A Virtual Private Server, more commonly known as a VPS server, is recognized to act as a dedicated server within a shared hosting environment. Due to this, it would offer the extensive resources of a dedicated server while being as affordable as shared hosting.
You should upgrade to a VPS when you:
A VPS delivers the essential infrastructure and dedicated resources required for smooth operations, making it ideal for expanding businesses, passionate bloggers, high-traffic e-commerce sites, and data-heavy platforms.
Hosting providers offer various VPS packages, each tailored to different user needs. A VPS server provides privacy, enabling customization of your hosting environment, installation of preferred applications, and root-level changes.
Users can request additional resources from the provider if they exceed their allocated VPS resources.
VPS utilises advanced virtualization technology to divide a single physical server into multiple virtual servers. The term "virtual" is used because these servers exist only online. One physical server supplies resources to all the virtual servers.
Each VPS has its own Operating System, and users with access have full control over it; this would usually be the customer. This OP-level access gives the user the power to install almost any software onto this machine that they need.
This also adds a “private” layer of protection, as each user has their own resources assigned to their own cell. Other users cannot access resources that they do not have rightful access to.
You can use a VPS server to run pretty much anything that you need to. Here’s a quick list of things you can use your VPS server for:
Hosting a website on a VPS promises higher performance and reliability compared to shared hosting.
To host multiplayer servers with better performance and control, such as Minecraft, CS:GO, and Rust.
Using a secure place for storing any files or backups, basically a virtual hard drive.
Important note: A VPS may be affordable and cheap, however, without the knowledge on how a variety of specifications on a machine can cause the performance to differ, problems could arise, and so your average person may be vulnerable to overworking their machine, causing not only performance issues but also unnecessary amounts of stress.
A dedicated server is the physical server dedicated to a single user or a organization, so unlike shared or VPS hosting where multiple people share the same server resources, a dedicated server provides exclusive access to the entire server and its provision of resources.
So, how does that work? This physical server is made up of different hardware components, including CPU, RAM, storage, and network interfaces. All this hardware is housed within a data center, providing reliable power, cooling, and internet connectivity. And since this entire server is dedicated, it provides whomever is using it with a lot more configurability and performance output.
However, all these extra benefits of performance and privacy come with a hefty cost. The average dedicated server costs around 70 EUR/month on hosting websites, meaning if someone needs these extensive resources then they’d need to calculate if it is worth their money over cheaper and similarly functional options.
To make it short and sweet, the pros and cons of a dedicated server rather than a VPS server are listed below:
Pros
Cons
Being anonymous means that your identity and data are both kept hidden and disguised, giving you this barrier of protection to risks of data leaks when operating online. Not only would this result in personal safety and cybersecurity, but it can also reduce lashback when sharing an opinion freely or whistleblowing.
No personal information has to be given to sign up to such a service, this allows any anonymous user to avoid their data being harvested from other hosting providers and domain registrars, as they often collect and store your personal information in order to use them for marketing their product.
Last but not least, anonymity when handling tasks to do with business that require a server also provides you with protection of your intellectual property, since the ownership of domains and server resources are kept confidential it will reduce the risk of theft and infringement.
Finally, server hosters that are dedicated towards keeping their customers anonymous and safe allow transactions to be anonymous too. These are payments done using cryptocurrencies that can help keep financial transactions private, which protects you from any financial surveillance and enhances your overall privacy.
VPS Hosting is a virtualized environment on a shared server, providing a balance between cost, performance, and ease of management, with some limitations on resource availability and customization. Dedicated Servers offer full access to a physical server's resources, offering high performance, customization, security, and reliability at a higher cost and complexity.
If anonymous hosting interests you, the perfect provider would be Mynymbox, who accepts cryptos like Bitcoin, Lightning, Monero and others, and do not require any personal information from you when purchasing. Everything with the aim to keep you completely off the grid.