KVM vs OpenVZ Virtualisation
Find out the difference between the two virtualisations we offer on our VPS services.
What's the difference between KVM & OpenVZ? What should you choose?
We get this question a lot! In short virtualisation involves breaking down one physical server ("host node") into smaller virtual private servers. There are various technologies that help do this of which we offer two of them. We take a dive into the advantages and disadvantages between KVM & OpenVZ which should help in making your decision.
Whilst we have previously offered OpenVZ virtual servers, we now only use KVM virtualisation for all our VPS services.
Quick Comparison
| KVM | OpenVZ | |
|---|---|---|
| Dedicated Latest/Custom Kernels | ✓ | ✗ |
| Shared Host Node Kernel (3.10.x) | ✗ | ✓ |
| Disk Encryption | ✓ | ✗ |
| Wide Range of Operating Systems | ✓ | Limited |
| Custom ISO | ✓ | ✗ |
| Docker Support | ✓ | ✗ |
| Second Level Quota Support | ✓ | ✓ |
| TUN/TAP/PPP/FUSE Support | ✓ | ✓ |
| Advanced Firewall Configuration | ✓ | ✗ |
| Free Basic Support | ✓ | ✗ |
Virtualisation Technologies Explained
Understanding the core differences between KVM and OpenVZ virtualisation
KVM – Hardware virtualisation with full control
KVM simulates hardware allowing multiple guest OS to co-operate with the hypervisor (main server – "node"). The major advantage of a KVM VPS is that it allows you to work with any OS and use the latest (and custom) kernels. It also fully supports SELinux and disk encryption which may be important to you. As a result you can also perform custom installation like you would do on a dedicated server and go through the OSs installation process and perform custom partitioning/encryption. In addition, our OpenVZ plans do not support Docker however due to KVM virtualisation our KVM plans can run Docker.
However, on the other hand by default even on a clean install a KVM VPS will generally demand more resources and does not allow hosts to oversell significantly as such these VPSs generally cost more despite this we believe our KVM plans are one of the most competitive and affordable out there!
OpenVZ – User friendly linux containers
OpenVZ is an operating system level virtualisation in which the linux kernel is used to split the OS into containers and the kernel itself is shared among the VPSs. As a result it consumes far less resources than a KVM VPS but it is not true virtualisation and you cannot control certain things such as custom/latest kernels, disk encryption or run non-linux operating systems like Windows and our OpenVZ plans do not support docker at this moment of time.
However as a result of the far less resource utilisation and simpler more user friendly setup this is the most cost effective option. We have stopped offering OpenVZ VPSs since 2022 but continue to honour existing OpenVZ clients.
