BANGALORE, INDIA: While virtualization is the in-thing nowadays, there are still some apprehensions about its security aspects. However, such a concern has no ground in it, argues Desi Valli, COO and executive director, Net4 India. Excerpts from an interaction:

CIOL: Could you please elaborate on the concept of Virtual Private Server and its key differentiator?

Desi Valli: Virtual Private Server is a model of delivery of server access for those customers who are willing to have control on a hosted server, but may not require physically distinguished servers due to technical or commercial reasons.

Also Read: Net4 launches Virtual Private Server services

For instance, there are many applications that run on web servers, which are not possible to be installed in a shared hosted environment. In such circumstances, clients will be able to run applications if they have their own, dedicated physical servers.

However, during the last decade, processing and memory power have improved so much so that many applications today do not require a lot of dedicated resources.

Hence, virtualization is applied over a physical server to compartmentalize multiple virtual servers, which might be good enough for a customer. This results in both optimization of server as well as benefiting commercially.

The highlight is that today server utilization is at its best, which transforms into a good business model for clients as well as service providers. Moreover, as the utilization of infrastructure is pushed to its best, it also improves the initiatives of green energy in data centres.

The key differentiator of VPS is its ability to provide functions and performance of a dedicated server whilst not compromising on security.

CIOL: Though virtualization and cloud are the most talked subjects everywhere, apprehension pertaining to privacy and security is a matter of concern for many. In this context, how do you look at the security aspect of VPS?

Desi Valli: The concerns that prevail are more of a result of a few perceptions and not based on any incidental input or data.

It is assumed that shared compartments are prone to security threats due to the model of provisioning on a shared basis. However, this is equivalent to say that security threat is less in an independent house than an apartment. Whereas, the cost of providing security and policies of security to an independent house is normally vague and inconsistent.

However, when it comes to an apartment system, the systems are made systematically and implemented with utmost magnitude.

The apartment system also helps in having more number of security personals, since the cost is shared among tenants. Similarly, security systems deployed in VPS are stringent and cost effective.

It helps in getting security similar to that of a dedicated server. Moreover, there are possibilities of deploying dedicated security measures for a particular VPS compartment based on some specific requirements. This enhances security as we can add different perimeters of security system.