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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Amsterdam/Rotterdam, NL
    Posts
    2,135

    How-to understand what VPS is

    It appears many people find it hard to understand what VPS is and how it works, so I just thought I'd make a small effort to explain a littlebit.

    What does VPS mean?
    Virtual Private Server

    What is such a Virtual Server?
    Basically VPS is all about running multiple Virtual Servers within one physical server.

    What does Private refer to?
    Each VPS gets its own portion of resources, which are usually guaranteed to be available to that particular VPS. For instance, the host server may have 8GB of ram, and 256mb (for instance) could be guaranteed to be available to a VPS. That would mean that regardless of what other VPS's on the same server use, that amount of RAM will be available to the VPS.

    Also very important: each VPS runs completely independent of eachother. Each VPS has its own filesystem so a VPS can't see any of the data of another VPS. Also each VPS has it's own server load, can run its own Operating System, can be rebooted individually, and so on. Basically by the end user it can be treated as a dedicated server.

    So does a VPS also have its own kernel?
    Usually not, but it depends on the technology that the host uses.

    Are VPS's truly 100% isolated from eachother, so no matter what happens they can not cause trouble to eachother?
    Under normal circumstances, yes. However in extreme scenarios, VPS's can trouble eachother. For instance if the host server has a 100mbit uplink, and one VPS gets a 100mbit DDoS attack, then it makes sense that all other VPS's on the same server are also affected by it. It's up to the host to ensure maximum reliability by monitoring everything closely.

    I mentioned VPS's on the same host server can each run a different Operating System. So could one VPS on the server run Windows, and another one Linux?
    No, that's not possible. It is however possible to run different Linux distributions on a Linux VPS server. For instance one VPS could be running Red Hat Enterprise, and another one could be running Debian.

    Is it possible to run anything on a VPS that would run on a dedicated server?
    As long as it doesn't require kernel modifications, yes. (note: some technologies do support kernel modifications - that's not something I specialize in though)


    For everyone who still has trouble understanding what VPS is, I thought of a nice example:

    You could compare VPS technology to a block of apartments. The block has one roof, but under that roof there are multiple apartments. Each apartment has its own kitchen, living room, etc, so it can operate individually. Everyone goes in and out through the same door of the building though (VPS: traffic all goes through one network port). And I'm sure you can think of every other similarity.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Czech Republic / Thailand
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    192
    Quote Originally Posted by Apoc
    You could compare VPS technology to a block of apartments. The block has one roof, but under that roof there are multiple apartments. Each apartment has its own kitchen, living room, etc, so it can operate individually. Everyone goes in and out through the same door of the building though (VPS: traffic all goes through one network port). And I'm sure you can think of every other similarity.
    Nice example How about gas, electricity and water
    DevOps / VoIP Engineer / Linux System Engineer
    Available

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Amsterdam/Rotterdam, NL
    Posts
    2,135
    That could be compared to the resources like CPU, RAM and bandwidth - they come in through the same pipes and are then divided among apartments/vps's. There are probably a ton of other similarities to think of

  4. #4
    Think of it as an appartment Block Each VPS in the Dedicated server is a Home, 1 Roof Many Homes

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    In a shop doorway.
    Posts
    10
    I'm definitely loving the example. Hahaha! Good tutorial mate.

  6. #6

    ;-)

    ahaha! It couldnt be better!, nice tutorial.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Posts
    41
    nice insight, very useful for people who dont know this shaded sector of hosting

  8. #8
    Very helpful indeed, I realise I am a latecomer to this thread but, I am a new member on this forum as well.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Posts
    1,922
    Before ever buying a VPS research who you are buying it from. Way too much risk otherwise. That is my two cents. Also, look for someone who puts customers first as in the game of hosting that is not the case with many. Being able to support your customers is all that really matters as that is where people fail.

    -Jay
    KnownHost Managed VPS Specialists
    Toll Free: (866)-332-9894
    Fully Managed VPS, Wordpress, Cloud Servers, and Dedicated Servers

  10. #10

    Keep it up

    Great work man.
    Simply awesome example

    Quote Originally Posted by Apoc
    It appears many people find it hard to understand what VPS is and how it works, so I just thought I'd make a small effort to explain a littlebit.

    What does VPS mean?
    Virtual Private Server

    What is such a Virtual Server?
    Basically VPS is all about running multiple Virtual Servers within one physical server.

    What does Private refer to?
    Each VPS gets its own portion of resources, which are usually guaranteed to be available to that particular VPS. For instance, the host server may have 8GB of ram, and 256mb (for instance) could be guaranteed to be available to a VPS. That would mean that regardless of what other VPS's on the same server use, that amount of RAM will be available to the VPS.

    Also very important: each VPS runs completely independent of eachother. Each VPS has its own filesystem so a VPS can't see any of the data of another VPS. Also each VPS has it's own server load, can run its own Operating System, can be rebooted individually, and so on. Basically by the end user it can be treated as a dedicated server.

    So does a VPS also have its own kernel?
    Usually not, but it depends on the technology that the host uses.

    Are VPS's truly 100% isolated from eachother, so no matter what happens they can not cause trouble to eachother?
    Under normal circumstances, yes. However in extreme scenarios, VPS's can trouble eachother. For instance if the host server has a 100mbit uplink, and one VPS gets a 100mbit DDoS attack, then it makes sense that all other VPS's on the same server are also affected by it. It's up to the host to ensure maximum reliability by monitoring everything closely.

    I mentioned VPS's on the same host server can each run a different Operating System. So could one VPS on the server run Windows, and another one Linux?
    No, that's not possible. It is however possible to run different Linux distributions on a Linux VPS server. For instance one VPS could be running Red Hat Enterprise, and another one could be running Debian.

    Is it possible to run anything on a VPS that would run on a dedicated server?
    As long as it doesn't require kernel modifications, yes. (note: some technologies do support kernel modifications - that's not something I specialize in though)


    For everyone who still has trouble understanding what VPS is, I thought of a nice example:

    You could compare VPS technology to a block of apartments. The block has one roof, but under that roof there are multiple apartments. Each apartment has its own kitchen, living room, etc, so it can operate individually. Everyone goes in and out through the same door of the building though (VPS: traffic all goes through one network port). And I'm sure you can think of every other similarity.

  11. #11
    Very nicely explained man.
    http://www.licensetohost.com
    Giving Your website a good home!

  12. #12
    theres a program i think people who do vps should install, i cannot remember the name of it but it makes certain computers have a certain amount of connection to the internet on a router, the program is installed on the computer and is then passworded by the admin to stop people using up all the bandwidth, also if you're really cheaky you can have it on one computer (aka the server) and limit what uses how much connection without people being able to access it. That would a) cut down on monitoring b) make sure people get the connection they are guarenteed

  13. #13
    Is it possible to allocate and guarantee a certain amount of bandwidth to each VPS user on the same physical server?

  14. #14
    Also, if I were to get a dedicated server, how could I configure the server to use VPS technology rather than cPanel?

    Is VPS better than cPanel?

  15. #15
    Thanks mate. I found this tutorial useful.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Amsterdam/Rotterdam, NL
    Posts
    2,135
    Quote Originally Posted by webservers
    Is it possible to allocate and guarantee a certain amount of bandwidth to each VPS user on the same physical server?
    Technically that is possible but it's not a very common practice to do so, simply because usually it's not needed if you have a 100mbit uplink.

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Amsterdam/Rotterdam, NL
    Posts
    2,135
    Quote Originally Posted by webservers
    Also, if I were to get a dedicated server, how could I configure the server to use VPS technology rather than cPanel?

    Is VPS better than cPanel?
    I think you didn't really get it

    VPS technology and cPanel are two completely different things. A VPS is a virtual server, cPanel is a control panel which controls a server. VPS technology basically splits one physical server into multiple virtual servers. cPanel only controls a server by automating many tasks of the webserver, mailserver, etc. It is also possible to run cPanel on a VPS (exactly the way it runs on a physical server).

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Jul 2001
    Location
    Arizona
    Posts
    148
    Quote Originally Posted by Apoc
    You could compare VPS technology to a block of apartments. The block has one roof, but under that roof there are multiple apartments. Each apartment has its own kitchen, living room, etc, so it can operate individually. Everyone goes in and out through the same door of the building though (VPS: traffic all goes through one network port). And I'm sure you can think of every other similarity.
    When I explain what VPS technology is, I like to say that it's "shared dedicated hosting". It includes the same features of a dedicated server (root access, hords of space and bandwidth, etc), but multiple customers are physically housed on the same server.
    Steve - Web Applications Developer
    http://www.sdwebsystems.com

  19. #19
    now to find a vps thats honest!

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Jul 2001
    Location
    Arizona
    Posts
    148
    Quote Originally Posted by dholster
    now to find a vps thats honest!
    There are lots of those. I'm a customer of servint.net - nice people.
    Steve - Web Applications Developer
    http://www.sdwebsystems.com

  21. #21
    ive been with myvpshost for about a week now no complaints and are very customer oriented, will wait a month to post my real praises just in case though

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Posts
    1,922
    Test their sales email reply times as well support. First impressions show true colors.

    -Jay
    KnownHost Managed VPS Specialists
    Toll Free: (866)-332-9894
    Fully Managed VPS, Wordpress, Cloud Servers, and Dedicated Servers

  23. #23
    within minutes and very friendly, even let me chose to leave a few default applications uninstalled to save time and resources.

  24. #24
    Can someone explain the managed and unmanged vps?

    Anything to take note from shared hosting to a vps? What can we expect?
    Thank you.

  25. #25
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Posts
    1,922
    leotan,

    Umanaged means you as the VPS owner have to update the OS and applications as security fixes are released, etc. Saying your not Managed doesn't mean this isn't done upon request it simply isn't part of the marketing angle.

    When going from shared to VPS you now have your own mini server with dedicated resources like Disk Space, Memory, and CPU. You can sleep well knowing you aren't on a shared server sitting beside 100+ others who can at anytime kill the server if they don't know what their doing. VPS's cuts back the risk and allows you to not worry about such things.

    -Jay
    KnownHost Managed VPS Specialists
    Toll Free: (866)-332-9894
    Fully Managed VPS, Wordpress, Cloud Servers, and Dedicated Servers

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