“VPS” gets slapped on very different products. The single biggest thing to check before you buy a cheap one is whether it’s **KVM* — and here’s why that matters.*
A VPS (Virtual Private Server) is a slice of a physical server that behaves like its own machine: its own operating system, its own storage, its own root login. But how that slice is created changes what you can actually do with it.
KVM = full virtualization
KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is full hardware virtualization. Your VPS gets its own virtual hardware and its own kernel, just like a dedicated server in miniature. The host can't peek into your processes, and you can do low-level things a shared environment won't allow:
- Run any operating system — Linux distros, Windows, even custom images.
- Load your own kernel modules, use swap, run Docker and nested containers.
- Get dedicated RAM that isn't "burstable" marketing — what you buy is what you get.
Container VPS (OpenVZ / LXC) — the cheaper cousin
Container-based "VPS" share the host's kernel. They're cheaper for the provider to pack densely, which is why some rock-bottom offers are containers. The trade-offs: you usually can't change the kernel, swap and some modules may be unavailable, Docker can be fiddly, and "RAM" is sometimes oversold and burstable. For a lot of simple use cases that's fine — but you should know which one you're buying.
Rule of thumb: if a host doesn't say KVM anywhere, assume it might be a container and ask. A €3 "VPS" that's actually an oversold container is a different product from a €5 KVM slice.
Originally published at overnight.host — honest, no-nonsense VPS, game server & web hosting. Browse the guides »
