A Virtual Private Server (VPS) is a virtualized environment hosted on a shared physical server that functions exactly like a dedicated machine. It is called "Virtual" because the hardware is partitioned via a hypervisor, and "Dedicated" (or Private) because your resources (CPU, RAM, Disk) and Operating System are completely isolated from other users. You may hear terms like VDS (Virtual Dedicated Server) or VM (Virtual Machine); effectively, these all refer to the same technology. We use the term VPS to emphasize the balance between the affordability of shared hosting and the power of a dedicated server.