VPS & Virtual Cloud

WHAT IS VPS?

A VPS (Virtual Private Server), and Shared Hosting, are both types of web hosting services, but they differ in terms of their architecture, performance, and level of control. A VPS server is necessary for enterprise firms and large businesses/ websites or oganisations requiring higher system control. Generally though, a good/premium shared hosting and wordpress hosting service (with strictly alocated share resources for Security, RAM, etc) is more than adequete for small – medium business websites (both static and shops) and at lower prices.

VPS (Virtual Private Server):

Isolation: In a VPS environment, a physical server is partitioned into multiple virtual servers, each acting as an independent server with its own operating system, resources, and configurations.

Resources: Users on a VPS have dedicated resources (CPU, RAM, storage, etc.), which means their website’s performance is less affected by the activities of other users on the same physical server.

Control: Users generally have more control over the server environment, with the ability to install and configure software, modify server settings, and even restart the server if necessary.

Cost: VPS hosting is usually more expensive than shared hosting due to the dedicated services and increased demand on resources.

OPTIONS ONE & TWO (AWS and AZURE VPS services)

Both Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure offer Virtual Private Server (VPS) services as part of their cloud computing platforms. In the context of cloud computing, the term “Virtual Private Server” is often referred to as “Virtual Machines” (VMs) or “Virtual Cloud”

HOW THESE SERVICES ARE STRUCTURED:

Amazon Web Services (AWS):

EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud): AWS provides the EC2 service, which allows users to create and manage virtual machines in the cloud. Users can choose the specifications of the virtual machines, including computing power, memory, and storage, based on their specific requirements.

Microsoft Azure:

Offers a service known as Azure Virtual Machines, which is similar to AWS EC2. It allows users to deploy and manage virtual machines running Windows or Linux in the Azure cloud. Users can select VM configurations based on their performance and storage needs.

Advantages of AWS and AZURE: Both AWS and Azure also provide a wide range of services beyond just virtual machines, including storage, databases, networking, and various specialized services for different purposes. They are comprehensive cloud platforms that cater to the diverse needs of businesses and developers for hosting applications and managing infrastructure in the cloud. It may be beneficial for medium sized companies to look into the other services.

More details about AWS or AZURE: AWS and Microsoft Azure are two of the most well-known providers in cloud computing services. Numerous services are offered by both AWS and Azure as: Platform as a Service (PaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). Additionally, cloud computing, storage, analytics, networking, virtualization, machine learning, serverless technologies, quantum computing, and other services are among the most popular cloud offerings. These services are offered by both platforms, each with special features and various pricing methods.

AWS vs. AZURE FOR THE FREE TIER OFFERING

AWS Basic Guideline:  You can access over 80 distinct AWS cloud products and services—including those in the computing, storage, database, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and many more categories—for free with the AWS Free Tier. There are three categories of free offers under the AWS Free Tier:

-Always free: a free, perpetual offer that is accessible to all AWS users.
-Free for the first 12 months: After registering for AWS for the first time, you must pay the standard service fee for the remaining 12 months.
-Free trial: After activation, a service is free for a predetermined period of time.

If you are a first-time user of AWS, it may be worthwhile to try the compute and storage options available as part of the 12-month free tier:

-Compute—you can get 750 hours per month of Amazon EC2 with a T2 or T3 micro instance.
-Storage—you can get 5 GB per month of object storage (storage for unstructured data)via the Amazon S3 Standard Tier, with 20,000 reads and 2,000 writes.

Be aware that there are a number of limitations with the free tier, such as the inability to switch from free to pay-as-you-go, and restrictions on the geographic availability of certain services.

Azure Basic Guideline:  When you create an Azure account, you get a $200 credit to use within the first 30 days of registration. In addition, you get free access to over 50 Azure cloud products and services across compute, storage, database, security, artificial intelligence, and other categories. You can access two different kinds of free offerings with an Azure account:

  • -Always free—with consumption caps on the quantity of 29 cloud products—forever.
    -For the first twelve monthsof the account, 25 cloud products are accessible for free.
    -Computer: B1S Standard Tier instances running Windows or Linux are available for 750 hours per month.
    -Storage:Azure Blob Storage offers 5 GB per month with 20,000 reads and 20,000 writes.

For both platforms, you should determine your company’s demands first, and then search for the best cloud services for your needs. Like AWS, the free tier offerings may allow you to try various options for compute and storage, until you get a stronger feel for your full requirements.

PRICING MODELS FOR AWS & AZURE

AWS offers four main pricing models:

  • -On demand: enables you to use the services you require whenever you need them. There are no up-front costs; services are priced by the hour or second of actual use. Although it offers the greatest flexibility, this price model is also the most expensive.
  • -Savings plans: these flexible price options allow you to use AWS Lambda, AWS Fargate, and Amazon EC2 at a reduced cost for a term of one or three years, provided that you agree to a particular level of spending on all services.
  • -Reserved instances: offer a 72% savings in return for a one- or three-year commitment to use a particular compute instance. The amount of the discount that you can get from Amazon depends on whether you choose to pay in full or in part up front.
  • -Spot Instances: a pricing model that allows you to purchase excess compute capacity from Amazon for a 90% off-demand rate. Spot occurrences are not refundable; however, they can be stopped with just two minutes’ notice.

Microsoft offers four main ways to pay for Azure:

  • -Pay as you go:Similar to Amazon on-demand, services have no upfront fees or long-term obligations and are invoiced per second based on actual consumption.
  • -The Azure Hybrid Benefitis a bring your own license (BYOL) approach that allows you to obtain discounts for Azure services that involve the same software by utilizing your current licenses for Microsoft products, such as Windows Server and Microsoft SQL Server.
  • -Reserved VMs: In return for a one- or three-year lengthy commitment, Azure offers Reserved Virtual Machine Instances (RVMIs), which offer a discount of up to 72%.
  • -Spot VMs:These allow you to buy extra compute power on Azure at a 90% savings over pay-as-you-go prices. With only 30 seconds’ notice and fewer options for operating spot instances in combination with pay as you go or reserved instances, Azure’s spot virtual machine capabilities are less sophisticated than Amazon’s.

AWS & AZURE PRICING CALCULATOR:

After you have done some evaluation of your company’s needs, there are Azure and AWS cost calculators available to consider more specifically which service/s you are interested in, and the pricing.

SUMMING UP

AWS and AZURE are the most popular platforms in the VPS/Cloud arena, presently AWS does have a cheaper pricing edge over Azure is the common consensus (especially in terms of compute), but Microsoft Azure is very popular for storage and compliance protocols/setup. Compliance is an appealing choice for industries faced with stringent regulatory requirements. The biggest drawback with both providers is that there are so many different products and pricing combinations to sort through, and it can be overwhelming for new users to get a feel for the various offerings, so it’s critical to assess your unique use case and compare prices according to your requirements using the pricing calculators offered by each provider, and especially by using the free tiers for smaller businesses as long as possible, in order to come to a complete understanding of what you will need and how much you can afford.

OPTION THREE (SPECIALIST STANDALONE VPS SERVICES)

Another alternative is to use specialist standalone VPS services (which often have simpler and clearer product offers and pricing information). These individual specialist services are not as well known as AWS or Azure, but certainly popular around the globe. Following is a list of Partner Australia based VPS Services to check out. Specialist Standalone VPS Services (Australia Data Centers included) Examples:

The choice is yours, our advice is to take it slowly, consider well your needs and budget, a wrong choice could be time consuming and expensive. If you are unsure of whether you need an VPS/ Virtual Machine service, then simply utilizing the free tier offers from (Options One and Two: AWS and Azure) could be a great way to feel it all through, and assess gradually.

Shikinet