not just with computers and the web, but the actual hosting side of things, it may be better to go with managed hosting solutions at first. The reason is that when you are running a web site, the last thing you want to do is encounter the fact that you are out of your league trying to keep your site afloat due to tech oriented details that you should have been able to get quick help for.

This is why managed VPS can cost a little bit more, too. It is a situation in which the user not only needs, but expects fast and efficient help when they need it with the admins or tech support crew taking care of everything for them. This is exactly why a great number of new web site masters will choose managed – they need the help to get their site off the ground and really see it succeed. They will do better with the level of help that gives them a little less control over every tiny detail because they are focused more on the content angle of their site rather than the myriad of tech details.

Those who are debating the question really need to ask themselves where their skills lie and if not their own skills, then what are the skills of those in their team? Be careful of the confident tech that says they believe in unmanaged VPS hosting as the best solution unless they can prove that they have handled these types of situations in the past in a profitable way. Many times, teams find out too late that their tech crew did not have the needed skills to get the job done in a sticky situation and the site, or worse yet multiple sites, end up suffering for it.

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