How to Reduce Costs for VPS Hosting?
VPS server is the best choice when you need to get guaranteed server resource or when you like to learn more about hosting server configuration. However, it's not cheap to get a secure and high performance vps. If you have tight budget on hand, it's necessary to reduce server investment as much as possible. We have collected a list of methods to save money for vps server hosting.
The cost of a vps server includes the following: Virtualization platform, Server OS, System management software and after sale service. Here we're going to introduce each point on how to reduce costs.
Virtualization platform. The most popular choice by vps hosting providers are XEN and OpenVZ. From technical point of view, XEN is better choice because it more professional in maintaining a stable system. However the XEN server is licensed product and not cheap to purchase. On the other hand, OpenVZ is completely open sourced software that can be downloaded by everyone for free. The direct effect is on server costs. XEN VPS is always more expensive than OpenVZ VPS for the same system configuration.
You will need to evaluate what your purpose is for VPS server, if performance and availability is extremely expected, XEN VPS is better choice. If you just want to save investment for practice purpose, OpenVZ is good enough.
Server OS. Unless you have been Microsoft developer who requires windows server system to work with, we highly suggest choose linux OS because its first choice by over 80% users. The high cost for windows is not just because its licensed OS but also most system softwares like sql server and mail server etc. But you get all of those for free under linux platform. Because not so many people prefer to windows server, it costs more for ISP to maintain a healthy environment. If you're not scripting ASP or .net and don't have to get a GUI for server management, linux should be your primary consideration to reduce server costs.
System Software. The primary system software we need to consider would be hosting control panel. There're lots of control panel softwares to choose from. cpanel is always provided as primary choice for additional fees. But there do have multiple good and free solutions. We have introduced a list of popular free hosting control panel softwares in the past. If you need the same powerful management from cpanel, we highly suggest install Kloxo which is recognized free cpanel alternative. If you need simple and security choice, ISPConfig should serve you well.
Except for control panel software, most others are provided for free on linux server. Unless you have to use some commercial solutions, you can always make full use of open sourced service and reduce the overal server costs as much as possible.
After sale service. Various after sale service is offered by server providers like dedicated IP address, backup storage, extra bandwidth etc. You must have a good plan to select the proper server so you don't have to purchase those additional resources after some time. Normally, it costs more when you purchase those services separately, if you select the proper plan which has all those pre-configured, you pay much less.
Another point in reducing cost is to search out potential server providers in United States. This area has the fastest internet connection and competitive business market. Especially for hosting products, you really can't find better price with the same level service. If you don't have to use a local server service, US hosting should be your primary consideration either for better price or better performance.
It's important to find a good VPS service for guaranteed performance. But it's important too to reduce the investment. The above points are generated by our personal experience from multiple vps hosting providers in the past 5 years. Follow the ones that suitable with your needs and comment on if you would like to add more.