HostGator VPS – An Affordable Alternative to Dedicated Servers

HostGator has an alternative to shared web hosting, it is called dedicated servers. Yet, the cost for a dedicated server is sadly still out of reach for most website hobbyists, as the money tab can run as high as a few hundred dollars per month. HostGator has an alternative and it is called VPS (Virtual Private Server). This hybrid of a dedicated server plus the benefits of a shared hosting, which helps to bring down the costs of
powerful hosting solutions to the common webmaster.

A HostGator Virtual Private Server (VPS) acts just like a dedicated server but without the overhead by sharing a dedicated server with just a handful of others. But unlike shared web hosting, you are usually partitioned sole use of a certain amount of the CPU power, bandwidth and disk space.

The method in which they partition makes them act as standalone components just like a dedicated server. For example, a shared server means that the next visitor in line is using the CPU & Bandwidth power on a first come first serve basis. Whereas on a VPS or dedicated server, that bandwidth and CPU computing power is waiting idle just for your visitors. This is crucial for sites with moderate to extreme traffic, without a VPS or dedicated server some visitors may experience an error page stating “website temporarily unavailable.”

Another feature of a VPS or dedicated server versus a shared hosting plan are the limitations. You cannot reformat the disk, use certain programs, etc. In other words, there are restrictions on the use of your disk space on shared hosting, whereas VPS allows greater freedom to manipulate and add advanced programs.

Now you are asking yourself why choose HostGator VPS versus a dedicated server? The answer is simple, scalability and price. A dedicated server is essentially a leased machine in your name run by the web hosting firm, like HostGator.com. If you want more power and space, a technician will need to add memory chips, CPUs, and hard drives – this can take precious time and money.

Whereas, with a VPS system, it is a flip of the switch to add extra power and other requirements as your business grows and expands and changes as the Internet progresses.

HostGator.com has nine different options available for VPS customers. The basic option (level 1) is very limited and does not come with cPanel and is recommended for hobbyist webmasters just starting a potential website. All the way up to the maximum package (level 9) with almost 6 GHz in processing power over 4GB of bandwidth.

The prices start at $19.95 a month all the way up to around $200 per month. As described earlier, the advantages are adding extra power and other extras as the website requires. You can add up to 32 IP addresses for just a couple of dollars per month.

HostGator provides the top of the line VPS systems using Dell PowerEdge Servers for reliability and scalability. Each VPS account comes with full root access and either 64-bit or 32-bit compatibility. As a bonus, they also provide free weekly backups of your data automatically for you. Just another reason why so many decide to choose HostGator Web Hosting.

Learn more about HostGator VPS Hosting.