VPS: Cloud vs ‘Traditional’, which is right for you?

Virtual private servers are a great way for a business to maintain their own autonomy over their hosting without the expense and responsibility of maintaining a physical dedicated server. But there are now two options for those looking to go down this route. The ‘traditional’ VPS is its own separate, autonomous system, but shares resources with other VPS on a single server. The newer cloud VPS runs on the cloud network, spread over many physical servers. We would like to take you through the key user differences so that you can see which is right for you.

Performance

Results may vary. There may be a slight tendency for cloud VPS to outperform a traditional VPS due to its ability to utilise all resources available to it, but on average the two will largely give an equal performance. It should be pointed out that no VPS will offer the same performance as a comparable dedicated server, but if you’re set on a VPS then performance need not be a deciding factor in which type you choose.

Reliability

Reliability is where cloud comes into its own. As a cloud VPS is not located on one single server, it is able to relocate itself to an undamaged part of the cloud automatically, ensuring minimal, if any, downtime. There is also anecdotal evidence that they are much more resilient to malicious efforts such as DDOS attacks. Generally, the greatest threat to a cloud VPS is if the cloud network itself goes down.

Scalability

A huge advantage of a cloud VPS is that it is incredibly easy to up/downgrade very quickly with minimal fuss and zero downtime. This is useful for a fledgling business, which would benefit from being able to upgrade as it becomes necessary, or for a website that expects to see a temporary spike in traffic, a sports website during the London Olympics, for example. A traditional VPS is also relatively scalable, but not as quickly as a cloud VPS. Though both VPS both have a ceiling on how far they can be upgraded by the size of the server/network they are on, the ability to respond dynamically to changes could be a deciding factor if there is unpredictability ahead for your websites or business.

Cost

Costs can vary wildly, both between providers and type of billing. However, both should be cheaper than a dedicated server. A cloud VPS also offers a significant cost advantage in that you pay only for what you use. This means you can adjust your settings as you observe your traffic rather than risk overestimating your requirements and paying for unused resources.

Ultimately, choosing which VPS is right for you depends on your circumstances, your website and your needs. Point for point, a cloud VPS would appear to be a better option for most as it offers equal performance but with greater reliability, scalability and, in most cases, better value for money. Where the traditional VPS can offer a saving is if you need a considerable amount of resources and exactly how much that is going to be. Some may also opt for the traditional VPS as they feel wary about committing to the cloud so soon as it is relatively new technology. However, with the UK2 cloud VPS, we aim to take some of that worry away by making it as simple as possible to configure at point of purchase. This means we can deal with keeping your website up whilst you are free to run it the way you want.