Container Virtualization vs. Hypervisor Virtualization

The key characteristic of any virtualization methods used in a VPS (virtual private server) is its ability to isolate each user in the same physical server to the point that it seems like they are working on a dedicated server. Each user will appear to be unique and will not be affected by any of the other users on the same server. And when a business is first moving from shared hosting to virtual hosting, one of the preliminary questions, they would come across is choosing the virtualization technology that they would like on their VPS. And most of the hosting service providers will usually offer one of the two virtualization technologies, Windows Hyper-V VPS or Virtuozzo VPS.

Hypervisor-Based Virtualization or Container-Based Virtualization

The two virtualization solutions, Hyper-V made by Microsoft and Virtuozzo by Parallels, are based on two different technologies of partitioning the physical server in order to grant users with their desired level of control and security.

Microsoft Hyper-V VPS hosting technology uses a program which runs on a level higher than a supervisory program, thus called a hypervisor, to accomplish the goal of virtualization. A hypervisor, which can be installed directly on bare metal (on the hardware, without a supporting OS), make it possible for a server to be divided into multiple “virtual machines”. And then the admin can decide how much of the available resources to be allocated to each user.

On the other hand, Virtuozzo uses an operating-system level virtualization, which is more commonly known as container-based virtualization. Here, the kernel of an OS permits a number of isolated instances of a server to be generated, which enables users to have their very own private space. Then the resources of the server can be given for each user, according to their needs.

 

Hyper-V VPS Hosting

Using Windows Hyper-V technology will give a variety of advantages for a business, which is looking for an efficient VPS hosting solution. Hyper-V technology is specially designed to work perfectly with Windows Server products. This means that security, patching and updates will be dealt without any conflicts in between the hypervisor and server programming. In addition, for web developers, Hyper-V based virtualization solutions will offer a considerable advantage by letting you set up multiple instances of Windows servers, each running a unique version of the program. This will make it easy for developers to test their programs and apps in multiple OS environments.

Though Hyper-V is specially designed to work with Windows, testing Linux-based apps within a Hyper-v managed server is also possible by using an option like Suse 10. Hypervisor technology also carries the ability to dynamically respond to server use, which ensures that resources are allocated as required.  Furthermore, hypervisors has the advantage of allowing dedicated RAM, while being a better predictor of the performance.

Virtuozzo VPS Hosting

Using Virtuozzo as your server partitioning program also has its own advantages. One of them is being able to be used with either Windows OS or Linux OS. Virtuzzo also makes it easier to install a control panel, like Plesk.

Another unique feature that Virtuozzo has to offer is, Virtuozzo Power Panel, its web-based GUI (graphical user interface). This can be used by its users to manage their VPS over the internet, even when the server is not up and running. Virtuozzo has a simple visual interface, while also allowing the root level access.

Conclusion

 

While both Hyper-V and Virtuozzo VPS hosting has their own added advantages, basically what both technologies do is allowing a user to have a private portion of the hosting server, that isn’t affected by the actions of the users on the same physical server. Eventually, which virtualization technology to be chosen will come down to a single user’s (or a company’s) needs and personal preferences. The final word is that both this technologies can guarantee maximum uptime, security and will offer powerful VPS performance.

Why VPS Hosting Is Better Than Dedicated Hosting

VPS hosting options has been in the webhosting scene for several years now. Before VPS hosting came in to play, dedicated hosting used to rule the webhosting business. For anyone who had enough of the security and stability issues of shared hosting or wanted more control over their server had to buy a dedicated server. However, the main disadvantage of dedicated hosting was its price. They were (actually, still are) very expensive. They also had many extra resources that many webmasters did not require. This meant that they were paying a huge amount of money for resources they were not using. Due to this factor, many individual webmasters and small to medium-sized business owners had to go back to shared hosting after trying dedicated hosting for few months.

With the introduction of VPS hosting options, all of this changed. VPS or Virtual Private Server hosting meant that any webmaster could have stay away from all the stability and security issues of shared hosting for an affordable price. In addition, VPS hosting solutions also offered the level of control and configurability of a dedicated server. For many webmasters, this meant that they were having all the resources and flexibility of a dedicated server, for a fraction of a price.

It is true that VPS hosting options does not have the same amount of resources as dedicated servers, but for the majority of webmasters, that is not a problem. Even the most basic VPS hosting plan can offer much more resources that a shared hosting option. And in case if any webmaster finds the resources of his virtual server is not enough for him, he can easily upgrade their plan to a plan with more resources.

Here are some points on why you should buy VPS hosting.

• It is budget conscious.
• It can offer the perfect amount of resources to run small to medium size websites.
• It provides the level of security and flexibility of a dedicated hosting option, but at a much lesser price.
• It is much more secure than shared hosting options.

CMS VPS Hosting - Advantages of Joomla

There are many CMS applications that you can use to build a website. One of them is Joomla. Joomla is a free and open source content management framework, which is the second most popular CMS application, right behind WordPress. Why are many web developers using Joomla? The answer to this question is, “because Joomla can offer a number of benefits to a web developer.”

Advantages of Joomla

• It is really easy to install Joomla
• It has a robust database that is centralized, and stores all the contents and design templates
• Ability to quickly update main web pages without making modifications to the script code
• Ease and flexibility of managing web links
• Ability to easily create FAQ menus and customize them as needed
• Adding new items in to the menu bar can be done easily, with a simple and fast procedure
• Simple admin panel, which makes it easy to customize and manage web content within few minutes.
  Joomla VPS Hosting

Although Joomla has a number of benefits to a web developer, to take the full advantage of Joomla framework, you should host it on a fully configurable server environment. Since shared hosting does not allow a great level of configurability, only options left are Joomla VPS hosting or Joomla dedicated hosting. However, since dedicated hosting is really expensive, the best option for webmasters or small to medium-size business owners is to buy VPS hosting for their Joomla website.

While VPS hosting options are cheaper than dedicated hosting options, they can offer you the same level of configurability of a dedicated server. You can install and configure any third party application you want in to your VPS. And it also offers you the same level of security as of a dedicated server.

In addition, most of the VPS hosting providers will offer you more than 99% uptime. This means that, unlike when you are on a shared hosting option, you have nothing to worry about your server getting overloading or crashing preventing access to your website.

Choosing The VPS hosting Package That Suits You

In today’s webhosting market, there is a lot of VPS hosting providers with many different hosting packages. So once you decide to buy VPS hosting, you have to do a thorough research before choosing the VPS hosting package that suits you the best. It might cost you a lot of money, not only if you choose a wrong VPS hosting package, but also if you choose the wrong hosting service provider. So if you have any concerns regarding a hosting package offered by any hosting provider, you should always contact them via email or live chat, prior to purchasing anything.

Here’s a short list of the most important things that we think you should keep an eye on while looking for the best VPS hosting package.

Budget

Budget is one of the most important factors that people choose to go for a Virtual Private Server in the first place. It also plays an important role in selecting the VPS server package that suits you the best. The main factor that determines the price of a virtual server is its resources. The higher the amount of resources, like RAM, CPU, disk space and bandwidth, which comes with a virtual server, more price you will have to spend to purchase it.

Features Needed

This goes hand in hand with the budget. You have to be clear about the features you want on your virtual server. You can always check what kinds of features are offered with a hosting package before you buy VPS servers. In case if you are not familiar with any of the features, a quick Google search will get you all the information you need. In addition, most of the features of VPS packages, including RAM, disk space and bandwidth can be customized.

Hosting Technology

This is also a very important factor you should consider when you buy VPS servers. This mainly depends on the applications you are planning to run on the server. Currently, the most popular VPS technologies are Microsoft’s Hyper-V and Virtuozzo. So you have to decide the correct virtual server package according to the applications you plan to run on them

Going for Windows VPS Hosting?

When you are on the search to buy VPS hosting, you would come across a number of VPS hosting providers with Windows VPS hosting packages and Linux VPS hosting packages. Some hosting providers would offer both hosting platforms.

There are many aspects to consider when choosing the correct VPS hosting platform. Anyway, while some times choosing windows hosting platform can be a personal preference, there are some other times when it becomes a necessity.

Windows or Linux

The truth is, it is always more important to focus your time and effort on finding a reliable hosting provider to buy VPS servers, more than focusing on the platform. However, there are some points to consider when choosing whether to use Linux or Windows platform.

• Price

This was a very important factor in the past as windows VPS hosting was very expensive than Linux VPS hosting. However, due to the competitive nature of the hosting industry, now the price difference between Windows and Linux platforms are negligible.

• Features & Performance

While price is becoming less of a concern, features offered by each platform and the performance have become an important factor on choosing the right VPS hosting package. Both platforms support a number of various features and will allow you to create pages, run scripts, install forums, create blogs, and many more with only a very little difference. Even though Linux might have a slight edge on the performance, most users will not be noticing any performance difference between the two platforms.

• Security

Although Linux is believed to be more secure platform, it is a fallacy. Both platforms have potential for vulnerabilities.

Windows specific features

Since there is a very little difference between the two platforms, the choice of using Windows VPS hosting finally comes down to whether you are using Windows specific features of not. Popular Windows specific features are:

1. ASP
2. FrontPage
3. .NET
4. Windows Streaming Media
5. Access
6. MsSQL

Any of the above features will work more smoothly on a Windows platform than on a Linux platform.

How to Back-up your Virtual Machine?

Hyper-V is the modern generation of virtualization, with Windows Server 2008 you no longer need to install an application such as Virtual Server 2005 or Virtual PC or other virtualization technology in order to build your virtual machines (VM). 

 

Hyper-V is one of the new roles available with Windows Server 2008 where you can install it and then start creating your VMs. You can use a virtualized computing environment to increase the efficacy of your computing resources.

 

Benefits you get from a VM

• Increasing the hardware utilization

• Decreasing the cost by sharing in number of VM

• Maximum availability and Secure

• VM can be accessed from anywhere in the intranet

• Possibility of running programs in other OS from what is running on the machine.

 

Creating Hyper-V Virtual Machines

 

 

Open the Hyper-V management console.

 

 or go to command prompt and type c:\Program Files\Hyper-V\virtmgmt.msc and press "Enter"

 

In the right side panel, click on "New" and select "Virtual Machine" 

 

 

 

Give nam efor your Virtual Machine, here you can specify a location as well (if required). Then click "Next"

 

 

 

 

You can specify the capacity of memory to your VM.

 

 

 

 

Select "Local Area Connection - Virtual Network" from the drop down list and click "Next"

 

 

 

Here you get few options, you can create a new Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) or you can simply assign an available VHD or else you can assign a VHD later.

 

 

 

If you need to install a new Operating system for your new VM you can do it in this step. Also you can install an Operating system from an image file you have created or from a Physical DVD / CD. You get four options to install your OS. Click "Next" to proceed further.

 

 

 

Now you can see the details of your VM. This is the final step and you are almost done. Click "Finish" button to complete the process.

 

 

 

Your new Virtual Machine is ready to use. You can start your VM from the Management Console. 

Mobile Friendly Website on VPS Hosting

Since apple introduced their iPhone back in 2007, millions of people are accessing the internet via their mobile phones every day. With the introduction of the smartphone, that has amazing web browsing capabilities, every business was forced to rethink their website. If you are engaged in a business that depends on its online presence to drive income directly or indirectly, you should definitely think of making adjustments to your website in order to fit the millions of potential customers who might visit your website via mobile devices. And if you are a person who is planning your future online presence, you might want to think about making it mobile friendly before you buy VPS hosting and hosting it.

So I thought of giving you some tips on building your mobile friendly website on you VPS server.

• Create a designated mobile URL. The usual way of doing this is using your standard URL with a modification. The most common way is using the letter “m” before or after the standard URL.

Ex:

Google URL - http://www.google.com

Google mobile URL - http://www.google.com/m

• Do the designing of your website with a small screen in mind. Although PC monitors are getting bigger, mobile screens are not.
• Rethink the content. People who use the mobile phone for browsing are usually looking for useful information on the go. Typical mobile web users are not looking for shopping.
• Keep mobile consumption in the mind when organizing the content. As the mobile screens are very small, you have to organize your content in a way that requires the mobile user to minimize the scrolling experience.
• Minimize clicks.
• Limit the user inputs. It is often a frustrating experience to having to enter a lot of data to a website through a mobile device.
• Always use Java and not Flash. Java is the most mobile friendly website development platform.
• Think “vertical”. While your PC website is designed for a “horizontal” display, always make your mobile website vertically.
• Put links to your homepage and the previous page in every other page.
• Keep it simple!

Keep the above tips in your mind when designing your first mobile friendly website to host on your VPS server.