choosing a VPS

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egg82
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Location: Colorado, USA

choosing a VPS

Post by egg82 »

So I decided I needed a VPS for my website. The reasoning is this:
1. I have a very high level of control over the entire server
2. The server never goes down
3. I can use my already-registered DNS and point to it

Now VPS is sold by how much RAM you want associated with the server. The one I found allows from 300 MB for $15/mo to 4 GB for $200/mo

As I have never even heard of VPS until recently, my questions are as follows:
1. Am I right in saying the only thing I can't really do with the server is replace the hardware?
2. As I already have a registered DNS, is it a requirement that I also buy a DNS from them (which comes with the VPS)?
3. How much RAM do I really need, and what good is having a whole lot of RAM? (as they sell by RAM I assume more ram=better, but why?)
4. What is MySQL optimized?
5. Windows server vs. Linux server.

Any help would be appreciated. I'm going to keep browsing around to see what I can find for now.
Burner
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Re: choosing a VPS

Post by Burner »

Wow, five questions at once! I'll give you my 2 cents, but keep in mind it is just one persons opinion...

1. Virtual Private Servers are virtual computers and many are shared on one box. When you rent one from a web host you are responsible for everything you configure on it. Many hosts make it easier by providing some type of control panel. Short answer: YES for the most part.

2. No you do not have to use their DNS. I myself use DynDNS.com with my VPS so that I have better control.

3. More RAM is not necessarily better in this case. Linux systems generally require less RAM than Windows systems and unless you have large SQL database the minimum RAM works for most people.

4. Fancy way of saying they included MySQL server and possible set a few parameters in it for you. Not really an issue unless you have a heavily used MySQL based website or large SQL databases.

5. That one is just personal preference. I prefer Linux myself because it just works. Remotely logging in to work using SSH Secure Shell is a big plus for me. But if you are going to do any ASP or .NET it will definitely happen easier on the Windows box.

Just my two cents,

Burner
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egg82
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Location: Colorado, USA

Re: choosing a VPS

Post by egg82 »

well, thanks! Sorry I haven't checked this in a while - Looks like different PS servers offer different things:
One that upgrades your disk space
One that upgrades your CPU
One that upgrades your RAM
One that upgrades your bandwidth

as my website uses quite a lot of bandwidth, i'm inclined to choose any except the last one. Why? Because "upgrade" is another term for "limited" (though unlimited bandwidth isn't really unlimited, but hey)
Unfortunately that is the only one that is customizable to the level that I require. Guess i'm going to have to remove a few options from my games to reduce bandwidth usage. Oh well...
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php3ch0
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Re: choosing a VPS

Post by php3ch0 »

If you are looking for reliability I would recommend using a cloud VPS a bit more expensive but a lot more reliable. I have had cases in the past with one hosting company where another VPS client on my server was causing my VPS to be unstable.
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