By Richard May, Managing Director of Virtual DCS
Cloud Computing is one of the most rapidly expanding I.T. sectors in the world with an estimated growth rate of 1,100% by 2015. With the industry growing at such a rapid rate more Cloud providers are also entering the industry. Many are seemingly offering the same enterprise hosting service and because of this, it is becoming increasingly important for users to know the ins and outs of what a provider is offering, including the technology that they use.
For example, Virtual Private Servers (VPS) and Virtual Machines (VM) both enable virtualisation. For a business on a tight I.T. budget, VPS are a lower cost alternative when compared to VMs. But what would the impact be when choosing a VPS over a VM?
A VPS is a physical server partitioned into several smaller virtual servers, with one shared operating system. Whereas a VMware Virtual Machine, splits the server completely, with each partition running its own operating system with its own dedicated resources. The fact that the VPS shares system files can potentially create security issues, as the user’s information can never be 100% isolated and can therefore never be 100% secure.
If a physical VP Server was to run over 50 partitions and users on one VPS this can also become an issue, with increased strain on the server. However, VMware Virtual Machines are specifically designed with partitioned servers for numerous users, ensuring that performance is never a problem.
Furthermore, if a VPS receives a high, unexpected level of traffic then it will use the entirety of the servers CPU, with no further room to expand. With a virtual machine, each partition has its own dedicated CPU to ensure that one user’s traffic does not affect another’s.
Users on a Virtual Private Server may also suffer reduced uptime and disruptions to their service; this is easily avoided on VMware Virtual Machines using technologies such as VMotion, High Availability (HA) and Dynamic Resource Scheduling(DRS). VMotion allows the user to perform hardware maintenance with no downtime. The software also proactively monitors and migrates the Virtual Machines from underperforming servers to ensure that the end users overall experience is unharmed. These features are instrumental in providing the best user experience with minimal disruptions.
A VMware virtual machine when compared to a VPS offers the user improved security, improved redundancy and performance protection over other users. However, if your business needs a lower cost virtual machine then a VPS is recommended so that your business still can feel the full benefits of virtualisation technology.
Virtual Data Centre Services (virtualDCS) are Yorkshire Cloud Computing experts, offering a range of high quality solutions to help businesses get the most from their I.T. infrastructure. For more information on moving into the Cloud contact virtualDCS on 08453 888 327 or email [email protected]