VPS web hosting and reseller hosting are two concepts that are somewhat similar, yet very different. But it’s those similarities that can make things ...
VPS web hosting and reseller hosting are two concepts that are somewhat similar,
yet very different. But it’s those similarities that can make things very confusing for clients, and have them wondering just what exactly, the difference is. Truthfully, there’s a world of difference. And if you want to be involved in the web hosting world in any way, either as a consumer or as a seller, you need to know the difference.
With both a virtual private server (VPS) and a resell server, many different consumer accounts reside on the same server. But that’s where the similarities end. A VPS is virtually separated, so that each website or account is on its own and does not affect any other websites. One customer will rent out that one virtual portion of the server, and store and maintain their website within that server space.
Reseller hosting on the other hand, is completely different. With reseller hosting, one person or company (usually one that’s technologically capable) purchases or rents a certain number of resources from a web host. The reseller will then sell off those resources in “chunks,” with each “chunk” representing a third party client’s website or account.
To understand it better there’s a common “apartment building” analogy that’s often used in reference to virtual private servers. With this analogy, the server is like an apartment building, and the individual portions of the servers are the individual apartment units within that building. With reseller web hosting, it would be like one person purchased several units within the building, and then sublet them or resold them to several different buyers.
If you’re looking to get started in the web hosting industry, reselling web hosting resources can be a great way to do it, as there is very little risk involved. And if you’re looking to start a website and need a web server to run it from, renting resources from a reseller may not be a bad idea either. It is important to know however, that when you use reseller services, you will most likely be using a shared environment. This can be very limiting to some websites, especially if they need to use a lot of resources.
Generally speaking, for businesses or for individuals that are trying to profit from their website, and aren’t just running a personal site, need to use VPS rather than reseller web hosting. This is because reseller hosting can be even more limited than shared, as resellers simply have fewer resources than independent web hosting companies do.
Reseller web hosts and VPS web hosting both place several websites on one server, but that is truly where the similarity ends. When you’re looking for a good hosting experience for your website, VPS is really the only option to choose. Reseller hosting is left for those who want to get into the web hosting business.
