VPS - what it is and how it works |
Virtual Private Server (VPS), also known as Virtual Dedicated Server (VDS) is one of several types of web hosting services provided by an Internet hosting company.
The concept of a virtual private server can be better explained as a virtual machine that caters to the individual needs of a user just as a separate physical computer that is dedicated to a particular user. The virtual private server provides the same functionality and privacy as that of a regular physical computer. Several virtual private servers can be installed on a single physical server where each one can run its own operating system.
As a rule, this service includes access to a part of physical server hardware resources (configuration and performance of which depend on the plan you choose). It is a real quantum leap in the field of online resource development.
VPS/VDS hosting combines flexible dedicated server configuration, individual IP address, ports, ability for user to choose a software and means of developing. All the services are available for a reasonable price, not much higher than the price of a shared hosting.
Main differences between Virtual and a Dedicated server
It is important to understand that the only differences between VPS and dedicated servers that are worth highlighting all stem from how the hardware is used. Both VPS and dedicated hosting can offer low-end and high-end servers, and both can be blazing fast!
Now, let’s turn our attention to the differences that stem from the architectures of the two types of services.
What is KVM virtualization? |
Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) is a virtualization infrastructure for the Linux kernel that turns it into a hypervisor. KVM requires a processor with hardware virtualization extension.
Using KVM, one can run multiple virtual machines running unmodified Linux or Windows images(we use only Linux). Each virtual machine has private virtualized hardware: a network card, disk, graphics adapter, etc.
A typical KVM installation consists of the following components:
A device driver for managing the virtualization hardware; this driver exposes its capabilities via a character device /dev/kvm.
A user-space component for emulating PC hardware; currently, this is handled in the user space and is a lightly modified QEMU process.
The I/O model is directly derived from QEMU's, with support for copy-on-write disk images and other QEMU features.
Here are some notable benefits of KVM virtualization:
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