Windows VPS Vs Semi Dedicated

[KellyJ]

My website hosting uses a Content Management System, based on ASP.Net and requires SQL Server (Express version is OK). Because it is CMS based, there are no static web pages - all pages are created as required via queries to the SQL Server database. Page designs are nothing special - mostly text with a few graphics, and no other media (e.g. video). Perhaps you would consider this a database intensive application, though performance might also depend on the traffic level.

For the above Windows application, which would be more appropriate, VPS Hosting or Semi Dedicated hosting? Please also indicate reasons why.

On paper, both types of hosting appear to be suitable, but one may be more appropriate for this site's specific requirements.

James

[Morledge]

What sort of traffic are you expecting to get on this site? Unless you are looking at receiving a massive amount of traffic, lets say 1000+ unique hits per day (ok I know some people will say 1000 is not massive). I believe a VPS Hosting would suit your needs. If you are concerned (and have the budget) eUKhost have a plan with guaranteed 640MB Ram to process your pages.

Is your website hosting currently hosted elsewhere? If so then try and get some performance stats on that server. If you see that your processor and memory is maxing out all the time then use those figures to spec your required server.

On a development note, to cut overhead on your server, make good use of caching in your development and also, AJAX is good to cut page post backs which means less processing on the server. Saving 1 or 2 seconds of processing time per page on a high traffic website hosting, can make a massive difference.

Regards

[Ryan]

Hello James,

As mentioned above, it would mostly depend on amount of traffic your website hosting receives. With Semi-Dedicated account you'll share full CPU and RAM of the server which allows flexibility to run big website hostings without overloading the server.

In case of VPS Hosting you get a part of RAM which is Guaranteed RAM so you might not be able run memory intensive website hostings on a VPS Hosting.

You get Remote Desktop access with a Windows VPS Hosting which you won’t get in case of Semi Dedicated hosting but your account is not restricted to limited RAM or CPU usage.

If you need remote desktop access then VPS Hosting or Dedicated server are the only options for you.

If you don’t run database intensive website hosting then both VPS Hosting as well as Semi Dedicated Server would be good options for you.

[KellyJ]

Thanks Morledge and Ryan,

Its a new website hosting, currently being tested. I am using caching. The point about AJAX is good, but currently with the CMS, using AJAX is not an option. This would be a future redesign project.

I don't have a traffic estimate yet. But even if the number of hits were low, say 100, is it not the hit pattern which is important, rather than the total hits per day (unless the latter is very large). What I mean is, even with 100 hits per day, the hits will usually be random, but could occur together in groups, so that for a given 5 minute period you could have 10+ hits. Is this going to overwhelm a VPS Hosting, where a Semi Dedicated could handle it?

In practice, what is the difference between 'Guaranteed RAM' (VPS Hosting) and 'share full CPU and RAM of the server' (Semi Dedicated)?

In either case, is virtual memory (hard drive) not also available to supplement RAM?

"In case of VPS Hosting you get a part of RAM which is Guaranteed RAM so you might not be able run memory intensive website hostings on a VPS Hosting". Even with W-VPS Hosting-03 with 640MB guaranteed?

James

[Ryan]

A VPS Hosting would be able to handle a decent traffic website hosting as well. Guaranteed RAM is a minimum availability of RAM for your VPS Hosting. No matter how much RAM other VPS Hosting’s use, this amount will be available to you at all times.

Semi-dedicated plans generally are very fast and allow for greater resource usage in terms of CPU and MEMORY than a standard reseller account because of the less amount of users per server.

It depends on the type of website hosting you wish to host on a VPS Hosting and the alloted Guaranteed RAM. A memory intensive website hosting might run well on a VPS Hosting initially but later as the traffic and usage rises, it would surely affect the performance of the VPS Hosting and the website hosting. For example you can't run a proxy or an IRC on a VPS Hosting for a long time.

[Morledge]

Originally Posted by KellyJ

I don't have a traffic estimate yet. But even if the number of hits were low, say 100, is it not the hit pattern which is important, rather than the total hits per day (unless the latter is very large). What I mean is, even with 100 hits per day, the hits will usually be random, but could occur together in groups, so that for a given 5 minute period you could have 10+ hits.

Your right, I think the key here is how much of a footprint would a each hit make on the server? In my experience a CMS is not that processor intensive unless it is doing some sort of number crunching on each page load.

You can get caught up in this forever, there are specific programs which let you "stress test" your website hosting, but I think this could be overkill. If I were you I would go for a decent VPS Hosting and then monitor it. if you believe it cannot handle it then upgrade to a semi dedicated or maybe a dedicated. Most hosting providers (including eUKHost) will provide the upgrade for no additional fee except the standard difference in cost between two packages.

[KellyJ]

Ryan,

If I understand correctly, the mechanism for memory allocation is different. With VPS Hosting the maximum RAM that can be 'guaranteed' is 640MB, whereas with Semi Dedicated, 8GB RAM is 'shared' among a maximum of 5 accounts. What's the maximum number of VPS Hostings per server?

In either case, is virtual memory (page file on hard drive) not also available to supplement RAM, and help support more traffic?

James

[vzAddict]

Hello,


We normally host 10-15 VPS Hostinges on a Node or Server, but it depends upon the VPS Hosting plans i.e. if there are 5 VPS Hosting with W-VPS Hosting-03 then we will only create 8-10 VPS Hosting other wise 15 VPS Hostinges on a server.

[KellyJ]

Thanks Morledge and Sam,

There is one other important requirement which I omitted above.

We opted for a VPS Hosting over Shared Hosting, because the ASP.Net based CMS requires that it operate in Full Trust mode, which is not allowed with Shared Hosting, for security.

Is Full Trust allowed with Semi Dedicated hosting?

James

[Ryan]

Full Trust access is not allowed with Semi-Dedicated hosting for the same security reasons similar to shared hosting. Semi Dedicated hosting is also a shared environment with a very limited no. of users while each VPS Hosting is isolated from other VPS Hosting on the same server.

[KellyJ]

Thanks Ryan,

I was half expecting that to be the case.

Guess I have to make do with VPS Hosting.

James