Yes, most VPS providers allow you to create and run multiple VPS instances from a single client account. This provides flexibility and scalability to manage your workloads efficiently.
What is a VPS?
VPS stands for Virtual Private Server. It’s a virtual machine that functions as a standalone server running its own copy of an operating system. The resources like CPU, RAM, storage and bandwidth allocated to a VPS can be configured as per need.
A VPS offers the best of dedicated and shared hosting since you get guaranteed resources reserved exclusively for your usage similar to a dedicated server. Yet, it is much more affordable, flexible, and easy to manage compared to dedicated hosting.
Key Takeaways
- Multiple VPS instances provide enhanced reliability, scalability and performance over a single VPS for most workloads by pooling resources.
- Distribute apps across front-end and backend focused VPS for efficiency gains and better security posture.
- Streamline and unify policies related to access control, backups, metrics monitoring for easier administration.
- Understand workload requirements upfront through capacity planning for appropriately sizing each VPS server.
- Leverage automation and orchestration for creating and administering multiple VPS reducing manual efforts.
Key Benefits of Using Multiple VPS
Here are the major advantages of running multiple VPS instances from one account instead of a single VPS:
1. Pool Computing Resources
With multiple VPS, you can distribute applications and services across them. This allows you to pool CPU, RAM, storage and bandwidth reducing load on one VPS.
For instance, allocate 8 GB RAM VPS for testing resource-heavy apps and use 2 GB RAM VPS for running a web server.
2. Enhanced Reliability & Availability
In case one VPS has downtime, the other keeps applications and services running reducing chances of complete outages enhancing reliability.
You can also implement a hot standby setup where the secondary VPS takes over processing immediately if the primary VPS fails achieving high availability.
3. Improved Performance & Scalability
Scale up resource capacity effortlessly as business needs increase instead of relying on one beefed-up server.
For example, you can spawn more VPS anytime existing ones get overloaded due to spikes in traffic or excessive load achieving faster performance.
4. Streamlined Maintenance
Manage each VPS independently without affecting others for smoother maintenance. For instance, upgrade one VPS operating system or applications without interrupting services on other VPS instances.
5. Mitigate Risks & Limit Attacks
Isolate public-facing services like web servers on separate VPS away from sensitive databases for tighter security. Also with multiple servers, impact of a ransomware attack or security breach remains limited to that VPS rather than affecting the whole infrastructure.
6. Meets Compliance & Audit Needs
Industry standards like SOC2, GDPR mandate logical separation of resources processing sensitive client data and analytics systems. Multiple VPS provides this segregation natively meeting audit requirements effortlessly.
Clearly, there are multiple technology and business benefits of leveraging several VPS over a single VPS deployment for gaining improved flexibility, performance and risk mitigation.
What Should You Consider When Running Multiple VPS?
While the benefits are compelling, here are few key considerations when managing several VPS:
⚬ Understand resource needs upfront for capacity planning rather than taking a piecemeal approach. This ensures each VPS gets optimal resources.
⚬ Implement central monitoring tools for visibility into resource utilization across VPS for making data driven upgrades or additional provisions.
⚬ Standardize VPS builds with base OS, security and maintenance configurations for uniformity and ease of management. You can still customize specific components as needed.
⚬ Use SSH keys for password less login between VPS instances enabling frictionless connectivity and automation.
⚬ Define BCP and DR policies at the outset covering regular backups, failover sequences and RTO/RPO.
⚬ Choose VPS locations meeting compliance norms as well as proximity needs for latency sensitive workloads.
Steps to Create Multiple VPS Instances
Provisioning and using several VPS is straightforward with most major VPS providers. Follow these key steps:
Step 1: Sign up for a Client Account
Start by signing up for a client account with VpsWala by providing your contact details. This serves as the parent account for creating and managing multiple VPS instances.
Step 2: Determine Needed Services
Next, analyze your application and workload needs to determine optimal VPS configurations.
Factors like peak traffic, data storage needs, uptime requirements, and software environment guide configurations related to CPU cores, RAM allocation, SSD storage reserved, and bandwidth limits.
Step 3: Deploy Initial VPS Instance
After finalizing the reference configuration, deploy the first production-ready VPS customized as per those parameters. Repeat provisioning more VPS instances each with dedicated configurations matching target workload needs.
For testing and development needs, you can deploy VPS with scaled-down configurations as well to optimize costs.
Step 4: Install Applications
Post OS installation, proceed to install the required applications, tools, databases, and services needed on respective VPS tailored to the intended function.
For example, have web servers like Apache on the front-end VPS and database servers like MySQL on the backend VPS storing information served to apps.
Step 5: Configure Networking
Enable private networking between the VPS instances for unhindered connectivity. Set up IP table rules correctly to allow only legitimate traffic between specified VPS systems for bolstering security.
You can distribute public IP addresses across select VPS planned for external access like web applications and block it on internal database servers.
Step 6: Implement Management & Monitoring
Use centralized tools to monitor resource usage across VPS instances. This helps trace performance issues to specific servers and scale them individually as needed instead of collective upgrades.
Standard security policies spanning backups, access controls, and VPN also help govern multiple VPS uniformly. Advanced automation further eases multi-VPS administration.
Running Multiple WordPress Sites on VPS
A common multi-VPS use case is hosting several WordPress sites in a shared hosting-like environment with optimal performance.
Here is a reference architecture:
The front-end VPS runs the Apache web server and hosts all the WordPress site document root folders. The MySQL database containing WordPress site data resides on a separate backend VPS along with caching servers like Redis improving response times.
Such segregated infrastructure keeps WordPress platforms lean and fast by isolating them from intensive database operations. It also allows effortless scaling by adding more front-end application servers as traffic grows.
Architecting Multi-Tier Solutions on VPS
Multiple VPS allow realizing complex multi-tier architectures securely by isolating components.
For instance, a typical web application deployment would entail:
Presentation Tier – Front-end VPS runs Apache or Nginx web servers and application logic.
Business Tier – Middle-tier VPS handles workflows, data transformations and application services.
Data Tier – Back-end VPS stores and manages data persistence through MySQL, and MongoDB databases.
Such dedicated roles achieve a clean separation of concerns between UI, services and storage for performance gains.
Additionally, network security groups can selectively allow traffic only between specific tiers rather than open connectivity. This limits attack surface area while permitting validated communication channels between VPS.
Also Read: SSH Tips And Tricks For Managing VPS
Tools for Simpler Administration
Managing infrastructure at scale does increase complexity. Here are helpful tools that simplify multi-VPS administration:
Control Panels – Unified dashboards to monitor and operate multiple VPS through an intuitive interface without relying on CLI.
Configuration Management – Ansible, Chef, Puppet to standardize and automate app deployment, security policies, maintenance tasks across VPS.
Monitoring – Track KPIs like CPU usage, disk IO, memory utilization for performance visibility across VPS and get alerts.
Log Management – Collect , analyze and report on logs spanning multiple VPS servers for security and troubleshooting.
VPN Access – Site-to-site VPN, private subnets securely connect multiple VPS running across different data centers.
Leveraging such tools reduces management overhead while enhancing consistency and control over multi-VPS environments.
Scaling VPS Capacity
The cloud elasticity advantage applies aptly to scaling VPS capacity as well. Options to easily scale VPS resources include:
Vertical Scaling – Increase RAM, vCPUs, SSD storage on existing VPS hardware itself as needed. Useful for adding headroom during seasonal traffic peaks.
Horizontal Scaling – Adding more VPS instances behind a load balancer to distribute application traffic is ideal for permanent growth at scale.
Migrating to Dedicated Server – For exponential capacity expansion, migrate the entire multi-VPS environment to a robust dedicated server fully customized for peaks.
A mix of vertical and horizontal scaling allows adjusting capacity in line with dynamic demands in a non-disruptive manner.
FAQs on Running Multiple VPS
Here are some commonly asked questions on leveraging multiple VPS from one account:
Q1. Is it better to have multiple small VPS or a single large VPS?
In most cases, multiple small Yet, for apps needing high computing capacity on one node, a single large VPS may work better based on the architecture.
Q2. How many VPS can I run from one account?
Technically you can run as many VPS instances as you need from one account based on the quota limits set by your VPS provider. Limits can range from 10 to 100+ VPS per account with scope for custom enhancement.
Q3. Should I distribute database and web servers across VPS?
Separating database and application logic across backend and front-end-focused VPS improves security, facilitates independent scaling and streamlines updates. Hence, it is considered a best practice.
Q4. Can I manage multiple VPS through a control panel?
Yes, most VPS providers allow you to manage multiple VPS from one dashboard. Some also provide integrated control panels like cPanel, Plesk, Interworx to further ease multi-VPS administration and deployment.
Q5. How do I configure communication between multiple VPS?
Private networking interfaces provided by VPS providers facilitate internal communication between multiple VPS over secure channels. Additional firewall rules, proxies can further strengthen linkages.
Q6. What resources should I consider for VPS sizing?
Factors like peak site traffic, number of web/app servers planned, database volumes, number of users, bandwidth needs amongst others are vital for appropriately sizing VPS CPU cores, RAM, SSD storage and networking capacity.
Multiple VPS provide flexibility to distribute workloads optimally. Plan your capacity diligently, streamline policies uniformly and leverage automation to simplify management of multiple VPS. Size them right and distribute apps.
Bundle Cost Savings
Analyze projected infrastructure needs upfront for next 12-18 months across multiple VPS. Based on this, many VPS providers offer custom multi-server bundles with tiered pricing benefitting long term usage.
For example, bundles covering 5 small VPS + 2 medium VPS + 1 large VPS attract a single discounted price much less than procuring them individually. These bundles come with inbuilt upgrades allowing resizing server specifications anytime as needed.
Such bundle pricing makes managing multiple VPS over the long-term even more affordable.
In summary, multiple VPS deployments open doors for innovative architecture designs, enhanced resilience, and easier scalability at lower TCO making them perfect for modern application infrastructures.
