Reseller Hosting vs. VPS Hosting
Reseller Hosting vs. VPS Hosting
Reseller hosting is a form of shared web hosting that allows users to create and sell off their own web hosting packages and at the same time allows them to create their own client accounts for their web hosting customers; VPS hosting is a form of shared hosting to an extent, but to many it is regarded as a form of dedicated hosting because of the way in which a VPS is able to function. Although reseller hosting is designed specifically for the hosting of multiple client accounts and websites, VPS hosting servers are able to offer users a lot more if they have enough knowledge to make the most of their VPS server. The difference in price between a high end reseller hosting account and a low end VPS hosting server, and because of the freedom that you have with a VPS server you may be tempted to purchase one purely based on price. As a beginner you will be more suited towards reseller hosting since the server administrator is taken care of by your web hosting provider, and you are unlikely to have to pay any extra charges for things such as control panels and support. VPS servers on the other hand are suited more towards experienced professionals who are able to manage servers to an extent that they are secure.
VPS hosting is generally powered by the Virtuozzo server virtualization daemon which is used by many web hosting providers to offer both Windows and Linux VPS hosting solutions to customers. Reseller hosting accounts tend to be hosted on the same server as shared hosting accounts therefore meaning that you don’t need to worry about server management. In terms of control panels you will find in most cases that you will have to pay extra in order to have a control panel on your VPS server, whereas control panel access comes provided as standard with reseller hosting.
Advantages
In terms of advantages you may find that those of VPS hosting will outweigh the advantages of reseller hosting, however at the end of the day it is your own personal preference and previous experience that should help you decide on which hosting solution will be better for your needs. VPS hosting offers you freedom that have only been available on high end dedicated server, but its the fact that VPS servers offer the same experience but at the lower cost of a dedicated server that draws many businesses and individuals into purchasing them for their requirements. Reseller hosting is the perfect solution for beginners since you can normally count on the support of your web hosting provider to help you out if you face any problems with your web hosting account, and they are also likely to be monitoring the server that you are hosting on in order to make sure that it remains stable. The main advantages that you will get from reseller hosting will include:
- lower costs – by using reseller hosting you are able to lower your overall costs than if you were to use VPS hosting – most reseller hosting accounts tend to be cheaper than VPS servers meaning that you are more likely to get something that suits you within your budget with reseller hosting, if you choose VPS hosting with a budget which is designed more for reseller hosting then you will end up only being able to afford a basic VPS server
- no experience needed – in order to offer their reseller web hosting services, you will find that web hosting companies use a control panel of some sort to enable you as the customer to manage the different aspects of your web hosting account using a web browser – because of this, you will find that you don’t need to have any experience when it comes down to managing servers or web hosting accounts since such control panels are normally very intuitive and management of the server is taken care of by your web hosting provider
- full support – since web hosting providers are normally responsible for the management of their shared hosting servers, you will find that you are entitled to receive full support for your reseller hosting account – this means that you can contact your web host to clear up any issues that you may be having with your account, but as an example, it also means that you can have them install applications within your web space for you if needed.
Although a majority of the advantages for reseller hosting services are aimed at beginners who may not necessarily know how to manage servers, the opposite can be said for VPS hosting services since a majority of the advantages are only likely to affect advanced system administrators who know how to manage servers. The main advantages that you will see from VPS server hosting will include:
- dedicated hosting environment – VPS servers are basically dedicated environments in the form of a virtual environment meaning that you can carry out most of the same tasks that you would be able to on a VPS server, the only different being that a VPS is virtual whereas a dedicated server is a physical version – unless you need physical access to a server, you will probably find VPS hosting more beneficial this way
- dedicated resources – since you have your own dedicated hosting environment, you need your own dedicated resources – because of this you will find that when looking for a VPS hosting package, VPS hosting providers are offering VPS servers with different amounts of ‘guaranteed RAM’, ‘burstable RAM’, disk space and bandwidth – it is important that you find out what these different terms mean so that you can get the best deal going
- freedom – with having your own dedicated environment you have freedom that shared hosting isn’t able to offer – this means that you can install any programs of your choice on your VPS which you can then make use of as and when needed – for example you may want to install a specific program to make sure that your website works correctly, however your web hosting provider may not be able to do this for you on a shared/reseller hosting package.
As you can see, both forms of web hosting are able to offer you their own advantages when it comes down to what suits you best. So far we can see that if you are a beginner then you will be more suited to reseller hosting, and if you are a more advanced user or have outgrown your reseller hosting account you will be more suited to VPS hosting. As a startup web hosting provder you may want to consider reseller hosting however because of the low costs involved.
Disadvantages
Both forms of web hosting have their disadvantages, although in the eyes of some one form or the other may seem like the clear choice. VPS hosting can cost a bit more than reseller hosting and because of the current economic situation, some people may be put off from purchasing VPS hosting servers. Reseller hosting services can restrict what you are able to do as a reseller since you will be affected by the security rules that your web hosting provider has put into place on the hosting server. In both cases you may find that getting your neck around how a control panel works may be a bit hard, but once you have learnt to use a control panel you will find that it will benefit you greatly in the future. The main disadvantages that you may find with reseller hosting services could include:
- shared servers – reseller hosting servers contain many hosting accounts that will be a mixture of both shared hosting accounts that have been sold by other resellers as well as the shared hosting accounts of your web hosting provider – this means that the overall performance of a server may not be great, but of course this will depend on the specifications of the hosting server that your reseller hosting account is hsoted on
- account resources – you will find that the amounts of disk space and bandwidth that you will have assigned to your reseller web hosting accounts are far less than you would be able to get on a VPS server – because of this you are likely to reach these limits in a short amount of time at which point you will probably need to upgrade to a VPS server – it may be better for you in the long run to start off with a VPS
- limited applications – in most cases you will find that you are limited as to the applications that are installed on the hosting server – if there is a specialist application which you need to make a website function correctly then you will have no choice but to consider VPS hosting services – most web hosting providers won’t install third party applications on their hositng servers just to benefit one customer.
Although such disadvantages are likely to put you off reseller hosting and sway you more towards VPS server hosting, you should still keep your main requirements in mind as well as your budget since you don’t want to go over the amount you wish to spend. The main disadvantages that you may face with VPS server hosting could include:
- resource over-usage – many VPS hosting servers are hosted on one VPS node, and although each VPS is assigned its own usable amount of RAM, disk space and bandwidth, you will find that the server’s processor is split amongst the multiple VPS servers that are being hosted – because of this it takes just one VPS server to make the entire VPS hosting node crash if there is no CPU power left for any other VPS to use
- cost – the cost of VPS hosting services is normally greater than that of shared hosting packages but less than you would pay for a reasonable specification dedicated server – however, the cost of a VPS server when compared to that of a reseller hosting package can still be daunting for those who may be upgrading from one to the other.
All in all you will find that VPS hosting is worth it if you are able to afford the extra costs and know how to manage a server correctly. On the other hand, reseller hosting packages are more suited to those with smaller budgets and who may not know how to manage a server.
In conclusion, reseller hosting packages have their advantages but the overall package architecture is designed more for users to may not know how to manage a server correctly. Since web hosting providers take full responsibility for their reseller servers they will be able to offer you full support for your reseller hosting account. VPS hosting on the other hand requires that you know how to manage a server; although you can purchase fully managed VPS hosting plans, it is still a good idea to have a good range of server management skills.
