VDS Rental Guide: What Determines the Price of a Virtual Server?

VDS rental means renting, on a monthly or yearly basis, the processor, memory and disk resources that are split off from a physical server by a virtualisation layer and reserved for you alone. When you rent a virtual server, six items set the price: processor, RAM, disk, location, network conditions and management. This guide explains how each item affects the invoice and the performance, and finally which package is enough for which project. If you would rather see the packages directly, you can compare the Türkiye, France and Northern Cyprus (TRNC) locations side by side on our VDS rental page.

Are VDS, VPS and virtual server the same thing?

In everyday use all three describe the same product: a virtual machine with its own operating system that you manage with root access on Linux and Administrator access on Windows. The difference lies in the type of virtualisation. On a KVM-based server the cores, memory and disk are reserved for you; the load of other customers on the same physical machine does not reduce your resources. We covered the details in our article What is a VDS and how does it differ from a VPS. All virtual servers at Fiberserver run on KVM.

The six items that set the price of a VDS

Processor and RAM: how much is enough?

The most common mistake is starting with a bigger package than you need. The good thing about a virtual server is that you can move to a higher package as your needs grow. The following sizes work as a starting point:

• A single business website or WordPress: 2 vCPU, 2 GB RAM, 35 GB disk.
• Several sites with cPanel: 4 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 50 GB disk. The panel itself also uses memory; the installation steps are in the guide to installing cPanel on a VDS.
• E-commerce or a busy database: 6-8 vCPU, 6-8 GB RAM, 100 GB of disk or more.
• Game server: single-core speed and RAM matter more than the number of cores; the details are in our game server article.

These sizes correspond to the Türkiye VDS 2, 3, 5 and 6 packages. Watching your usage on the live CPU, RAM and disk graphs in the FiberVM panel and growing the package accordingly is cheaper than buying a large package on a guess.

Disk: the difference between NVMe and SSD

Database queries, cache files and applications that read large numbers of small files are sensitive to disk latency. NVMe disks are noticeably faster than SATA SSDs for this kind of work. You will not feel the difference on a static brochure site; you will feel it on a WooCommerce shop or a busy MySQL database. You can find what it gains you on each workload, with the criteria, in the article What is an NVMe VDS.

Location: where should the server be?

The closer the server is to the visitor, the faster the page opens. Fiberserver has three locations:

• Türkiye VDS: Xeon processor, NVMe M.2 disk, 1 Gbps port. For sites and applications whose visitors are in Türkiye.
• France VDS: AMD EPYC 4584PX processor, DDR5 RAM, NVMe M.2 disk, 3 Gbps port. For projects serving Europe.
• Cyprus VDS: SSD RAID50 storage, 1 Gbit port. For users in Cyprus and projects that require a Northern Cyprus location.

Network: traffic quota and DDoS protection

If the package price looks low but the traffic quota is small, you may face an overage charge at the end of the month. On all VDS packages in Fiberserver's three locations traffic is unlimited and network-level DDoS protection is included in the package. One point is worth knowing: port speed is the upper limit of the line; it does not mean guaranteed bandwidth reserved for you.

What to watch for when looking for a "cheap VDS"

• Virtualisation type: is it KVM, where resources are truly reserved, or a shared container?
• Traffic: is there a quota, and what happens if you exceed it?
• Disk: is it NVMe, SSD or HDD, and is it on redundant storage?
• Panel: can you restart, reinstall, open the console and take snapshots yourself, or will you have to open a support ticket for each one?
• Backup: a snapshot on its own is not a backup. For an off-server copy, see the 3-2-1 backup rule.

Before you decide, you can go through the full list in the article 10 points to check before renting a VDS.

Frequently asked questions

Can I install Windows?

Yes. The packages offer Linux distributions and Windows Server options; you choose the operating system when ordering and can reinstall it later from the FiberVM panel.

When is the server delivered?

Your server is set up once the payment has been confirmed; you will find the access details in your client area.

Can I upgrade the package later?

Yes. When your CPU, RAM and disk needs grow, you can move to a higher package.

What should I do first after delivery?

SSH keys, a firewall and updates are the first day's work: the VDS security guide explains them step by step.

Once you are clear about what you need, compare the VDS rental packages; where you are undecided, simply write to our support team about your project.