What is the Difference Between Cloud Hosting and VPS?

The main difference between VPS (Virtual Private Server) and cloud hosting is that with the latter, the resources are distributed among different physical machines. With VPS, there is a single server for your site.

Cloud hosting provides more resources because it uses multiple servers. If your traffic surges, you can increase the capacity of your server accordingly.

On the other hand, VPS hosting enables more customization than cloud hosting.

A VPS is one physical server divided into a number of smaller virtual ones. Each virtual server operates in a dedicated environment despite not physically being part of the same server. A set of resources is allocated to you as you have your own portion of the server. You can configure and customize those resources as you wish. Accounts on the server don’t exchange data.

Who is VPS hosting best for?

Generally, VPS is considered a step up from shared hosting. VPS hosting is a great option for users looking for greater control over their platforms who have some technical know-how.

If you have consistent traffic from one month to another but have outgrown shared web hosting, VPS hosting will make sense. You need to know how much bandwidth you’ll require.

VPS hosting customization will allow you to run custom plugins and scripts on your site. If you or your developer places emphasis on this aspect, VPS hosting will be a good fit. It’s suitable for websites with some complexity.

Your website will require a specific type of software, and you will need direct server access to get it installed and serviced.

Who is cloud hosting best for?

If your traffic is unpredictable, cloud hosting is a good choice. This is the case with eCommerce stores that offer seasonal goods or media platforms that publish viral articles now and then.

If you anticipate company growth in the near future, know that cloud hosting can grow with you. Businesses adopting a growth strategy and startups will prefer cloud hosting.

Finally, cloud hosting is best for people who want to pay only for what they use. While billing can be unpredictable, you might save money in the long run.

Comparison of VPS vs. cloud

The following sections will compare the two types of hosting in security, price, performance, and scalability.

Security

You will enjoy solid security regardless of which type of hosting you choose as long as you opt for a reputable provider of VPS hosting in Canada. VPS is the winner in this category.

Only dedicated hosting is more secure than VPS hosting. The virtual servers are partitioned off from each other and protected from external access.

This isn’t to say a cloud hosting environment is not secure. Being fully web-based, however, it’s more susceptible to attacks.

Performance

You want your website to function well at all times, have no downtime, and consistently load fast. If a physical server fails, every virtual one using it will go down too. That’s the main disadvantage of VPS. Most hosting services separate the different sections of the server in a way to minimize the risk of one user taking up too many resources.

However, VPS users are guaranteed a set amount of server resources, so their plans usually feature very high performance.

Normally, other user activity on the server won’t affect your performance. It can happen that several sites undergo a spike in traffic at the same time, which will push the server’s limits and impact performance adversely.

Cloud hosting ensures fantastic uptime because the system integrates backups.

Price

Both cloud and VPS hosting cost more than shared hosting, which could have been expected. They both cost less than dedicated hosting. Which costs more? It depends on the provider. When comparing the price of two specific plans – one cloud and one VPS – the devil’s in the details. You could end up paying more money for a cloud hosting plan if you experience unpredictable traffic volume, as these plans work based on the principle of pay-for-what-you-use.

Scalability

Scalability is an important issue for many websites. As mentioned, eCommerce stores and media sites will face the need to scale up urgently. A VPS hosting plan guarantees a set of server resources, but it can’t accommodate unusual or untypical activity.

Cloud hosting is infinitely more scalable than VPS hosting. If your traffic rises or you need extra storage, you have a whole server network to use at a moment’s notice. You also have great performance and high uptime because of the high availability of servers.