Choosing the right cPanel VPS configuration can be overwhelming, especially if you’re new to server management or setting up a cPanel server from scratch. This guide will help you understand the key components and considerations you need to make before purchasing your new VPS. Planning and ensuring you select a configuration that meets your needs without overspending or under provisioning is a balancing act at the best of times.
One of the most common issues people faces is ordering a cPanel server with a few simple goals in mind while overlooking what is truly important both in the short term and the long term. All to often we see under powered and under resourced VPS’s being created only to end up causing more heartache than the customer initially had hoped for.
The marketplace has a lot of providers just chasing that next sale of a server rather than thinking about the true needs of their customers. In this article we want to help guide you through a process we believe works best for the parties often involved in the hosting process.
Before diving into specific configurations, it’s important to assess your requirements when you are setting up your cPanel VPS. A few important questions you need to ask are the following ones:
If you answered no to any of these questions, you may need to think about these things a little more before continuing. If you know the answers then you will need to write them down before you go further. It will help you determine what you truly need resource wise.
Each of the following items you need to consider before you purchase your new VPS. Each item does have a flow on effect to the end result of what you or your hosting customers are going to receive in terms of performance.
There are a few basic things to consider before going through these resources below. The first thing is understanding the MINIMUM requirements vs RECOMMENDED requirements.
1.1Ghz CPU Core (64-bit)
2 GB of RAM
20GB of Disk Space
It is important to know that this is the absolute MINIMUM requirements cPanel suggests you have in order to RUN cPanel. It doesn’t say anything about running a single website properly without issues from this configuration.
The actual fact is this is the requirements for its base system to run. Each service and component within a server do require a minimum and a recommended number of resources in order to actually run.
1.1Ghz CPU Core (64-bit)
4GB of RAM
40GB of Disk Space
Just as a reminder, this is the recommended resources needed to run cPanel well. While it will likely run a few smaller sites it is not the real solution. Now we need to consider what are the real resources needed for the number of sites you hope to host on this server.
Below is a few of the basic figures you should take in to consideration per resource type.
While the exact number of CPU cores required will always vary, we have outlined based on 3 different types of sites you typically come across. On average it is recommended that you have at least 1-2 CPU Cores per 10 sites.
Ram usage is a huge debatable area where a lot of people tend to go wrong. The reason for them going wrong is the fact that different sites have different scripts, plugins and functions running in them. They also have different amounts of traffic coming to each site. Some are smaller, some are larger, some have more transactions, the list goes on. All of which have different memory usage requirements and recommendations. For example, almost 20 years ago, there was a comment that if your script required more than 256MB of RAM your script has issues. These days with Magento for example, there is lots of cases where 4GB of RAM is the norm to execute a complex script.
Method 1: Per Website measuring
Putting it back in to prospective of a common WordPress based website we have put some averages for you below:
Method 2: RAM per visitor session
This method works particularly well but it does have a few pitfalls which doesn’t include the ability to average out visitors or script usage across the entire day. It is however another easy way to quickly calculate requirements:
The great news is that you generally speaking have a bit more flexibility here. The key is going to be working out on average how big your sites or your clients’ websites will be. There is a general guide though that you could use per site. In general, though it is safe to assume the following usage requirements per website:
Bandwidth is about how much data is being sent out from your server. Each website will vary in the amount of bandwidth it uses. We have seen some small sites use large volumes of bandwidth due to being poorly built and we have seen some large sites use almost no bandwidth in comparison because they were built well. Depending on the country you are in also can determine how expensive bandwidth is.
Today, it is not unreasonable to believe or think that a small website today could burn through 4-5GB of bandwidth per month. To ensure you typically have enough, our plans automatically adjust. The great news is, if you go over your allocated limit, we have options around this for you and how you can handle this ongoing.
The managed vs non-managed options available in the marketplace are ever ending. Ultimately, it is going to boil down to you as the individual and how you look at things. We offer fully managed servers because we understand that while you may have the skills to manage it yourself, you may not have the time or may not care to do the work yourself. If you are new to managing a cPanel server, it is going to be beneficial if you do go for the managed services option. It will save you time and probably over time, money. Here are the Pro’s and Con’s, or as we like to say in the industry, Managed vs Unmanaged benefits:
One area that can be challenging, even for the most seasoned server admins, is backups. We offer both managed backups and backup storage. This means you can either choose to have a combination of managed backups and storage space to have backups taken (files and/or databases). Alternatively, you could have just one or the other. You can manage your own backups with getting SATA storage (through us) or you can have managed backups taken on a regular schedule.
Consider these backup features:
Depending on how many domains you choose to host will depend on how much your cPanel licensing is going to cost you each month. With cPanel you can purchase the following licenses:
It is important to note that 1 account = 1 domain. This is a pitfall that is in the fine print.
Now most places will offer you some limited upgrade paths or options. VPSBlocks has a scalable solution to suit your needs. If you need more CPU, RAM or storage resources, we can help. More bandwidth??? Not a problem. We have you covered with our flexible billing for resource changes.
When purchasing a cPanel VPS, start by understanding your needs and growth expectations. Choose a configuration that provides room for growth while remaining within budget. Consider managed services if you’re new to server administration, and ensure your provider offers robust security and backup solutions. Remember that it’s often better to slightly overestimate your needs than to deal with resource constraints later.
Don’t hesitate to ask us the technical questions you are unsure of the answer to. Our team would love to help you get in to the right solution the first time rather than seeing you having to “constantly upgrade” because you didn’t have enough of the right resources to start off with.
While hosting can be about budget, it is important to remember that your budget doesn’t always end with what you spend out of your pocket each month. It can also include the time you spend focusing on something that is not making you money just to save a dollar.
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