Introduction
For any business, the first question that arises in mind is,
Is your business infrastructure running on a physical server or virtual server?
Being a startup founder, an IT manager, or an inquisitive entrepreneur trying to figure out how your digital data is being managed. Regardless of your situation, this is not just a technical decision but a strategic decision.
And yes, it is important!
When considering physical and virtual servers, it is not only the physical location of your data storage but also total cost, performance, scalability, and security that needs to be ensured and taken care about.Whether you are asking yourself which server arrangement your business is better suited for or you simply don’t know the difference between a physical versus virtual server, we will guide you through everything in detail!
Importance of Server
Gone are the days, when we used to buy a very heavy server, set it up where your employees could tap away at their computers either your office, or perhaps a data center, and then make it do everything you wanted it to do from your email system, to your business software. This was the physical server, but very costly and challenging to scale.
But now, with technological growth, the usage of virtual servers has increased to a great extent. Virtual servers allow multiple server environments to run on a single physical machine, hence offering complete flexibility and high efficiency.
Before making a decision, let’s know what is a server?, different types, advantages and disadvantages in detail.
What is a Server?
A server can be defined as a computer system that offers resources, data, services to other computers called clients. It acts as a key point for managing and distributing resources to multiple users and devices. Such a structure where a server offers services to clients is known as client-server model.
Let’s explore some of the basic functions performed by a server!
Website Hosting: The basic responsibility of a server is to make the website easily accessible by the users making it live somewhere.
File Storage & Sharing: The files should be easily accessed from a central location known as file server.
Email Services: A server is responsible for handling the mail system like Microsoft Exchange and managing the inboxes.
Databases: A database server stores and retrieves all the customers’ sensitive data, inventory and other crucial information.
Application Hosting: A server is capable of hosting applications or running software like CRM systems, ERP systems or custom applications.
What is a Physical Server?
A physical server is a dedicated piece of hardware designed to carry out several server functions. Basically, it is designed to carry out intense computing for multiple users over a longer period of time. A physical server runs their own hardware and hence, all the processing, memory and storage within a physical server is provided to a single organization.
What is a Physical Server Made of?
Physical servers have several components similar to personal computers. The only difference is that the components are bigger, stronger, and more reliable. It includes:
CPU (Central Processing Unit)
The CPU acts as the “brain” of the server. Server CPUs are capable of multi-threading, high-speed calculations, and regular workloads.
RAM (Random Access Memory)
RAM stores the memory temporarily for smaller purposes. The more RAM, the better performance, when several users or processes are used at a time.
Storage (HDD/SSD)
A place where the data is stored. Physical servers usually have enterprise-level larger storage capacity HDD or SSD with higher performance read/write speeds to guarantee access to the data that is reliable and fast.
Network Interface
The hardware that allows the server to communicate through a network such as internal office LAN or internet. High-speed redundant networks are often used for uninterrupted access.
Such components offer optimum uptime, stability and performance. Physical servers are not built for web-browsing or streaming Netflix. They are built for mission critical capabilities providing high reliability.
Advantages of a Physical Server
While cloud and virtualized environments are gaining popularity, physical servers are still important, if you require high-end performance and complete control.
High-end Performance
When you require guaranteed processing power for high-volume databases, video rendering, or scientific calculations, a dedicated physical server offers complete assurance providing high performance.
Complete Control
The physical server provides the complete ability to control and access the hardware. You can select hardware components, load custom operating systems, and optimize every aspect to fit your organization’s needs.
No “Noisy Neighbors”
In a virtualized world of multiple virtual machines running on shared physical infrastructure, there are going to be instances where one of these virtual machines might spike in usage. This will impact other virtual machines sharing the physical resource. This is called a “noisy neighbor.” This situation does not exist with physical servers. Physical servers guarantee and provide dedicated access to the physical resource, thus owing the entire resource.
Disadvantages of Physical Server
Of course, physical servers have their disadvantages, because of which organizations are shifting to virtual and cloud options:
Expensive to Scale
If you need more capacity, you can add more capability by adding more machines. You also have to purchase, install, configure and maintain the hardware you add, which can run up costs very quickly.
Occupies Huge Space
The physical servers are huge in size, and occupy more space. You will need cooling, and they use enormous amounts of power, which for a growing company or for a smaller office can be limiting.
What is a Virtual Server?
A virtual server is basically a software-based representation of a physical server. A virtual server operates inside a physical machine, with the support of software technology called a hypervisor. A virtual server acts as a several mini-servers that operates on one physical server and hosts applications, stores data, and utilizes resources. It simply utilizes the space from a server.
How Does It Work?
Suppose, you’re having a single high-performing physical server in your data center. You deploy virtualization software, called a hypervisor that includes VMware, Microsoft Hyper-V and KVM.The hypervisor is a management layer that divides the server’s resources like CPU, memory, storage, etc. into multiple virtual machines (VMs).
Now, each VM appears as its own, independent and isolated server that can run different operating systems and applications. As a result, one can easily run multiple machines at the same time without purchasing new hardware.
Advantages of Virtual Servers
Let’s explore some of the top advantages of virtual servers!
Better Utilization of Resources
Virtualization has a significant advantage because of the reduced waste of hardware resources. A physical server is often under-utilized, while virtual servers provide much more value from the same machine, running more than one workload. Additionally, it is more environmental friendly, more cost-effective and valuable for businesses trying to do more with less.
Scalability and Flexibility
During the holiday season when e-commerce traffic is surging, you can scale up your virtual server in just minutes. If you are hiring new developers, you can spin up new dev environments without waiting for the physical machines.
Lower Operating Costs
The upfront costs related to procuring, housing, cooling, and powering physical servers is significant. With virtual servers in the cloud, you are often only paying for what you actually use. As a result, it reduces capital costs, maintenance and downtime, and can minimize deployments.
Disadvantages of Virtual Servers
Some of the major disadvantages of virtual servers are:
Less Performance
Virtual servers are still sharing physical hardware and that physical hardware is not always perfect! A virtual server could have slightly reduced performance almost all the time if multiple VMs are competing for those physical resources at the same time.
Complex to Manage
Managing one or two virtual machines is very easy, whereas managing multiple VMs is a bit difficult. You require various monitoring tools to monitor VM performance and capacity to manage updates, allocations, and backups.
Which is Better? – Virtual Server Vs. Physical Server
A physical and virtual server provides many advantages and disadvantages. Selecting the most appropriate server completely depends on your needs, and budget.
A physical server is the ideal option to run heavy workloads, have complete control over the hardware and offer advanced security. On the other hand, if you require to scale your projects and are looking to minimize costs, a virtual server can be the go-to choice.
Most modern organizations are carrying a hybrid strategy that equally leverages physical and virtual servers depending on what application or service needs. Thus, while selecting between the physical or virtual server, choose the server that offers the desired result based on your needs.
FAQs on Physical Server Vs. Virtual Server
1. Which server is more secure?
Virtual servers can be as secure as physical servers, especially with proper configuration and management. Physical servers may be stronger in environments with regulatory compliance.
2. Can I utilize physical and virtual servers in my business?
Yes! Many businesses run a hybrid infrastructure that leverages both physical and virtual servers. Physical servers are used for high-performance tasks and virtual servers to offer high-flexibility and scalability that can respond to ever-changing business demands.
3. Which server type is more cost-effective?
Virtual servers are more cost-effective, especially for small to mid-sized businesses. Virtual servers reduce the investment costs allowing you to pay as you go. However, for an enterprise with high consistent demand, physical servers may actually end up being less expensive.
4. Are virtual servers slower than physical servers?
For most scenarios, the difference in performance is negligible. But for high-performance computing or other applications with more constant, heavy resource usage, a physical server may perform better, since there’s no overhead from virtualization.
