What is OpenVZ?

OpenVZ is server virtualization software provided by SWSoft, Inc. licensed under the GPL version 2. OpenVZ is the software that every system administrator requires. It allows you to host multiple Virtual Environments (Aka VE) on a single server. The only limitations are RAM and CPU.

OpenVZ is an operating system-level virtualization technology based on the Linux kernel and operating system. It allows a physical server to run multiple isolated operating system instances, known as Virtual Private Servers (VPS) or Virtual Environments (VE).

Unlike VMWare and Para virtualization technologies such as Xen, OpenVZ is more limited in that it requires both the host and guest OS to be Linux (although Linux distributions can be different in different VEs) under the same kernel. OpenVZ claims a true performance advantage. According to its website, there is only a 1-3% performance penalty for running OpenVZ compared to using a standalone server.

As OpenVZ employs a single kernel model, and is scalable as the 2.6 Linux kernels; in that it will support up to 64 CPUs and up to 64 GB of RAM. A single virtual environment can scale up to the whole physical box (known as a “heavy VPS”) i.e. use all the CPUs and the entire RAM.

OpenVZ is divided into a custom kernel and a number of user-level tools such as vzctl, vzstat etc. OpenVZ lacks some of the features of the commercial product Virtuozzo, such as the advanced vzfs file system, templating features, to save disk space, and additional user land tools and control panels (though third party ones have been written).

OpenVZ improves efficiency, flexibility and quality of service in the enterprise environment. Each Virtual Private Server is hardware independent and can be moved to another OpenVZ-based system in seconds over the network.

Some Important OpenVZ Commands:

1. vzlist -a : Shows list of all the VPS’s hosted on the Node.
2. vzctl start VPS_ID: To start the VPS.
3. vzctl stop VPS_ID : To stop (Shut Down) the VPS
4. vzctl status VPS_ID : To view the status of the particular VPS
5. vzctl stop VPS_ID –fast : to stop the VPS quickly and forcefully
6. vzctl enter VPS_ID : To enter in a particular VPS

Configuration Commands

1. vzctl set VPS_ID –hostname vps.domain.com –save: To set the Hostname of a VPS.
2. vzctl set VPS_ID –ipadd 1.2.3.4 –save : To add a new IP to the hosting VPS.
3. vzctl set VPS_ID –ipdel 1.2.3.4 –save : To delete the IP from VPS.
4. vzctl set VPS_ID –userpasswd root:new_password –save : to reset root password of a VPS.
5. vzctl set VPS_ID –nameserver 1.2.3.4 –save : To add the nameserver IP’s to the VPS.
6. vzctl exec VPS_ID command : To run any command on a VPS from Node.
7. vzyum VPS_ID install package_name : To install any package/Software on a VPS from Node.

Here VPS_ID refers to the ID of the Particular VPS.

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What is Virtual Private Server (VPS)?

The VPS which is also known as Virtual Private Server or a Virtual Dedicated Server (VDS) is a type of web hosting which is created by partitioning a physical server into many virtual servers, and every of these virtual servers have the appearance and capabilities of running independently with its own fully developed operating system without influence from other server and also can be rebooted independently. Compare to shared web hosting servers, Virtual Private Servers are much better, but not more than dedicated web hosting servers. The VPS provides a lot of freedom to the users, but not like the dedicated web hosting servers does, and VPS comes for less cost than a dedicated web hosting server.

VPS hosting is made possible by the application that controls the different servers. With the introduction of Hyper-V and Windows 2008 VPS hosting providers will now have a much more secure and reliable platform over its predecessor Windows Virtual Server 2007. VS 2007 could not compete with the current offerings by providers such as VMWare but with Windows VPS servers hosted on Hyper-V and windows 2008 customers can expect a must better experience and performance boost from VMWare and the other VM managers on the market today when running the Windows OS.

Benefits of Windows VPS Hosting

Windows VPS hosting has a familiar features an administrator would expect from its creator. Using the familiar windows interface, setting up windows VPS hosting is a breeze. Because of the familiarity of the windows application to different types of web hosting, administrators could easily adapt Windows VPS hosting and improve security.

Windows VPS Servers are also useful for companies and individuals that run higher-traffic Web sites, complex applications or require customized environments that cannot be provided in shared hosting but do not wish to have the overhead cost of dedicated hardware along with better control over the security.

Drawbacks of Windows VPS Hosting

Running the Windows OS on a VPS will make you think twice since it will require a considerable amount of resources from the server. But this could be addressed by using the latest version of Windows 2008 Secure Core, A scaled down version of the windows OS but some customers if running large number of applications may require a dedicated server due to the resource requirements of the Windows OS.

Windows VPS Hosting vs. Linux VPS Hosting

Windows VPS Hosting is often compared to Linux VPS Hosting. These two operating systems for VPS hosting has their advantage and disadvantages. Price wise, Linux is the clear winner since it is an open source which means the server host could obtain the software for free.

Windows on the other hand could be costly because of the payment for licenses. The disadvantage of Linux is largely based on the unfamiliar feel of this type of hosting. But when it comes to performance, both are almost the same since they base their performance mostly on their hardware instead of the operating system.

Posted under Webhosting