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.

Create a Hyper-V Cluster in SCVMM 2012 through Failover Cluster Manager

The “System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012” (SCVMM2012) is a management solution for the virtualized datacenter. It allow you to configure and manage your virtualization host, networking, and storage resources.

Using SCVMM2012 console you can create a cluster easily. Following steps will teach you how to do it without additional networking skills.

First you need to login to an Administrator account to create the Cluster Computer Object in the AD.

Process

In the main menu of Administrator Window, click on Create and go to Hyper-V Cluster and select Create Hyper-V Cluster. 

Enter a Cluster Name under General Tab and select Use and existing Run As account. For any failure with a cluster in Windows 2008 R2, you will require an Admin Account to add the Cluster name Computer Object into the domain. It will also create a DNS.

In this step you need to select the Host group and here we are using Hyper-V as the host where our hosts are located.

Now you can select your Host to Cluster. In the below image you can see two Hosts we have added.

If you are planning to add a new node or if you assured that the nodes are fine, you can select the check box “Skip Cluster Validation Tests”

Here you will need to add a Cluster IP address. 

Out of all your disks, you may select one to cluster. In the below image you can see disks and it is depend on your machine.

In this step, VMM will automatically create an external Virtual Network. Simply click on Next to proceed.

Now you can see all the details of your cluster. Review them and click on Finish.

You can see the progress with more details of your clusters.

If you have direct attached disk, you may receive issues similar to below image. 

At least, you can see your 2 node clusters created using SCVMM 2012.

You should give some priority to this step. If you are using this cluster for a Lab or Training environment you may use “0” as the cluster reserve (nodes).

You can see the link to your Cluster Validation Test under Status Tab.

If you need to see the report, visit C:\WIndows\Cluster\Reports and you will find a MHTML file.

This report is similar to if you run the Validate Cluster through Failover Cluster Manager.

Clusters you have not selected can be seen under Available Storage Tab. You can convert available disks as CSV at any time.  

Have a look at the status of your jobs

Disks you have converted as CSV can be seen at Shared Volumes Tab. 

Visit Virtual Network Tab to see your virtual network details and in the below image you can see that the External Network process was completed.

Right Click on one of your Hosts to see more options you can proceed related to clusters.

You may need to do this process through Failover Cluster Manager to become success

Differences Between VPS Hosting, Shared Hosting & Dedicated Server

A lot of options often make the task difficult for webmasters. Many of you ask us that what are the differences between a VPS hosting, shared hosting and dedicated server. This article is to answer that query. Hopefully, this one will help you to figure out the differences between these servers.

Let’s start our discussion with shared hosting service as this is still now one of the most common ones for people. So, why shared hosting is popular? The reason is simple and it is only because shared hosting concept was invented early. Yes, shared hosting is not bad and the cost is very reasonable but these are not the only reasons that why this hosting is famous. If you are hosting a small website which won’t go too big at any point, shared hosting is your solution. Your cost will be low and the support is standard from most quality companies.

There are some issues with a shared hosting account though which you should know about. If your website has a potential to grow big then you will have to face issues in upgrading your hosting continuously and it will increase your cost a lot. Shared hosting is not that safe as a lot of people are hosting their sites on the same server. If the server gets hacked, all the websites are affected and things become difficult.

If you are going to go for a shared hosting, make sure that you are picking a quality company that offers great customer support because you will need it a lot in different moments.

Now let’s talk about VPS hosting. VPS hosting can be of two types which are managed and unmanaged vps hosting. As you might know, our website offers managed virtual hosting. We will try not to be biased so you can still continue reading the article.

VPS offers a dedicated environment which is easier to access than a dedicated server. It is something that stays in between a shared hosting and a dedicated server. There are different types of VPS but we are not going to talk about them as they might make this article complex.

The best part of VPS is the dedicated server, therefore great security, speed and real environment. This solves all the issues that you might have with a shared hosting. VPS hosting is a bit more priced than shared hosting because you are using a complete server but if you are managing a midsized website then this should not be a problem.    

If you don’t think your website will be big enough in future, you should stick with the shared hosting. But if you have a growing site, it is better to move to a VPS to save cost in the long run.

Now let’s talk about the dedicated servers. They are known as the most prime quality technology when it comes to hosting. If you are already having a large site or having a midsized one which will be large soon, getting a dedicated server is probably not a bad idea.

The negative side is obviously the cost. It is way too costly for most webmasters but you have to understand the premium quality too.

No matter which service you choose, always judge the market and then decide to be safe. There are lots of companies out there and many people receive bad experience in terms of product quality and customer support.