What is a VPS, and what is it used for?

A virtual private server (VPS) is used for hosting websites (e-commerce, content, visual media) and software applications (portals, extranets, collaborative solutions, wikis, CRM). Unlike shared hosting, the data is isolated onto a virtual machine which is dedicated to the user. The VPS is a perfect compromise between web hosting plans and physical servers, combining reliability with the high performance of a dedicated server — but without the difficulty of managing a server’s physical hardware.