InfoVPS Platform Information

VPS Platform Information

Introduction
It is important when ordering VPS Hosting to ensure that the VPS you order has sufficient resources available for the task you have in mind. Fortunately though, if the initial specifications turn out to be insufficient, the VPS can have its resources increased with only a small amount of downtime required. Unfortunately the same is not true of the platform that your provider chooses to run your VPS on, a fact which can be easily overlooked. The host machine that your VPS runs on as a guest is part of the smooth operation of your VPS.

Memory and swap space
The most important factor in the smooth operation of a VPS is the amount of memory (RAM) available to it, the swap (Virtual RAM) it has available should only be used in exceptional circumstances, as in the event of unexpectedly high traffic.

Some VPS providers may offer a comparatively large quantity of memory, but this may be because the memory is being shared with every other VPS on the host machine, but the VPS will not perform in the same way as with dedicated RAM.

If your host machine offers dedicated memory for the VPS then you have an amount of memory to use that no other VPS on the same host has any access too, which is clearly an advantage.

Host machine processors
It is essential for host machines to have a processor with multiple cores, so that all of the guest machines will have access to a processor core when they require it.

Our host machines have more than one multiple core processors so that each VPS can have access to two or more processor cores, so that each VPS has plenty of processing power available when they need it.

Virtual Hardware
Some VPS providers do not use true hardware virtualisation, but instead use a software layer with which the guest machines must communicate. This software layer must then relay the commands to the operating system. This approach causes a reduction in performance as the software layer is shared among all of the guests on the host machine.

Our host machines use true hardware virtualisation, so that the guest machine accesses to the hardware as directly as possible, which adds a significant increase in performance.

File System
Some VPS solutions use a single file in the host machine’s file system as the disk for the VPS. This approach decreases the performance of disk activity in the guest VPS, particularly as the size of this “file system” file increases. For this reason we offer direct disk access wherever possible.

Conclusion
It can be very difficult to pick a VPS solution that you can rely on for solid performance and a reliable host machine. At Hosting Ireland we pride ourselves on high quality products and fantastic after sales support, if you are interested in a VPS I highly recommend that you take a look at the VPS offers we have here, and if you have any questions then post a comment or send an email to info@hostingireland.ie

Philip Brookes

Server Technician