How to Create VPS on a Dedicated Server?
A VPS or Virtual Private Server is the preferred hosting solution for small and medium-sized companies these days. A virtual private server coalesces the benefits of shared and dedicated server and overcomes the limitations posed by both kinds of hosting.
A virtual private server allows the user to install applications of their choice, choose an operating system to suit their business needs and reboot the server. It also offers a free control panel that allows viewing of server information, graphic statistics, bandwidth consumption and much more.
A virtual private server (VPS) is created using virtualization technology wherein a physical server is partitioned into several small virtual servers. Each virtual server has its own dedicated resources (such as RAM, CPU and disk space) and is independent of its neighbors. A VPS offers the benefits of a dedicated server at the cost of a shared server.
Let us discuss some of the benefits of a Virtual Private Server.
Security: Since a virtual private server is independent of its neighbors, the activities of tenants does not affect your business operations. So, even if one of the websites on the physical server is infected with malware or contains spam links, your website or applications will not be impacted.
Performance: Because you work with a set of dedicated resources, your website and applications have fast load times.
Better Control: Since each virtual server acts like a dedicated server, it lets you have complete control over the server environment: you can tailor the server environment as per your needs. If you need to install a software package or open a port, you can do it without the intervention of your hosting provider.
Flexibility: A virtual private server gives the flexibility to install the operating system or software of your choice.
Scalability: Another key feature of a virtual private server is that it allows you to scale resources up and down as per the demand of your business. A virtual server offers you the flexibility to upgrade your RAM instantly if there is an unexpected spike in traffic. It simply means that your business does not experience any downtime on account of a shortage of resources.
Cost-effectiveness: Most of the small businesses operate on tight budgets. They cannot afford to spend a large amount on IT infrastructure solutions. VPS hosting solutions allow small businesses to get their presence felt in the digital space. Even entry-level websites can afford VPS hosting solutions that cost as little as a shared hosting plan.
Dedicated Resources: A virtual private server offers dedicated resources in the form of disk space, CPU and RAM.
Environment-friendly: In a virtual private server, several clients share the resources of a single physical server, unlike a dedicated server that requires every client to use the resources of a separate physical server. Creation of virtual private servers can, therefore, help minimize carbon footprint to a considerable extent.
Step-By-Step Guide to Create VPS on a Dedicated Server?
Now that we have understood the concept of a virtual private server and its benefits, let us discuss how we can create VPS on a dedicated server.
Step 1:
The first step would be to analyze how many virtual private servers you would require. You should check the specifications and configurations of your physical server and then decide if it is capable of meeting the requirements of the virtual machines that you are creating.
Step 2:
The next step would be to save your data and applications running on the current dedicated server.
Step 3:
After saving your data, you can proceed with the installation of the hypervisor by inserting the disk in the reader.
A hypervisor is a virtualization software used for isolating operating systems from the hardware. A hypervisor allows you to operate multiple operating systems in virtual machines on a single physical host machine. The primary server on which the hypervisor runs is known as host machine while the virtual servers are referred to as guest machines.
For running virtual machines on personal computing devices, the ideal hypervisor is type 2 or virtual machine manager (VMM) that is installed as a software application on the existing operating system. Some of the recommended options include VirtualBox, Vmware Workstation, VMware Fusion and Hyper-V.
Step 4:
Once the hypervisor has been installed, the next step would be to boot the hypervisor console and refer to the user manual for creating Virtual Machine. At this step, you can scale the server resources such as RAM, CPU, disk space and memory to suit the requirements of your business.
Step 5:
Once you are done with the customization, proceed with installing the operating system (Linux or Windows) by accessing image of the disk stored on a hard drive. Once done, install and configure the application.
Step 6:
Repeat the above steps for all the applications that need to be installed on the virtual server.
It is important to remember the following points while creating a virtual private server:
1) While some of the hypervisors are open-source, others are proprietary (paid). The paid ones offer more flexibility.
2) If you are converting several identical dedicated servers to VPS, you can transfer Virtual Machines from one server to another without any interruption in service.
3) You cannot use the entire space on the dedicated server for creating virtual machines because you require space for back up files plus system files that must be installed.
4) You should also consider the control panel option. Typically, Windows servers have Plesk control panel while Linux servers have cPanel. Like a dedicated server, a virtual server also needs a dedicated IP.
5) You would also require a billing software such as WHMCS or Modern bill. Both WHMCS and ModernBill are automated billing solutions designed for web hosting.
6) Pay special attention to the security of your virtual servers. You can change the password and have a strong and secure password for your account.