What is the main differences between VPS, dedicated servers or colocation? I've never even heard of the third one so don't have a clue. I know what a dedicated server is but am sketchy on VPS. Can anyone explain it in fairly non-technical terms?

Hi chatterbox,

A VPS (or virtual server) is where a powerful physical server is split up into several virtual machines, each running independently of one another (they could even be running different operating systems). The advantage of this is that it gives you the flexibility and security of a dedicated server without you having to pay for all the hardware. In fact you can often get a better specification VPS than dedicated for the same price due to economies of scale. Also, the RAM and disk space can be guaranteed on a VPS (which you don't get with normal shared hosting).

A dedicated server is a stand-alone server that is yours, but it sounds like you know what this is anyway.

Colocation is where you buy (or rent) your own server and pay someone else to put it in a datacentre. You only really normally do this if you want to have complete control over your equipment (perhaps if you're a hosting company).

Hope that's non-technical enough for you! What is your requirement for?


MOD NOTE: Post is edited for self-promotion.

With colocation meaning that you have someone else put the server in place, that means that you don't actually have physical access to it correct? That being the case, do you have to pay someone to take physical care of it for you and is this an expensive service?

Normally for the dedicated server, the whole server you are rent from someone...

Usually with co-location the provider will allow you (or a support engineer) to have access if you arrange it in advance so you can fix stuff. However, obviously you have to visit the data centre to do this. If you want to have your server looked after you're better off going for a dedicated.

Networkeq, thank you for the explanation without getting completely into geekspeak - now I understand the differences much better. I don't have requirements for any of these at this time but one never knows. If it came to that point, it sounds like VPS would be a much better option than having to learn all the techie stuff that I'm not very good at.

Yea a managed VPS is a really good solution for a lot of people.

Chatterbox, when the time to upgrade comes, don't forget that it's possible to get a fully (or partially) managed dedicated server. If you don't care to learn, or aren't able to learn, all the server admin skills needed to manage a server (or if you just don't have the time), a managed dedicated might be the way to go. It costs more than a dedicated server; and for some people, this added cost isn't worth it, they have the skills and would rather manage it themselves; but in my mind, it's a bit like taking the car to a mechanic versus trying to diagnose and / or tune it myself: Can you best spend your time learning server admin skills and then taking care of the server yourself? Or does it cost you less (in terms of your time and money) to hire that task out?

You may also look for a provider that offers both managed and unmanaged dedicated servers, and start out with a managed...then "upgrade" to unmanaged when you feel that you've got the skills and knowledge to handle your own server administration.

Another angle of colocation vs. dedicated is that you can take the tax writeoff for equipment depreciation. You can't do that with a leased dedicated server, because you don't own the equipment - your provider does. On the other hand, with a leased dedicated server, the provider is often responsible for replacing or upgrading the hardware. With colocation, that's your responsibility (unless your colo provider has a service whereby you pay a small additional amount and they watch for when hardware might need replacing. I'm not too sure on that, though - don't know if that's a service colo providers offer.)

Colocation means you buy your own server hardware and then colocate it in a data center.

Dedicated server means you rent the server hardware from a data center. The server hardware will be only used by you. You will not share it with others.

VPS means you get the server hardware from a data center.
You share it with other VPS users. Many VPS providers let you share the same OS with other VPS users.

No matter what you decide just remember that when someone tells you to read the manual (I think most know where I am going with this one...) that you should do it, or at least try. If you want to avoid dealing with "things" then managed is the way to go, but many places do have help desks setup to actually help you if you have some random questions.

The best way to start off would be a vps. This will jumpstart you in root ssh access to do most things you are able to do on a dedicated server. However, a vps will only work out for you to a certain point, in which upgrading to a dedicated server would be more beneficial. Colocation would be a last resort at times because replacing server hardware on your own is not cheap. To tell you the truth, a lot of things can go wrong with a server overtime, most you will see as either a hard drive failure or memory replacement.

Dedicated servers are really good to start than vps if you can afford the rate of those, there is no need to worry that we dont know technical stuff, there are persons and companies to manage the things for you at few dollars ...

VPS: Virtual Private Server, basically a piece of a dedicated server
Dedicated: A box which you have complete control over, but you only rent
Colo: You rent space in a datacenter where you can put your own server

This depends on the colo provider. Some offer unmanaged colo, some only managed and some a mix of both. Even with unmanaged colo, most providers will offer free reboots and fix minor issues at no cost.