VPS superior to shared hosting?

[Webguy]

Just based on the information from the site, it seems that VPS is superior to shared hosting because there is more flexibility.  So why bother with shared hosting? 

[dave]

People use shared hosting when they dont want to deal with the technical details of managing a server or setting up accounts in cpanel / whm.

[Cid]

So does that mean that you will be setting up the details if someone will buy shared hosting?

I think many people would like to use shared hosting for the sake of having an experience on hosting a site if they are new or would like to test the quality of the service the web hosting company is providing.

[dave]

When a customer purchases a shared account we setup the entire account and manage it from a server level. The customer simply uploads their files and creates email accounts / databases from within our control panel. If something goes wrong they open a support ticket and we resolve the issue.

[Webguy]

Oh, that makes sense.  So if a customer doesn't have the tech skills to manage a server, the shared hosting is the way to go where VPS gives a customer full control of their virtual server so they can do everything and anything they want to it, right?

[dave]

Yes, Exactly

[Webguy]

Thanks for the clarification.  That means in my case I need to sign up for a shared hosting package when I'm ready.  If I eventually want to manage a server through a VPS, where do I start the learning process so if that day comes I'm ready?

[dave]

With VPS's it's pretty cheap to pick up a small package and play around with it even while you are hosting your main site on a shared package.

You can wipe and reload VPS's in a manner of minutes so if you mess something up playing around with it learning how it works it's not a big deal. Once you get some experience working with it you can transfer your shared site over to it.

In the old days we had to build boxes at home or rent a full dedicated server to do it. It's so much easier now!

For the adventurous you could always load up Virtual Box and install linux on a virtual machine at home. Here is a link for that: http://www.virtualbox.org/

[Cid]

I visited the virtual box website and it says there that this program can run in Windows OS. What is the main benefit in using Linux than Windows OS? Will I have problems if I use Windows?

Can we try managing our own servers in a shared package? I want to know because if we can do this then I don't need to purchase VPS to have an experience in running my own server.

[dave]

1. Most of the servers that host websites on the internet are running on Linux/Unix
2. You would need a VPS to manage your own server

[Webguy]

Cid beat me to the question about Linux.  Which distro of Linux do you use for your servers?  I've played around with the desktop versions but never the server stuff.  Is there much of a difference?

[dave]

We utilize CentOS which is based on Redhat's enterprise distribution.

There are some key reasons including 3rdparty support, standardized long lifecycle, and a server oriented services manager that make it a better choice than others.

[Seth]

I'm glad that you answered that already because my next inquiry is about the version of Linux to use. I've never tried CentOS but I have an experience with Ubuntu. Are the commands similar because both of them are under the Linux/Unix umbrella?

[dave]

Yes the standard linux commands are the same.

Some things are located and different ways example -

Restarting apache
Ubuntu:
sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart
Centos:
service httpd restart

Restarting ProtFTPD
Ubuntu:
sudo /etc/init.d/proftpd restart
Centos:
service proftpd restart

[Webguy]

That's nice to know that it's the standard Linux commands.  Having played around with Ubuntu a lot, I'm kind of stuck with that distro because it's so user friendly.  Now I just need to ramp up my education and learn about the server side.