Questions

VPS? Dedicated? What’s the difference?

Virtual Private Servers are our most popular option: affordable, fast and flexible. We take a very high-end server and divide it into many independent virtual servers. Sharing the hardware with other customers means your VPS is much cheaper than paying for a full dedicated server. Unlike shared hosting, which gives you an account to use, a VPS gives you the whole operating system to play with.

Virtual servers are supremely versatile. We can provision a VPS for you as soon as you need it, and upgrades are just a reboot away, no waiting for new hardware to be ordered in.

Unlike many other VPS providers, our servers are uncontended - you get exactly all the memory and diskspace that you pay for. Our storage makes use of hardware RAID cards with a battery-backed write-cache and SSD read-caching. Together these features give you predictable and reliable performance.

Dedicated Servers are for big websites or applications with very heavy CPU and/or storage demands. When you need all the speed you can get, such as for a heavily-loaded database, a dedicated server makes sense. You pay for the whole machine at once, but you get much more grunt than is possible from a VPS.

Whichever type of server you choose, it’s provisioned on high-grade Dell rackmount hardware with redundant power and networking, securely housed in our climate-controlled tier-3 datacentre. All of our gear is backed by an inventory of spare components and skilled technicians to ensure faults are quickly rectified if and when they occur.

Why do I need my own server?

VPS or dedicated, the fundamental benefits of having your own server apply: you get your own independent machine which can be configured specifically to your needs, and is not affected by other users in terms of either performance or security.

  • Flexibility: The goal of shared hosting is to provide a great all-round experience for all of our customers. This means the software installed on the server will work well for most users and is tested to be reliable. If your website needs specific software or features to run, there’s a chance we won’t be able to accommodate it on shared hosting - this is when you’d need to look at getting your own server. Having your own server also means you’re free to dive in and configure everything just the way you like it, which is great if you’re already a capable sysadmin.

  • Performance: The hardware specifications of a VPS or dedicated server tend to far exceed the requirements of most web-based applications. The abundance of extra resources makes for a much better user experience as your site will load faster and can serve more users at once.

  • Reliability: The reality of being in a shared environment is that sometimes, someone else on the server will make a mistake, and that mistake can cause problems for your website. When you have your own server, you’re safely isolated from other people’s problems. This is especially important if uptime is critical for your site.

  • Security: Some applications, particularly ones handling money, have strict requirements for handling and storage of data. Shared hosting won’t cut the mustard due to the inherent risks of sharing a server with other unknown users. Having your own server heavily mitigates these risks, and is typically a necessity for compliance with terms-of-service.

What can I use my server for?

Moving up from shared hosting means you’re not limited to just websites and the provided database backends. Popular uses include:

  • Shared or virtual-hosting servers for your own customers/users
  • Mail servers
  • Staging or development environments
  • File servers
  • E-commerce applications

What is the difference between website and email hosting, and VPS/dedicated servers?

Website hosting and email hosting services are suitable for small or low volume websites that can be run within the confines of a shared environment - hundreds of websites typically run on a single server. Shared hosting services are typically lower cost, starting at around $30/month. The hardware and support (monitoring, patching, application upgrades, fault rectification, configuration changes etc.) costs are spread across all users on the server, which results in a lower monthly cost.

VPS and dedicated servers provide you with your own environment, not shared with other customers. Anchor is responsible for ensuring the hardware is working correctly around the clock. Depending on your chosen support pack, you may be responsible for configuration changes, fault rectification and patching at various levels. Refer to our comprehensive comparison of support packs to decide what’s right for your needs.

What application versions are installed and supported?

Only vendor supplied and packaged applications are installed and supported as part of your server build and ongoing management. Being supported means that bugfixes and security updates are applied in a timely manner to keep your server stable and secure. This is vitally important given the number of vulnerabilities that are found all the time.

Vendor supplied packages are not always the very latest and greatest release for any given application, but they ensure that the security and stability of your server is maintained. The use of vendor supplied software ensures that the process of applying updates and patches remains a safe and manageable activity.

Ultimately, it’s your server and you’re always free to install packages of your own choosing. If you opt to install non-vendor supplied software, updates to these applications will not fall within the scope of your support pack.

Anchor can install and update non-vendor supplied applications upon request. Any such work will be billed as custom support.

Need to know more?

Have at the related pages below for more specific answers, or just ask us what you need to know - drop us a mail at support@anchor.net.au, or call us on 1300-883-979 (+61-2-8296-5111 from outside Australia).