Server virtualization is simply the technology of creating virtual servers using hardware resources obtained from physical machines. Even though this technology has been around for quite a while many organizations have just begun going down the virtualization road. Their ease in upgrading, high scalability, high uptime and availability, energy preservation, better ability to recover from disasters have all collectively lead  business owners, web developers, designers and everyone else who needs servers towards Cloud Servers and Virtual Private Servers.

Here are a few things that you can use your virtual servers for:

Hosting a website

This is the most popular and the most basic use for a cloud server or a VPS. One reason why this is more effective on these servers than on a shared hosting platform is because a VPS or a cloud server would grant you your own dedicated CPU, bandwidth etc and therefore downtime of your website will be minimal. They are also the more scalable types of servers so for growing website VPS or a cloud server is the ideal option.

Maintaining your own backup server

Because why not? Even if you have already backed up your data somewhere else it’s a good idea to back it up again in a place where you have all the control. Backing up data under someone else’s control and backing up your data under your own control both has their own perks so why not receive them all? It also boosts your ability to recover from any mishap.

Testing new applications or websites with minimum risk.

We are all perfectionists when it comes to giving something out to the public. It’s no different with software applications and websites. The good news is you can use a VPS or cloud server to run tests on all aspects of your website or application so that you can fix all the issues before it goes live.

Running your own analytics server

There are plenty of self hosted analytics applications for you to install and run on your VPS or cloud server along with your website. It’s more personal, maintains your privacy and is a great option for websites that run complicated business transactions. You can choose from platforms like Matomo (which was previously Piwik) and Open Web Analytics.

Using it as an IoT device manager

Retail is no longer restricted to physical or digital only. Rather, it’s now a combination of both. In a previous blog post on how the retail world has evolved I discussed the role that IoT or Internet of Things plays in this evolution. Statistics show that more than 80% of the retailers who use IoT currently are experiencing great improvements in efficiency. It is also estimated that the value of the IoT market would reach $82.31 billion towards the latter half of 2025. So while investing in IoT for your business is a never a waste, a VPS or a cloud server would be the ideal solution to manage all your IoT devices.

Executing chatbots

Most people today seek the assistance of chatbots to complete their daily tasks (Siri and Alexa) or when browsing through products on e-commerce websites. Their popularity has shown major spikes in growth by 2018. You can run your own chatbots, be it to get through your daily activities or to help out customers on your e-commerce website. Storing masses of ever expanding information necessary to execute an effective chatbot is a task for the scalable servers of the world, i.e. cloud servers and VPS.

Starting your own social media platform!

Of course you can start your own social networking platform but keep in mind that there will be more and more accounts created as well as more and more information shared as time goes on. And you need to be able to stay online 24/7 with minimum to no downtime. The scalability factor and the better uptime offered by cloud servers are the key selling points in this case. Most top social networking platforms today like Facebook and Twitter use cloud computing.

So now you have learned some cool things to do with a cloud server/VPS. The next step is to deploy one and get started! Good luck. Reach out to us if you have any concerns, suggestions or general feedback.