Amazon Web Service VPS vs VPC

AWS VPS vs VPC

Amazon provides two types of cloud computing services: VPS (Virtual Private Server) and VPC (Virtual Private Cloud). Both give the user the ability to distribute resources and applications with different types of scaling capabilities. Both have their perks. VPS is preferred for better management for steady usage applications. If the demand for server resource usage fluctuates and you need better and more secure control over your cloud resources, VPC is preferred.

In this article, we will discuss what are VPS and VPC, and how they vary in their usage and resources.

VPS

A VPS or Virtual Private Server is a virtual machine that is hosted on a physical server. VPS is also known as Virtual Dedicated Server. VPS uses a virtualization technique that can launch multiple virtual machines that shares resources on a single physical machine. As VPS is shared on the machine, the resources for it are reserved. It gives the users more control than shared servers. Users can increase dedicated resources such as processing power, memory, and storage.

VPSs are ideal for applications that require more control and customization than shared hosting but still want the benefits of cloud computing, such as scalability and reliability. VPSs on the same physical devices aren’t essentially connected.
AWS provides the Lightsail VPS instance, which is easy to configure. The managing UI for Lightsail is very intuitive. You can launch Lightsail in just 2-3 minutes. AWS provides both Windows and Linux OS for Lightsail at moderately low prices starting with $3.5 for Linux OS and $8 for Windows OS.

VPC

A VPC is a virtual network in the cloud, where users can get isolated and secure computing environments. VPC is a logical division in the cloud environment that is run by various security protocols (Encryption, Private IP, Virtual LAN, etc). VPCs allow you to launch AWS resources into a virtual network with Subnet Routing (Understanding AWS Subnet).

Users can connect to the network with preferred protocols (SSH (SSH to AWS EC2 from Windows), TCP). To understand the main difference between VPC with VPS is: VPC allows applications to be deployed into a private network and requires a higher level of security and control.

AWS’s cloud console lets you easily launch a VPC. You can set up security groups (what traffic is allowed), Route tables (what devices can use your instances). This type of management helps to have better control over your system. You can also select which region to launch your application depending on your end user. If the VPC is closer to your end user the application will have low latency. All the instances launched in your VPC will share the same regionality as your VPC.

You can also select inbound and outbound rules for your private instances. This makes some of your instances only accessible through your specified instances. For backend and databases, this type of private connection helps to make your application more secure.

Performance

The performance of VPS and VPC can vary depending on the number of resources allocated. For the same type of workload, they should give the same performance. VPS is best for applications that require easier management with steady resource usage and easy customization, while VPC is best for applications that require a higher level of security and need to be deployed in a private network. VPC is more flexible to fluctuating demands compared to VPS.

Resource scaling (AWS Vertical Scaling vs Horizontal Scaling) is different for VPS and VPC. For VPS only vertical scaling is available. One can scale horizontally for VPS but it can become complicated due to the VPSs not being internally connected like VPCs. For VPC both horizontal and vertical scaling is possible considering the architecture of the application.

In the VPC, all the internal connections, designs, and network configurations can be specifically created by the user. This can result in better performance for applications running in a VPC compared to those running in a VPS. On the other hand, VPS is typically easier to set up and manage compared to VPC, and users can consider using VPS for smaller applications that do not require a high level of security and customization.

Adaptation Period

Beginners can easily adapt to VPS with basic OS and deployment-related knowledge. Learning about managing all the resources, firewalls and other security issues might require some time. Compared to VPS, VPC is much harder to learn. AWS provides 12 certificates for different types of professionals with varying degrees of difficulty. But for most cases, entry-level simple deployment can be easy to learn due to AWS’s intuitive interface.

However, There is no correct answer to which is better. If an application needs better securing and resource management, then VPC is preferred. But if this is not an issue, VPS can be cheap and easily maintainable with the added benefit of cloud management.