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Virtual Private Servers - What The Beginner Needs To Know

When’s the right time to move to VPS? You can work out when to move to virtual private servers by looking at these eight considerations. They’re a good barometer of when it’s time to up sticks.

1. You Have Security Concerns

If you need greater security, better monitoring, extra space to back up in, a more reliable website, or you will be accepting online payment, then you may want to consider VPS, which can give you all of the above and consequently a better night’s sleep too!

1. You’re Experiencing Increased Traffic Volume

Shared hosting is ideal when you’re starting out and your traffic volume is low, but when you start to gain traction and your audience grows then you’ll need more elbow room. If you carry on with a shared package then there’s a chance that the extra traffic will overwhelm the server, either slowing down or crashing your website. There’s a good chance that you will lose visitors if your website isn’t up to the task.

1. Your Website Runs Slowly All the Time

If your website needs a lot of RAM then shared hosting isn’t for you. As it gets bigger and you start to add more content your page load times will slow down. When this happens and you’re bumping up against your limits then you know that it’s time to upgrade. Moving to virtual private servers will let you scale your website and still keep loading times fast.

1. You’re Running an Online Store

Even a beginner should consider running an online store on virtual private servers because it’s essential to have a dedicated and secure home for your website. Doing so means you have a better chance of passing a PCI compliance test, which is important because The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard was put in place by leading credit card providers to reduce data theft. Your customers want to know that when they use their credit cards with your store they will be safe. VPS is inherently safer in this situation so it’s the one that you should choose.

1. You Need to Install Custom Software

Content Management Systems like WordPress are great, but there comes a point when you need to install custom software and use a custom server configuration, and when that day comes you need hosting that gives you more control over what you’re doing. Serverlist101 Not to mention the fact that many bookkeeping, tax, and billing programs need server availability and high-speed Internet connectivity 24/7. To keep these programs running properly you’re going to need virtual private servers or dedicated hosting on your side.

If you’re on a shared server, you’ll only encounter difficulties when trying to use advanced actions that are restricted, or apps that are unsupported. To avoid these potential difficulties, move to VPS hosting and you’ll get control of your programming actions once again.

1. You Encounter Server Errors

“Service Unavailable”, 50X errors, and “Internal Server Error”(s) may be a pain in the neck but they are trying to tell you something. When they start to show up for you, then they’re probably going to be showing up for your website visitors as well, and these days those visitors won’t turn into customers if you keep them waiting for even a few seconds. They’ll just move on to your competitors. You can head off these sorts of problems before they happen by switching to VPS.

1. You Have Budget Constraints

Although we’ve painted a picture of virtual private servers fixing all kinds of problems for you, you hopefully understand that the benefits do come at a cost. Having said that, we hope you’ll see them as an investment rather than a burden. You get the most bang for your buck with a VPS; much more than you would get from far pricier dedicated hosting.

1. You’re Someone Who Builds Websites for People

A VPS lets you host more or less infinite domains but lets each one have plenty of RAM so that they always work properly. As a professional that’s one less thing for you to worry about.

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