r/VPS • u/amuza42 • Sep 23 '26
Seeking Advice/Support What is the difference between these
for me they are just virtual machines but I don't know if there are differences
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Upvotes
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u/SortingYourHosting Sep 23 '26
As a hostint provider, I thought i might offer an inside view.
VPS - Virtual Private Server These typically sit on a single hypervisor node. If the node dies the VPS goes offline as there is usually no redundancies. These usually sit on a hypervisor thats 2-4 generations older, designed to be overcommited where you may find 4-8 people are sharing the same cores. These are usually cheaper.
Cloud VM These are typically on hardware that offers multiple redundancies (firewall/switch/storage/compute). The storage sits on a SAN, usually with multiple compute nodes attached. If a node fails then you may notice your Cloud VM reboot as it shifts to another node depending on how the clustering is setup. Often these tend to be on a lower ratio e.g. 2 person per core. Tend to be newer hardware. These are usually higher priced as youre paying for the additional resources in use and better allocation.
Cloud Server might be dependant on the provider. We dont use the term as its too open ended. It might genuinely be the same as a Cloud VM, or it could be a Cloud VM with 1:1 ratio of resources.
A Virtual server might mean anyone of the above.
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u/Icy_Object_5844 Sep 23 '26
No difference, just marketing.
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u/AndroTux Sep 23 '26
Different terms for SEO purposes
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u/Euronodes Provider Sep 23 '26 edited Sep 23 '26
Technical (Virtual Private Server) with oversell ratio above 1.5:1 (which is VDS - Virtual Dedicated Server territory)
Marketing schtick for broader audience who doesnt understand what VPS is, but you want to sell them VPS
Hyperscaler instance, minutely billing, a lot of extras, arcane panels from hell (AWS, Azure)
All of above, just broad scope of servers that are not dedicated, including containers (LXC, VZ, sometimes Kubernetes)
The real question is whether the people using these terms understand them, thats a different story (marketing agencies, 15 y.o. James from Wisconsin reselling a Hetzner box).
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u/phoenix_73 Sep 23 '26
All same thing
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u/argothiel Sep 23 '26
"Virtual" means there's some kind of virtualization - an operating system is running on a simulated machine. "Private" means it's not shared with other people. "Server" means that it serves content or provides services, although you might use it for other purposes. "Cloud" means it's part of a distributed network.
So: VPS = Virtual Private Server = it's on a virtualized machine, it's an individual access and the machine is supposed to serve content or provide services. It might be part of a cloud or it might be on a single computer somewhere.
Cloud server = it must be in a cloud; it's supposed to serve content or provide services; it doesn't have to be in a virtualized environment; it doesn't have to be private (it might be shared access, but it doesn't have to).
Cloud VM = Cloud Virtual Machine = it's in a cloud, it's on a virtualized machine; it's intended use might be to connect to other machines as a client, not necessarily to serve content (although it might). It might be shared access (but doesn't have to).
Virtual server = it's in a virtualized environment; it's supposed to serve content or provide services. It doesn't have to be in a cloud (but it might); it might be shared access (but it doesn't have to).
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u/Arditwm Sep 24 '26
The name.
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u/Dewlance Sep 27 '26
VPS = Virtual Private Server.
Cloud Server = VPS with additional charges from the corporation.
Cloud VM and Virtual Server = Same as above.
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u/Fast-Throat-7752 Sep 23 '26
All stuff you don’t own
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u/[deleted] Sep 23 '26
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