Web hosting is an industry that is quickly rising in popularity all over the world. In our modern age of technology, there are constantly new websites emerging that need hosting. There is plenty of competition when it comes to web hosting, and particularly VPS hosting providers. If you plan on investing in a VPS, you may benefit from hearing about some common issues that other users experience while using a VPS. After you have finished reading the article and you decide that VPS is not worth the trouble. Take a look into different and better hosting options such as Managed Cloud Hosting.
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VPS Explanation
A virtual private server, or VPS for short, is a type of hosting package that you can purchase from a provider. It is typically seen as a step up from a shared hosting plan. Your website’s data and files will share the same server as hundreds or thousands of other sites with a shared plan. This often leads to a disproportionate allocation of resources and poor website performance overall.
Using a VPS means that your website will have a private portion of the server. There will be a fair allocation of resources, and it will not have to compete against its neighboring sites. Each user will need to install their own operating system, which keeps your website separated and safe from others. Some providers offer VPS hosting with cPanel, which allows you to manage your website from the back end.
Below, we will delve into some commonly encountered issues while using a VPS.
Slow Loading Speeds
VPS hosting tends to result in quicker speeds as compared to a shared plan, but you can still experience issues in this area. If your virtual visitors are waiting too long for the web pages to load, you will end up losing traffic and revenue. First, you should make sure that the issue is not on your end. You can ensure maximum speeds by optimizing your images, cutting out unnecessary plugins, and enabling caching, among other methods.
Once you have covered all your bases and are still noticing slow speeds, it is time to check in with your hosting provider. A poor-quality host might not be able to provide you with the load times that you require. Or, you may have outgrown your VPS hosting plan and need to upgrade to the next higher option.
Poor Support
When it comes to web hosting, there are always problems that will occur when you least suspect them to. If your website goes down during peak holiday shopping times, you will want a reliable customer service agent available to help you. Some VPS hosting providers do not offer 24/7 customer service.
When you choose a hosting provider, check that they have agents available 24/7 via phone, email, and ticket system in case of an emergency.
Excessive Downtime
You should expect to see a few hours of downtime every year for all hosting plans. There is no way that a provider can guarantee 100% uptime, so be wary of companies that offer this. At the same time, there is a problem if you are experiencing too much downtime with your VPS plan. Some providers may not have sufficient staff members, locations, or resources to give you a reliable annual uptime.
If you continuously have issues regarding uptime, you may want to consider switching to a cloud hosting plan. Cloud hosting involves a collection of servers that are virtually connected. When one server goes down, there is a group of others that keep your website up and operational.
Potential of Insufficient Security
In general, a VPS is far more secure than a shared plan. Since your website is isolated on the server, it is less likely to be susceptible to cyberattacks caused by negligent neighbors. Keeping this in mind, there is always the change for virtual attacks with a VPS, and more likely if you are using a Windows server.
Distributed Denial of Service (or DDoS) attacks can be common among VPS-hosted websites. This is when your server falls victim to attack from multiple points at once, which overwhelm the server’s resources. Your website is unable to remain operational, and it goes down. The DDoS perpetrator will typically ask for a ransom before they call the attack off.
To avoid this, your VPS provider should be implementing strict security measures. This includes multi-authentication, strong passwords, firewalls, anti-phishing software, and frequent malware scans.
