Over the years, small and large companies began to use more and more servers to host your systems and store all your information.
This led to the need to have more and more compute and storage capacityTherefore, investment in technology increased, both in hardware and in maintenance and technical specialists.
In order to meet this need, technology providers such as Google They began to work on an alternative to these traditional servers where to host all this in a simple way, reducing the costs mentioned above and with the same or greater advantages than having a local physical server.
With this arises the VPS or Virtual Private Server (Virtual Private Server), which offer the same capabilities as a local server but with a series of characteristics that differentiate it to a large extent in a positive way. Throughout this article we will talk in greater depth about what is a virtual server, its characteristics, most common uses, advantages and disadvantages and the bases of its operation.
2. What is a virtual server or VPS?
A virtual server replicates the functionality of a physical server, so that any functionality that we have locally we can have it virtually. These virtual servers are commonly located in an offsite data center or on the cloud.
As a direct comparison there are also the dedicated servers, which work on physical machines that only the client can access. They have the same basic characteristics of the VPS with the plus that it assures the 100% that the resources are completely dedicated to the client.
The previous point has as an extra advantage that both the processing and memory capacities are more stable, leading projects of greater volume to be able to prefer a dedicated server over a VPS, although currently this tends to change since VPS are getting better.
3. Characteristics of a virtual server.
Among the main features we can start with the most basic and that coincide with a standard server.
We have the computing power which is determined by the CPU, RAM and disk space, in turn this is added to the operating system that we want to install and the region where we want to deploy this virtual machine, which depending on the provider we work with will have more or less options available.
Another feature is the redundancy, which gives us peace of mind that in the event of a hardware failure we will have other hardware available to replace this failure.
Another point has to do with the diversity of applications that we can mount on these VPS, from websites, CRM, data management tools or even business tools at scale without any problem.
There are more points but we will deepen them in the advantages section, since they are points that not only characterize VPS but are also positive differentiators.
4. What is a virtual server used for?
As we mentioned in the previous point, a virtual server It has the characteristic of being able to be used for a large number of purposes. Among these we highlight the web hosting, where we can host multiple sites on a single VM, resulting in a lower cost since it is shared.
Another common use is for the Software development and testing. Since VPS environments can be easily mounted and dismounted, it creates the possibility of developing software for different operating systems, testing them, and in case you need to modify the test scenario as many times as needed. Even when a test project is finished, we can eliminate the server with specific characteristics for this and generate a new one with other specific characteristics but for a production environment.
In addition, a common use that is given to VPS is for mount databases With systems like SQL Server, since the reliability they offer is high and the latency if the server is close is low, it is a great alternative to local solutions.
5. At what point should I hire a virtual server?
Each company has its own characteristics and needs, which is why the ideal situation in which hire a virtual server it varies. Having clarified this, we can take into account certain general factors that can give us an indication that it is a good time to think about the Migration from a local to a virtual environment.
First is evaluating the computing power that we need, if the one currently owned is fair but close to the limit, it is an ideal time to migrate, since before making an investment in new hardware we can take VPS quotes and allocate that money to migration.
Secondly, the confidence that we need to have in the server, both in availability (this is often affected by power or internet outages), such as possible hardware failure, that until the parts are detected and replaced we will have the server disconnected from the network.
Another important factor is safety, a point that is often overlooked, but having the server in a safe place is important, and in the case of a physical server it is something that can be a decisive factor. We also have security in terms of software, providers such as Google give a great layer of security to all VPS hosted in your cloud, generating a high level of confidence against possible attacks.
6. What are the advantages and disadvantages of server virtualization?
6.1 Advantages of a VPS
The great ease offered by the VPS of mount and unmount servers. As an example we have Compute Engine's Google CloudPlatform, where with a few clicks we can set up a server, use it and in a few clicks take it down.
Safety It is a great differential, both Hardware and Software have the support of the place where we host it, once again Google places great emphasis on these points and gives us the peace of mind that we have a robust wall against possible attacks.
Another advantage has to do with the cost of having a virtual server in the cloud, where we forget about a technician who performs hardware maintenance.
Too, hosting servers in the cloud opens up one of the biggest advantages, the high reliability that we will not have falls, nor due to hardware failure, power outages or internet connection. Although there is a possibility, it is much less than that of having a server locally.
Finally, the ease with which we can increase or decrease its capacity in relation to the hardware, this is directly related to costs, thus giving the possibility that if we have excess computing capacity we can reduce the characteristics, or on the contrary, if we need more power, increase, for example, the CPU or RAM.
6.2 Disadvantages of a VPS
Disadvantages it does not really have many, one may be the cost if it is compared with a shared hosting in the case of web hosting, or in very small companies that have a local server that with few resources and low maintenance is enough.
and heYou need to know the technical part, but it is a small curve for those who already have experience working with servers and it is more a matter of getting used to a new tool.
7. How do virtual servers work?
Its operation is similar to that of a physical or dedicated server, they have an IP through which we can connect, a specific hardware with the advantage that it is easily adjustable either for greater or lesser computing capacity.
The main differential will depend on where we have the VPS hosted, in the case of Google and its cloud we have the possibility of integrating into the suite a lots of tools that work very well together, already managing networks, databases, data processing, even having automated daily backups among many options.
