Cons of Virtual Private Server (VPS) web hosting

Now that you have read the pros of a VPS you are probably thinking that this is the best thing since sliced bread. Well, almost - as is the case with every other type of hosting service, not all providers setup or define Virtual Private Servers, also known as Virtual Dedicated Servers, the exact same way. You must make sure that your provider guarantees that their setup is robust enough to handle operations at a peak level. A trick used by many providers in the reselling and shared space is 'overselling'. What this means is selling more in terms of services than what physically available, with the hope that the end users wouldn't use up all the service that were advertised to them. In the realm of VPS this can be a bit more serious, since atleast the expectation is that you are operating in a more robust environment and many clients could be running more intensive applications like message boards or custom web applications. A shortfall of resources could end up causing problems for everyone hosted on such a server, therefore negating the benefits of a VPS. In a shared or dedicated environment you might be able to access more resources during peak or spike periods but since the VPS environemnt limits you to to your slice of the server resources, it can be a drawback. 

As if the technology rich lingo of regular web hosting wasn't enough, the VPS services add a few new wrinkles. Apart from storage space and bandwidth you must also deal with CPU cycles and RAM. So you will see ads for hosting that might include XYZ Mhz and AB mb RAM to go with the usual hosting related features. It would be a good idea to find out how many other virtual servers are running on a physical server (contention ratio) as this will determine the ratio of CPU time and memory each virutal server can realistically expect. It is somewhat harder to figure out how much CPU time or RAM you might need, so seek out a hosting provider that will provide you with some benchmarks and the ability to upgrade or downgrade the VPS service if needed.