What is the Difference between VPS and VDS?

VPS is the abbreviation of virtual private server and VDS is that of virtual dedicated server. There is no difference between the terminologies as they are often used interchangeably.

Both VPS and VDS are created using virtualization, though the method used in both cases differs. While Virtual Private Servers (VPS) are the product of OS-level virtualization, Virtual Dedicated Servers (VDS) are created as a result of paravirtualization.

In both cases, a physical server is partitioned into several smaller virtual portions or 'servers', each of which is rented out to users, who can customize it to their needs. The virtual server that hosts an account remains separate from the other 'neighboring' servers present on the same physical server.

A VPS and VDS differ primarily in terms of how resources of the host server have been allocated to these virtual servers.

1) OS-level Virtualization: The virtual servers created as a result of this kind of virtualization are technically operating systems that run in a container. These servers share the core of the mother OS in addition to the CPU, RAM, storage, and bandwidth of the main server. Though limited, this kind of virtualization works for most of the tasks and does not entail any major modification to the operating system. In the hosting realm, the servers created as a result of this technology are referred to as virtual private servers (VPS).

2) Paravirtualization: This method requires a hypervisor-a software that runs above the OS level and takes care of the resource allocation between the host OS and virtual machines, allowing for a higher level of virtualization. In this case, the core of the mother OS is not shared. So, the mother OS and the virtual machines have different cores. The level of customization you can achieve in this case is much higher than that in OS-level virtualization. Since the method entails the use of an OS that can be modified, open-source Linux is the preferred option for paravirtualization. The VMs thus created are called virtual dedicated servers (VDS).

Was this answer helpful?

Did We Miss Out on Something?

Relax, we have you covered. At Go4hosting, we go the extra mile to keep our customers satisfied. We are always looking out for opportunities to offer our customers “extra” with every service. Contact our technical helpdesk and we’d be more than happy to assist you with your Cloud hosting, Colocation Server, VPS hosting, dedicated Server or reseller hosting setup. Get in touch with us and we’d cover all your hosting needs, however bizarre they might be.