For some odd reason, people often view the acronym “VPS” as negatively as DDoS, DMCA or NSA. But it shouldn’t be the case. A nasty VPS monster isn’t going to eat your website.
A VPS is a great solution for anybody that needs more than shared hosting can offer, but also does not need a pricier dedicated server.
Let’s take a look at several VPS myths, to better understand what VPS can do for you:
Myth #1: VPS Hosting is for Linux experts!
In the early days of VPS, some 15+ years ago, this probably was true. Managed hosts didn’t yet exist, and virtualization software was BETA quality.
I remember searching for “VPS” on Altavista (remember that!?), and most advice at the time agreed:
Non-experts should avoid VPS!
But it’s 2016, and this hasn’t been true in years!
Buyers have two main choices:
- Managed VPS
- Unmanaged (self-managed) VPS
For non-expert users, finding quality management is easy and affordable.
A managed VPS host like EuroVPS handles the security, updates, backups, and performance of your server.
We’re your server management experts, so you don’t have to be.
Myth #2: Unmanaged VPS is cheaper!
This is the inverse myth of “experts only”.
While it’s true that you don’t need to know everything, you also cannot know nothing. And no, simply following a random blog or forum post isn’t the solution to a gap in knowledge.
As our friends at The DigitalFAQ point out, there’s a lot of hidden costs to an unmanaged VPS. An unmanaged server is blank, with no software installed – often not even the OS! No panel, no security software, no firewall, no DNS, nothing.
Although the internet is the world’s largest library, with tutorials on almost anything, learning isn’t knowing.
If your VPS OS kernel is panicking at 3 a.m., do you want to frantically pound the keyboard with blurry sleepy eyes, praying to find the answer with a Google search? (And then hoping the guide you found is accurate?) Or do you want to submit a ticket to your host or server manager, and go back to sleep?
Between time and licensing, unmanaged can be more costly.
Myth #3: Migrating to VPS is difficult!
This is both true and false.
If using a panel like cPanel or Plesk, migration is easy!
If trying to move from a shared cPanel server to a free control panel, it is indeed not easy. And that’s yet another reason that unmanaged is un-fun.
At EuroVPS, when a customer orders a VPS with cPanel or Plesk, we first spawn the VPS. That takes about 2 minutes. We then manually harden it for security and tweak it for performance. And finally, we migrate all your sites from the shared server to the VPS.
The end result is a VPS that behaves exactly the same as your shared hosting experience – but more powerful and customizable. With a managed host, you can be fully migrated in mere hours.
To manage, or not to manage? – That is the question!
As you can probably tell, most myths involving VPS are actually due to management.
It’s only a difficult experience for non-experts that try to use unmanaged VPS hosting. And inversely, it’s a non-issue for non-technical or newbie customers who use a managed host. As usual, it’s simply a case of choosing the right products for your needs.
At EuroVPS, we’ve offered managed solution since 2004. Most of our customers are not experts in IT, but rather experts in their fields. We handle their sites and servers, so they can handle the important tasks.
Again, VPS are a smart choice for sites that have outgrown shared, and are not yet in need of a beefy dedicated solution. Or for those that needs something a bit more complex, like a state-of-the-art NGiNX and Varnish setup.
Don’t let the myths scare you way from making a wise decision for your hosting needs.
