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A virtual private server (VPS) is a physical server that has been divided (using software) into several virtual machines, each acting as an independent dedicated server. The physical resources such as RAM, CPU and disk space are still shared, but each VPS acts independently of the others. Each VPS can have a different operating system and can be configured in any way possible.

The key advantage of VPS is allowing each VPS administrator access to the root level of his virtual server. This kind of access allows the administrator to install and delete software, set permissions, create accounts – in short, do everything that the administrator of a 'real' sever can.

If your website has outgrown shared hosting, however, VPS offers an affordable alternative to dedicated hosting. VPS hosting is a perfect middle ground between expensive dedicated servers, where the server is 100% yours, and shared hosting like I currently have. A Virtual Private Server takes advantage of the advances in server virtualization and allows the developer to have their own virtual server on a larger physical server. The developer picks what operating system to use, has full root SSH access, and can reboot the system at any time. Additionally, the Xen Virtualization software makes it extremely easy to create or delete these new ‘virtual servers’ in mere seconds. So now, instead of having a hundred websites sharing resources on a single server, it’s more like 40 virtual servers, each with dedicated allotments of RAM and bandwidth, running on a single server. It has all of the benefits of a dedicated server at a fraction of the cost.

The disadvantages of VPS are almost the same as the advantages. The control that a VPS account provides can be dangerous if you don't know what you are doing. You have the ability to delete files, set permissions improperly, allow virus-laden software on the system and, in general, really screw things up. If you don't have the knowledge to administer a server, or are not willing to learn, VPS is not for you.

After weighing out all of the various factors and reading A LOT of reviews and forum posts, I decided that Linode was the right host for me. You can use the following referral link to Linode in order to create a new account.

The following articles describe standard Best Practices for Linux servers and provide basic instructions for installing and securing a virtual private server against most common attacks. The platform used is Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala optimized for 380MB Ram. Things should be the same even if you use another provider, but you should use some different optimization parameters.