When choosing a VPS, there are a multitude of factors to take into consideration before making the purchase; what OS should I choose, what is the best location for me, what VPS provider has the best rates, should I go for the cheaper package or the high-end one and last but not the least important, what virtualization technology is better suited for my needs.
The main difference that should be noted right off the bat is the fact that KVM has a dedicated Linux kernel for each virtual machine, while LXC shares the kernel of the main operating system that is installed on the node, limiting some needs such as different kernel versions and total kernel isolation.
What are the benefits of using an LXC VPS?
But using a shared kernel also has major advantages for LXC which makes it widely popular. It drastically reduces the complexity and the overhead buffer when creating new containers or maintaining existing ones. So, in a scenario where privacy is not a major concern as you are not worried about data leak to other users, you can deploy multiple virtual machines, each with its’ own app or usage, with minimal resource usage by the VM OS, a thing that can’t be said about KVM, which has a higher resource consumption and a longer deployment time. An LXC container leaves a footprint only at OS level, meaning it can’t do anything that the host OS can’t achieve and vice-versa. Since containers are not taxing on the host resources, you can theoretically deploy over 6000 virtual machines and 12000 bind mounts of the root file system directory.
What are the benefits of using an KVM VPS?
By having a full KVM virtualized stack, you can boot a full array of operating systems, even non-Linux operating systems such as Windows and Unix. As KVM machines are resources intensive, you can only deploy a limited number on a given host. If you are using a large number of different operating systems, KVM is a safe option that will not present itself with any issues that might appear on an LXC container. On a host machine with multiple foreign users, KVM is also more secure if you are worried about what other users are doing on their VMs and how that can affect your own VM. KVM is a Hypervisor that emulates virtual hardware, allowing you to further split those resources between different apps running on the same VPS.
What VPS should I choose for my web hosting needs?
If you want a VPS for web hosting purposes, but you are using a CMS to power your website, an LXC container is the power option for you, as most CMS are compatible with container-based virtualization technology, your website does not require a dedicated OS with its’ own kernel. If you have a more exotic software powering your website and you are unsure that this can be run in an LXC container, then you should choose the KVM VPS, as most container based host machines are stripped to the bare minimum to ensure maximum compatibility with the majority of apps, but not with an app that has a user base of lower than 5% of users.