I’m really enamored with my virtual dedicated server account with GoDaddy.com. It’s pretty invaluable and really makes my life much easier as a developer and a content producer. Interactive websites really need a core back-end that’s flexible and can do what you want / need, without requiring phone calls to tech support to get various ‘permissions’ or essential software installed. If you have any strain of the ‘do-it-yourself’ gene that I have, you know that it’s awesome to be in control of your own ‘virtual presence’ as much as possible, at an affordable price.

I really dislike calling tech support. It’s just not in my blood. I’m very happy that I have it (it makes me feel very secure, thank you), and if I was a newbie, I would probably use it more. Myself, I just like things to run, and run smoothly. Just keep going without any hangups and everything will be fine. I know a decent amount of Unix and I can find my way around the terminal from OS X (my OS) or Putty on Windows, so being able to just SSH into my system is essential. I call it “my system”, because A VDS is really a platform in itself; and if you are running multiple websites or interactive applications you will definitely need a platform that gives you access to the computing and networking power of the server itself. Sure, lots of shared hosting accounts offer SSH, but it’s usually limited, and of course you can’t get root access, or really install any scripts that use up resources constantly. What if I want to install a Perl chat server, or a Java multi-player game server for Flash? Trick out my PHP installation with new modules? What if I need to work with sockets? Even if I am just prototyping something for myself or a client, having my own VDS just makes it so easy, and I don’t need any one’s permission to go crazy on my own server. It’s my world! Woohoo.

What is a Virtual Dedicated Server?

A virtual dedicated server is basically a partition on a server which is running its own instance of an operating system. A VDS server can be rebooted and managed separately, making it independent from other virtual servers. A VDS can offer a performance level substantially higher than shared hosting, as well as root access and static IP addresses.

Safety Net

The good thing about having a VDS account with GoDaddy is that it’s “managed”, by their system administrators, to a degree. Yes you get root access, but if you really screw things up in a big way, you can always call the aforementioned tech support people and have them reset, reboot, or try to help with your problem. That is a great thing about GoDaddy – they don’t really have to clean up your messes for you, but they will try to give you as much help as possible, because they want your business. You can call them anytime and they will try to sort you out. That means a lot to me, and that’s why I’m sticking with them.

Handling Multiple Domains and Users

When you work with a VDS, you can handle multiple domains very easily, compared to shared hosting. Every domain really is its own entity, not just an aliased folder in your public_html directory. Each website has it’s own true directory structure, with a private/ directory and cgi-bin of its own. Also, each domain will have its own users (shell and FTP), which will give you the ability to handle a big organization’s hosting needs, with every one only being able to see what they need, without exposing the rest of your files.

Run Anything

As mentioned, with a VDS, you can run anything on your server. This is HUGE, if you are creating multimedia apps. I am basically a Flash (ActionScript 3.0) developer working with a lot of PHP / MySQL. However, I often need to add modules to my core system, especially Unix apps that handle .Mp3s and streaming (like Icecast and Ices, getid3, etc), or libraries for processing images or video on the server. I then hook these into Flash through PHP, Perl, Java, XML, or some combination of these. I set up a few cron jobs and init.d scripts, and suddenly I am running an extended back-end, much bigger than I expected at first.. It’s impossible to do this on shared hosting , but if you want to play with the big kids, then VDS will allow you to do it. You can tie in your apps with web services already out there, like Flickr, Amazon, Facebook, etc., making your computing / multi-media power “virtually” unlimited (no pun intended).

Super Responsive

My VDS is quite ‘fast’, from a response standpoint. Even though VDS servers are actually partitions of a bigger server, because of virtualization, when you use a VDS, you are getting your own set of resources. This means that other partitions on the main server can be overloaded, but this will really not affect you – your sites will keep cruising along as fast as your scripts allow. This is so much better than shared hosting where your traffic can see a big drop because of bad programming, or your scripts will end up executing slowly because someone is running resource-hogging scripts. This doesn’t happen on a VDS.

Simple Control Panel

I am not a big fan of those overloaded control panels that some hosting companies offer. They are generally too many graphics, and too many page refreshes for my liking. If I just want to create a database, why do I need to go through 5 screens to make it happen? With my particular VDS account, I get a ‘Simple Control Panel’ which gives me everything I need, without bloat.

Plenty of Benefits

There are other things I like about my VDS, but too many to mention here. I’ll summarize some with bullet points:

• Root Access – Basically gives you complete control of your server, giving you the lowest-level access available
• Unlimited Databases and Command Line Management of Them
• Total Control Over Cron Jobs
• Abiliy to Reboot Your Server When You Want
• Unlimited User / FTP Accounts
• Run Java / C++ / Perl Socket programs — Woohoo!
• Lots More

In short, if you are an interactive designer or developer, and you are still running shared hosting, you will probably need to step it up at some point. When you do, consider a VDS account that gives you the flexibility you need. Oh, and you might want to learn just a little bit of UNIX – it will go a long way. Happy scripting.

Links

GoDaddy Virtual Dedicated Servers

More About Virtual Dedicated Servers

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Jay Harley is the CEO and web architect of Heaven Interactive. As a technologist, Jay specializes in creating business productivity software and offering clients high-level media consulting services. Before founding Heaven Interactive, Jay led a double life as a web consultant and MFA New Media instructor at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. At AAU, he enthusiastically developed several courses in web application design and scripting, and enjoyed daily interaction with design students, offering guidance, support, and camaraderie as a media professional. Jay is now squarely focused on providing Web 3.0 solutions to businesses in the form of collaboration and presentation software, by utilizing the power of the "Web as a Platform."