A Guide to Upgrading Your VPS

There’s a huge benefit that comes with choosing VPS that doesn’t come with any other type of web hosting: the option to upgrade. When you’re using a shared hosting plan, it’s impossible to upgrade because there are other sites on the server that would be affected by those changes. When you’re using a dedicated server on the other hand, you’ve already maxed out your options and so, there are no upgrades available. With VPS however, you can always choose to upgrade should you need more storage, more bandwidth, or more of anything! So, how do you do it?

The process of upgrading your VPS may differ depending on what type, and the amount, of upgrades that you need. If you only need to make a small increase to certain resources such as bandwidth or storage space, it might be as simple as calling your web host and asking them to make the upgrades. There will be a small charge for this, but it’s something that can be done almost automatically and doesn’t require a lot of effort or patience on your part.

These types of upgrades generally won’t even require that your website be shut down because a web host almost always had additional resources available on any given server. Because they want to be able to serve new customers, or provide upgrades to existing customers, a web host rarely fills a server up to its capacity. After you contact them, they’ll be able to simply allot you the resources you need. If however, you require a significant amount of those resources or upgrades, the process may become a bit more involved.

Sometimes when this is the case, the web host won’t have that amount of resources left on that server and so, they’ll need to move you to an entirely new one. This will require shutting your website down completely while the transfer is being done. If that’s the case, the amount of time your website will be down will depend on the web host. Typically it’s no more than 12 hours, and you could be fortunate enough to only have to wait an hour before your site is back up and running. Even that though can be detrimental for your site and your business though so make sure it’s done at the right time.

That would be during the middle of the night, or at a time when your website is at its least busiest. Most web hosts choose this time to make their upgrades and perform maintenance anyway, but it’s good to confirm with them before the transfer begins.

One of the biggest benefits of choosing a VPS is that they are extremely flexible and you can typically upgrade or downgrade at any time. Before you make that call to your web host know what resources you’re currently using and what upgrades you want to make. This will give you a good indication of whether or not your site will need to be shut down and if so, for how long.