Choose Your VPS Platform
OpenVZ Vs. Xen
At A2 Hosting, we offer two different virtualization platforms for our VPS hosting accounts, OpenVZ and Xen. Both platforms have their own specific advantages and can perform better than the other in certain situations. The best platform choice for you depends on how you plan to use your VPS. See the VPS Platform Comparison summary chart below for a quick overview. For more detailed information on Xen, OpenVZ and the differences between these two virtualization technologies, see our Xen, OpenVZ and Xen Vs. OpenVZ pages.
OpenVZ is our default VPS platform. If you are unsure of which platform to pick, we recommend OpenVZ.
OpenVZ VPS hosting is best known for its fast performance, low resource requirements,
and for being user friendly. Even when approaching memory limits, an OpenVZ VPS
platform will continue to perform by making use of burstable memory.
These advantages are made possible because VPS isolation for OpenVZ VPS accounts occurs
at the operating system level. Because virtualization is performed at the operating system level,
OpenVZ VPS users have limited access to fine tune firewall rules via iptables and cannot set up
custom kernel modules.
A2 Hosting recommends Xen for users who are looking for a low-cost alternative to a dedicated server.
Xen VPS accounts are highly isolated from one another and behave almost identically to dedicated hosting
accounts. CPU and memory usage limits for Xen VPS systems are hard limits, guaranteeing that the resources
allocated for your VPS are always available and that your VPS does not compete with other VPS's for
memory access or CPU cycles. Xen VPS accounts allow users to custom compile the Linux kernel,
load custom kernel modules and provide full access to iptables for detailed firewall tuning.
Like a dedicated server, if a Xen VPS reaches its memory limit, it will
push inactive processes into hard disk swap space causing reduced performance.
|
Xen VPS |
OpenVZ VPS |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| VPS Platform Comparison | |
|
|
Level of Server Resources Required |
Higher | Lower | |
Operating Speed |
Fast | Faster | |
Type of Memory Limit |
Hard (Swap to Disk) |
Soft (Burstable Memory) |
|
iptables Modification |
Full | Limited | |
Virtualization Technique |
Paravirtualization (Extreme Isolation) |
Operating System Level (High Isolation) |
|
Similar to Dedicated Server |
 |
 |
|
Proven Stability |
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|
HyperVM VPS Control Panel |
|
|
|
LxAdmin Site Administration |
|
|
|
Multiple Linux Operating System Options |
|
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Xen VPS |
OpenVZ VPS |
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