Virtual private server

A virtual private server (VPS) is a virtual machine sold as a service by an Internet hosting service. The term "virtual dedicated server" (VDS) also has a similar meaning.

A virtual private server runs its own copy of an operating system (OS), and customers may have superuser-level access to that operating system instance, so they can install almost any software that runs on that OS. For many purposes, it is functionally equivalent to a dedicated physical server and, being software-defined, can be created and configured more easily. A virtual server costs less than an equivalent physical server. However, as virtual servers share the underlying physical hardware with other VPSes, performance may be lower depending on the workload of any other executing virtual machines.