Are you wondering about your VPS storage needs? Does your website require a virtual server to hold a large amount of data? If yes, storage VPS hosting might be the right service for your business.
Let’s find out what a storage VPS is and how to determine your storage requirements. We’ll also discuss some ways to get more storage on your VPS.
Table of Contents
What is storage VPS hosting?
Storage VPS hosting is designed to handle large data volumes. These storage servers are regular virtual servers that are specifically configured for storage purposes. You can utilize them to store your website's main databases, multimedia content, backups, and all your business data.
You will get all the benefits of a VPS in this hosting type but with extra storage capacity. So expect to receive root access, dedicated server resources, instant scalability, high uptime, and faster performance for your application.
Some VPS hosting providers utilize old hardware to offer storage VPS solutions. It allows them to provide cheaper solutions for the majority of storage needs. But if you are looking for a large storage to carry out resource-intensive tasks, select a host using a new and efficient storage infrastructure.
How much storage do you need for your VPS hosting?
You must determine your VPS storage requirements before purchasing a server for your website/app. It is because different VPS hosting plans offer different amounts of storage.
Your server storage needs will primarily depend on the type, scope, and size of your project. A complex application demands more storage than a simple one. Also, if you have a large and growing website using a lot of high-resolution multimedia content, your storage needs will be much higher than an average website owner.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when calculating your storage needs:
- Ensure to calculate the space required for your website databases and files.
- Consider the free space needed for the installation of software packages you will be using.
- Get a rough idea of the storage that will be consumed by your business emails.
- Add leverage of about 10 GB to ensure enough free storage for future software upgrades.
Let’s understand how to determine your storage needs through the example below:
Assume that your website files and databases will roughly consume 5 GB of storage. Now if you are planning to use cPanel, you’ll require a minimum of 20 GB of space allocation for installation plus 5 GB for regular software upgrades.
If you’re using any other software than cPanel, consider checking out its documentation to know the disk space demanded by the product.
Moving on, if you are building an email list and expect to grow it continuously, you might need to keep aside another 5 GB of server space for your business emails. Add to it another 10 GB for any major software upgrades in the future.
Thus, your total storage requirement comes out to be 45 GB calculated as follows:
| Storage determinants | Server storage requirement |
|---|---|
| Website databases and files | 5 GB |
| cPanel | 20 GB + 5 GB |
| Business emails | 5 GB |
| Leverage for future upgrades | 10 GB |
| Total | 45 GB |
Therefore, you’ll have to purchase a VPS plan providing at least 45 GB of storage space in such a case.
The above example shows the most basic storage requirements to give you an idea of how to calculate your VPS storage needs. You can adjust the determinants and factor in all the additional software you plan to use.
How Do I Get More Storage on My VPS?
If you are facing a shortage of storage space on your VPS, don’t panic! There are multiple ways to get more storage on your VPS instantly:
Upgrade Your VPS Plan: Upgrading your VPS plan is the easiest way to expand your server storage. Check all VPS hosting packages available with your hosting provider. Select the one that matches perfectly well with your growing storage needs.
Most VPS hosts allow plan upgrades from within your hosting account. The process is usually very simple and fast. The bigger plan generally gets activated immediately, so you’ll get instant access to increased storage.
If you are already on the highest tier VPS and need more storage, get in touch with your hosting provider. Share your specific server requirements and the host might make a custom server for your enterprise.
Add Additional Storage Drives: Many hosting providers offer additional or secondary drives to let you add more storage to your VPS. These drives are available in different sizes. So you can select any size of additional storage drive depending on your current needs.
Like a plan upgrade, you can order an extra drive from your control panel itself and carry out the mounting process. It then starts appearing as the second hard drive on the operating system of your virtual server.
Since secondary storage devices are not part of your VPS’s internal storage, they are much more secure. All data stored on these additional drives will remain unaffected even if your main server suffers data loss or when your VPS is reinstalled. Therefore, you can utilize it to securely store your growing customer data, email list, or even server backups.
Use Cloud Storage: Another way to get more storage on your VPS is by using on-demand cloud storage services. You can store any amount of data on a Cloud because of the immense scalability it offers.
Cloud storage allows you to store your data without owning any infrastructure. Authorized people can access it from anywhere anytime. It is, thus, an excellent solution when you have a remote team collaborating on your project.
Object storage on a cloud is available with big companies like Google, IBM, and Amazon.
Since all your data is stored on a third-party server, it remains safe in the unlikely event of VPS failure. Additionally, keeping server backups on cloud storage is a great idea because of the redundancy it provides.
Along with data security, using cloud storage comes with cost benefits as well. The scalability of the cloud allows you to add or remove storage instantly. So you will be paying only for the resources you use.
Lastly, cloud services empower you to classify your storage for efficient data management. You can separate your frequently-accessed data from the one used rarely. Such categorization results in higher work efficiency and time savings in the long run.
Use Block storage service: Consider using a block storage service to increase your VPS storage capacity. This technology stores data either on cloud infrastructure or Storage Area Networks (SANs). It is available both with hosting providers and technology companies like Amazon.
Block storage is suitable for advanced users carrying out complex computing tasks. Along with storage, it offers fast, reliable, and efficient data transportation. You will experience very low latency even when conducting high-performance workloads.
Block storage comes with high scalability like the cloud storage solution. It also provides flexibility to work with your data on multiple environments and share it with your team members using different operating systems. You can also perform frequent data modifications without affecting the entire file because of separate blocks created for storing your data.
Like cloud storage, it is possible to classify your data with block storage too. You can choose to keep your static files on specific blocks and dynamic data on others. Such segregation also allows you to save your storage costs. For instance, static files can be stored on storage VPS while dynamic ones on high-performing Solid State Disks (SSDs).
Compress Files: A server can house hundreds or thousands of files of varying sizes. Compressing these website files will help you clear up a lot of storage space on your VPS.
It is especially important to compress all the images you upload to your server since they occupy a large portion of your storage space. Consider utilizing a free WordPress plugin to automate image compression and save time. An all-in-one tool like WP Compress is a great option as it prevents you from all the manual hassle.
Additionally, you must also compress your text files in HTML, JavaScript, CSS, or other languages. Gzip data compression makes it possible to compress these files by up to 70%, thereby saving you abundant storage space.
You can enable this text compression in your server configuration. It not only helps you save space but also makes your website faster. Even Google PageSpeed Insights (PSI) recommend text compression to improve your website performance.
You can use a free cache plugin like WP Super Cache to enable Gzip easily on your VPS.
Delete Unnecessary Files: One of the simplest ways to get more storage on your VPS is by deleting unnecessary files. We don’t realize when our server gets loaded with massive trash.
We all add temporary files to our server during the designing phase of our website/app. The first step is to delete all those files you uploaded that are no longer required.
Next, you must look into your inbox. Most of the VPS clutter collects here as your unnecessary emails can consume tens of GBs in a year or two. Empty your inbox and keep only the latest and relevant emails.
Do you create regular backups on the server side rather than using a third-party server or downloading your data offline? It is time to delete all your old backups to clear up storage space. Retain only the latest one to cover an unforeseen event.
Additionally, remove all temporary files automatically generated by the cPanel, clean the YUM cache, remove unnecessary/unused user accounts, and delete cPanel & Apache update archives. All these unnecessary files add up to your storage.
Before concluding, if you are looking for a powerful VPS solution at an affordable rate consider checking out the one offered by Hivelocity. Their service ensures your data is closer to your audience, enhancing user experience—a crucial aspect of SEO optimization.
Conclusion
The storage needs of your VPS largely depend on the type of website or app you are building, the software packages you are planning to install, and your email usage. You can purchase a storage VPS to save ample amounts of data on the server itself.
Alternatively, use a third-party storage solution to keep your files and data on a remote server. Along with the storage services you use, ensure to make your VPS free from any unnecessary files and perform data compression to save space.
Hope our VPS hosting storage guide must have answered all your queries. Share it with your friends who might find it useful. Tell us in the comment section if we missed any useful detail, and we’ll include it in the edit.