The Semi-Dedicated Server Myth
Posted on February 1st, 2009
We’ve been asked a number of times what the difference is between Semi-Dedicated and VPS. It’s actually quite simple. In my opinion almost nothing, depending on the type of semi-dedicated server you’re referring to.
1. Fully Virtualized Semi-Dedicated Servers
In our opinion, semi-dedicated servers are just a marketing ploy for making it sound different than a regular VPS. Okay, well, usually with semi-dedicated you get more server resources and there’s usually less customers sharing the physical host server with you, but other than that they’re the exact same service. Both will provide you with root access, access to dedicated system resources, both have a public IP etc.
The easiest way to differentiate the two is perhaps in the CPU cycle availability. Because there’s more people sharing the physical hosting server for virtual private servers it’ll provide you with a bit less processing power than semi-dedicated.
Some dedicated hosting providers will suggest that semi-dedicated servers are one step between VPS and fully dedicated servers. In our experience, it would seem to make more sense just to go directly from a VPS service to a dedicated server when you need to grow. It’ll help to alleviate the headache of switching from one service to the next more than once.
2. Shared Service and Software Semi-Dedicated Servers
The second form of semi-dedicated servers that we have seen are a mash-up between VPS and shared hosting. For example, the host server will have only one instance of Apache with a series of virtual hosts running on it. Features such as email, PHP, MySQL and others are often also shared. You will still have root access to your own virtual environment but with the shared services and software it seems like a big step backwards from VPS to us. For example, what happens if you need a particular PHP module installed but the dedicated hosting provider won’t do it? Or a different version of Apache or different web server all together?
In a way, this form of semi-dedicated hosting seems like a 20th century solution to 21st century problems and the only thing keeping this service in existence is marketing gimmicks. If there are any benefits to this service, it’s all for the hosting provider in my opinion, not the customer.