What is a cloud server and when should you use it?

We are used to seeing organizations and businesses store their files and other data on physical servers. However, more and more people want to transfer their data to the cloud and deploy a cloud server.

What are the benefits of a cloud server?

CloudServer VPS, or virtual private server is a virtual machine using the resources of a physical server for some part, but mostly located on the cloud. The advantage of this configuration is being able to choose the applications you wish to use and set them up yourself.

You can choose between two different services available in Zone’s portfolio: CloudServer VPS and Managed CloudServer. The former uses the Virtuozzo virtualization platform and a Linux-based operating system. Managed CloudServer is based on hardware virtualization, is more error tolerant and allows you to choose Windows as the operating system instead of Linux. This gives the users more freedom, allowing them to manage the kernel as well.

It is reasonable to distribute your data between several cloud servers in order to avoid interruptions in the operation of the server. For this reason, Zone offers containers in two data centers located in Tallinn, one data center located in Amsterdam, and one in Helsinki for CloudServer VPS.

When should you prefer a cloud server to a virtual server?

Although a virtual server is often sufficient for servicing classic web applications, one should prefer a cloud server in certain cases, for example, when using applications not offered by the Zone software platform, or if you prefer to administer the server yourself using root-level access, secure it and control the updating process.

The speed performance of web applications is determined by the clock rate and the number of cores. These two parameters determine the number of instructions that can be executed per one second and also how many requests can be served per second. The clock rates offered by Zone are the same for the CloudServer VPS and Virtual Server services, but the speed performance of the CloudServer service improves depending on the number of cores.

Several VPS plans are available in Zone’s product portfolio. You can choose one according to the required SSD volume and RAM capacity. All plans include separate IP addresses, a convenient web-based control panel, and root user access via SSH. To ensure your peace of mind, backup copies are made daily.

Learn more about CloudServer VPS plans here, and read more on the Managed CloudServer service here.