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Tips in choosing good virtual private server hosting services

Make sure you have root access.
Some hosting companies may prevent account users from accessing the root of the server. This is equivalent to a shared hosting account. Make sure that you are not cheated for this. When you purchase a VPS hosting services, you will definitely have root access. By having root access you can install your own independent application using a set proportion of all the system resources define by the hosting company. In another words, you can take advantage of standard access control and authentication mechanisms: -PAM -SMTP -Auth. Some VPS may runs all services in the root environment which offers ease of programming and installation, hence you need some technical know-how in managing Linux web site. Virtual Private Servers eliminates all the restrictions of virtual (or shared) hosting. Shared hosting cannot provide root access, and therefore customization is limited to the preferences of the web host. By allowing root access, VPS allows you to install and configure your own software, meeting all of your complex hosting needs. In addition, you may use your own unique file system and CGI-BIN, and depend on your guaranteed allotment of disk space, CPU, memory, and bandwidth.

Though the server is shared with other users, your VPS will perform in isolation. This means that the bandwidth and CPU resources used by other users will never affect you. To ensure this, VPS uses "fault tolerance",  which prevents errors on one private server from affecting others, and "enhanced security", which provides greater privacy for e-commerce applications.

Provide you user-friendly VPS administration tool
As often happens with seemingly minor technological changes, web users can now have dedicated server at the price of shared hosting. How is this possible? Virtual private server. But the usage and maintenance may not be as easy as a shared hosting. Not all VPS hosting providers offer simple easy administration tools. When looking for a VPS hosting service, please be sure to ask if any knowledge of managing a virtual private server is required.

Be selective. If you are novice in managing a server, ask the hosts about the difficulties involved. A VPS managing tool will definitely provide scalability to your website and decreases your time to market and eventually allows you to focus on your core competencies, and frees up limited resources.

At least 10 good applications should be installed
If you looking for a Linux based Virtual Private Server, look for these software.

System Administrator Control Panel
Workgroup Administrator Control Panel
My ControlPanel
Majordomo 1.94 with Autoresponder 1.14
SSH
Miva Empresa engine 3.93 and Miva Merchant 4.22
FrontPage Server Extensions 2002 v.5.0.2
Mod_perl apache module 1.24
SSL for Apache 2.8.9
MySQL server 3.23.58
Open WebMail 1.65
PHP (RedHat-9) 4.2.2
PostgreSQL 7.0.3
ProFTP server 1.2.9
RedHat 9 Development Tools
Sl Webalizer 7.1 2.0.2
Tomcat application server 4.0.3
phpMyAdmin 2.5.4
Usermin 0.920
Webmin 0.980

Not all Linux web based hosting provide Cold Fusion and Active Server Pages scripting language, but if you need to run some of the application, be sure to ask.

The ability to host up to 20 hosting accounts
One of the benefits of VPS is the ability host multiple domain without sacrificing the server performance of other VPS owners. In another words, your site's security, isolation, CPU and resource usage are assured. In addition to performance isolation, functional isolation allows you to obtain your own secure certificate for e-commerce use.

The average price of VPS hosting services range from US$45.00 to US$89.00
Please beware of hosting companies that offer VPS at very low price. It is very unlikely that VPS hosting price below US$25 per month. If there are, features are limited. Prepare to pay around US$45 per month to US$89 per month. Any true VPS solution will provide users with: "root" or full administrative access; guarantee a specific allocation of server resources, including CPU, memory and bandwidth; and allow the user to manage multiple servers and file areas through a sophisticated control panel. Paying for a cost of US$45 per month to have performance of a dedicated server is very affordable.
 

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