How Does VPS Hosting Ensure Complete Privacy and Protection of Your Data?

It’s a simple and unarguable fact — data is king. If you are running a business online, one of your biggest priorities is to ensure that your data and that of your client remains both safe and accessible. How do you balance the two? How can you make sure that is both easily available and protected at the same time? Well, a lot of it comes down to the hosting environment you choose and the decisions you’ll make to keep your data safe. One of the most secure options for you to consider is VPS Hosting.

VPS, or Virtual Private Server, is a server created using server virtualization, wherein a single physical machine can host multiple virtual servers, each isolated from the other. VPS Hosting mimics both a dedicated server (offering private resources) and Shared Hosting (with multiple users) — offering the best of both worlds. It is a secure and stable solution (as compared to Shared Hosting) and is a smaller-scale and more affordable option than a dedicated server. More importantly, VPS (like Dedicated Hosting) offers privacy, independence and isolation. With VPS, your files and databases are locked from other service users. You get to decide who has access to that information, who you want to share it with and how long you would like to keep it.

Your next option (especially when it comes to data security) is to consider whether you want a Managed or Unmanaged VPS.

Managed VPS: This is where the hosting provider will take responsibility to update, run, configure and maintain your VPS — this can vary from host to host. This is an excellent option for those of you who may not be too comfortable running the Linux server. You can reach out to the hosting provider to see which tasks they may or may not perform.

Unmanaged VPS: With this option, the hosting provider offers far less support. You will have to manage the server administration, maintenance, configuration. However, it is a more affordable option, and it does allow for a certain autonomy over your actions.

So, how can you make sure your data stays protected through VPS — Managed or Unmanaged?

Managed VPS:

The option of a Managed VPS server can help you maintain privacy in different ways, such as:

1. Steady Support: Opting for a Managed VPS server gives you greater access to a support team. This is vital for the security and privacy of your data because experienced hosting experts will be able to handle threats and attacks as well as identify new and serious security breaches.
2. Regular Updates and Patches: With Managed VPS, your hosting provider can keep your server up to date with the latest patches, thereby securing your system against hackers. If attacks do exploit the system, updates are issued to patch them and prevent any further abuses from attackers.
3. Cloudflare and DDoS Protection: Some hosting providers offer features like Cloudflare for protection from DDoS (Distributed Denial of Services) attacks. The hosting provider’s DDoS protection technologies prevent these kinds of threats and ensure that the servers are up and running all the time.
4. Anti-Virus and other protections: Managed hosting can protect you by fending off viruses, running malware scans, email virus filters, vulnerability scans and by providing real-time updates and security intelligence.
5. Hardware Upgrades: this is a key aspect of VPS data protection. There is a chance that your hardware drive RAID fails, putting your data at risk. A dedicated team can monitor these hardware risks, upgrading them if necessary. Furthermore, if you can request to have more RAM added or ask for a bigger hard drive and the support team will make the changes.
6. Backups: Another vital point to consider, when it comes to data security, is backups. Managed VPS servers offer backup software solutions allowing you to keep daily backups of your files in case of any breakdown or failure. These backups will be stored on the cloud, so if your server crashes, you can restore the data to the latest backed up state — quickly and with minimal data loss.

Unmanaged VPS

If you’re running an Unmanaged VPS, that deals in private data or sensitive information; you need to make smart choices about protecting your data. Here are some options to consider:

1. Audits: You need to know what’s running on your system, and therefore an audit is vital. These kinds of processes expose the system’s vulnerabilities. There are many tools you can use for an audit, like the Linux Security Auditing Tool, Bastille and Logwatch. Whether it’s a one-time endeavour or a regular exercise, make sure you audit your VPS to keep your data secure.
2. Configure a firewall: This is one of the first steps to take when you’re setting up a new Linux VPS. To filter out unwanted traffic to your VPS server, you need to install a firewall (especially to prevent or fight DDoS attacks). Popular firewalls include Advanced Policy Firewall (APF) and Config Server Firewall (CSF).
3. Check for vulnerabilities and close them off: Take a look at the services and applications running on your server — are all of them necessary to help your VPS function? If it is necessary, does it need to be open to the world? By running a whole host of unnecessary applications, you run the risk of making your server vulnerable. Check all your open network ports — cyber criminals usually target them to exploit the system. Use “iptables” and close all your open ports and “chkconfig” to disable unused services.
4. Update and Backup: These should be the bare bones of any security strategy. Keep your server up to date — consistently. Newer versions of Operating Systems can offer patches for vulnerabilities in the older versions, making the system more secure. Make sure you regularly save backups of your data, so, in the event of an emergency, you can roll back to the last saved version.
5. Implement some best practices: There are a few best practices you can add to your security plan, such as running regular malware/ virus scans on your server, checking your security logs regularly, disabling compilers, signing up with a DDoS protection provider like CloudFlare, removing any unwanted modules or packages that come with your Linux distribution, activating CMS auto-updates.
6. Passwords: Weak passwords are a massive threat to your security. Your user accounts should never have empty or simple passwords. You must make sure your passwords are strong, that all users update their passwords regularly (thereby discouraging the reuse of old passwords). Furthermore, user accounts must be set to “lock” after multiple failed attempts to guard against brute force attacks.
7. Whether you choose Managed or Unmanaged VPS Hosting, there are multiple options to keep your data safe and secure. It comes down to the choices you make, and the hosting provider you choose. Make the right choice for your data and enjoy the privacy and autonomy over your data and information!