VPS accounts have gained in popularity recently and more and more people are jumping on the VPS bandwagon. What makes them attractive is that they're usually advertised as sort of a budget dedicated server.
In many ways that's true, in both good and bad ways.
Good
-You have more control over the server, many times you'll have choice of OS, control panel, you can install almost anything you want (IRC, torrents, and proxies are notable expceptions for many hosts).
-Guaranteed resources (you will prob need min 256mb if you want cpanel)
-Limited number of other customers on the same node (cuts down on the potential for abuse)
-Many times the hardware is better as beefy hardware is required to run a VPS server
Bad
-You are responsible for your account just like a dedicated box (you can pay more for managed services, some hosts like JaguarPC offer managed VPS for a relatively cheap price)
-Resources may actually be fewer and more expensive than shared or reseller hosting
-Requires some technical know-how to mange your account
I think a lot of people don't know what they're getting into when they choose a VPS as seen by many of the inane questions thrown around on other forums. Oftentimes they could be better served by finding a good shared or reseller hosting rather than going the VPS route.
In many ways that's true, in both good and bad ways.
Good
-You have more control over the server, many times you'll have choice of OS, control panel, you can install almost anything you want (IRC, torrents, and proxies are notable expceptions for many hosts).
-Guaranteed resources (you will prob need min 256mb if you want cpanel)
-Limited number of other customers on the same node (cuts down on the potential for abuse)
-Many times the hardware is better as beefy hardware is required to run a VPS server
Bad
-You are responsible for your account just like a dedicated box (you can pay more for managed services, some hosts like JaguarPC offer managed VPS for a relatively cheap price)
-Resources may actually be fewer and more expensive than shared or reseller hosting
-Requires some technical know-how to mange your account
I think a lot of people don't know what they're getting into when they choose a VPS as seen by many of the inane questions thrown around on other forums. Oftentimes they could be better served by finding a good shared or reseller hosting rather than going the VPS route.
