What is VPS Web Hosting?

VPS stands for Virtual Private Server. VPS web hosting was created as a bridge between shared web hosting and dedicated web hosting as a more economical option than dedicated and a more robust option than shared. VPS customers still share the physical server hardware with other VPS customers, but special virtualization technology partitions the server so that each partition has its own dedicated resources and can be configured very similar to a dedicated server.

Because server hardware is partitioned resources such as the server's CPU and memory are always allocated to you at the same level regardless of what your neighbors on the same server are doing. The people you are sharing the server with will therefore have less effect on you than traditional shared web hosting. Also, less overall customers will occupy the same server with VPS than traditional shared hosting. The virtual partitions allow much more freedom to configure your server, but also assumes a higher level of expertise. VPS web hosting is more expensive than typical shared web hosting plans, but not as expensive as having to pay for your own dedicated server. It's a good option if your site generates a lot of traffic and resources, but you don't want to pay the high prices of having a dedicated web hosting account.