{"id":2597,"date":"2021-12-07T12:29:59","date_gmt":"2021-12-07T10:29:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/?p=2597"},"modified":"2025-11-27T13:40:29","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T11:40:29","slug":"how-to-split-a-dedicated-server-into-vps-instances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/how-to-split-a-dedicated-server-into-vps-instances\/","title":{"rendered":"Split Dedicated Server into VPS Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Renting an entire physical server for your hosting purposes<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is practically the highest-tier service you can take advantage of. Your opportunities are endless, and you have full freedom to decide the type of project you will be running on the machine.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this guide, we will learn more about this type of hosting and how we can split our dedicated server into <\/span><b>VPS instances<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>What is a Dedicated Server?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you rent a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/blog\/what-does-dedicated-server-hosting-mean\/\"><b>dedicated server<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, your provider sets up <\/span><b>an entire machine for your business needs<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> alone. We are talking about loads of processing power, operating memory, and disk space to host any website or app.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You have <\/span><b>complete control <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">within the dedicated server environment &#8211; how to secure it, what to install, and how to best maintain its smooth operation. This makes the service quite desirable to enterprises with more complex setup or specific security needs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dedicated solutions can be <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/managed-cloud-hosting.html\"><b>Managed <\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and <\/span><b>Unmanaged<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The former option sees your host take care of the initial setup and &#8220;give you the keys,&#8221; while the latter includes extra support services like<\/span><b> server administration and maintenance<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Dedicated Server Advantages<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><b>Owning an entire server that caters to your personal needs brings plenty of sweet benefits:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Maximized performance<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; when concerned about speed or <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/blog\/how-to-find-a-hosting-service-for-your-large-website\/\"><b>handling high traffic <\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; a dedicated server is your ultimate solution. It provides all the needed system resources to power any project, regardless of its size and scope. In a virtual world where every millisecond of load time matters, you can harness all your server power into the fast and smooth operation of your website.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Ultimate flexibility<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; there are no restraints on a <\/span><b>dedicated hosting plan<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Be it the type of website you&#8217;re hosting or the amount of resources you are utilizing &#8211; the provider gives you full freedom. This is ideal for popular and quickly growing projects that consume way <\/span><b>more CPU and RAM<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> than the average website.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Tailored security<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; even if you&#8217;re not a military or government organization, your project should always have impenetrable security as a top priority. Given your endless freedoms on a dedicated machine, you can utilize all kinds of tools and measures to prevent any <\/span><b>hacker attack<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Depending on your business needs, that might include <\/span><b><i>anti-malware<\/i><\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and anti-spam solutions<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">security modules<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">multi-factor authentication<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and many more.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Hardware customization<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; expanding your online project is limited if you don&#8217;t have control over your hardware resources. Starting from the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">server product line<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and going through all kinds of<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/blog\/key-server-performance-metrics-for-actionable-monitoring\/\"><b><i>CPU, RAM, and disk space configurations<\/i><\/b><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; you can build one monster of a machine.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Can any Dedicated Server be Split into VPS?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><b>Managing a VPS<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (virtual private server) and a dedicated server is similar in many aspects. Even though there are multiple VPS clients on a physical machine, their accounts sit in complete isolation, which allows each user to freely customize their instance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But can a dedicated server be split into different virtual ones?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The answer is a resounding <\/span><b>Yes<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and that&#8217;s actually exactly how VPS hosting works. The providers employ a process called <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/blog\/the-best-server-virtualization-software-for-vps-hosting\/\"><b>virtualization<\/b><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to create <\/span><b>completely independent caged accounts<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> within the physical machine. They then <\/span><b>allocate a certain amount of system resources<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and tailor their plans to different types of customers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>How to Split a Dedicated Server into VPS?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are several ways you can go about when you want to create virtual instances on a dedicated server:<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Split a Dedicated Server into VPS in WHM<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When configuring a new VPS instance, we are basically migrating one or more cPanel accounts in a new, virtual environment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First, we need to create the VPS. If everything is ok with its compatibility, the only thing you need to do is install a hypervisor (like <\/span><b>Xen<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><b>KVM<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, or <\/span><b>OpenVZ<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) to take care of the virtualization.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After that, you can go ahead with the migration.<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Log into WHM as <\/span><b>root administrator<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Go to <\/span><b>Transfers <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and select the <\/span><b>Transfers Tool<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> option.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the next screen, <\/span><b>input your server credentials<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and you will get a list of your <\/span><b>Packages <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and <\/span><b>Accounts<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Select <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the account(s) you wish to migrate to the VPS<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click on the blue <\/span><b>Copy <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">button.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wait for the process to complete. Time may vary depending on the size of selected accounts.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Split a Dedicated Server into VPS with ScalaHosting<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dividing a physical server into several virtual ones does not really differ from a standard account migration &#8211; you <\/span><b>generate a backup<\/b> <b>from the old host<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>upload it to the new one<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Sure, there is the added step of installing and utilizing a hypervisor, but that&#8217;s nothing a professional can&#8217;t handle.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is why <\/span><b>ScalaHosting eliminates all manual operations<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> involved in splitting a dedicated server into VPSs. Our support team will gladly undertake this task after a ticket request, and we will ensure the <\/span><b>new virtual environment functions <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">properly after the process is completed.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Applications Installation<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can utilize your hypervisor for practically any kind of application installs on the virtual server. Just a few things to keep in mind, though:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When choosing a hypervisor, many solutions have <\/span><b>different versions and payment plans<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Make sure the chosen package supports all the features you need.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consider if you need <\/span><b>resource scalability<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Not all hypervisors support that option.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unless you plan to offer bare-metal VPS solutions to users, it&#8217;s best to <\/span><b>install a control panel<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for easy operation.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Check out our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/blog\/spanel-vs-cpanel-a-head-to-head-comparison\/\"><b>SPanel vs cPanel comparison<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to get more insights about two of the top hosting management options on the market.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Renting an entire physical server for your hosting purposes is practically the highest-tier service you can take advantage of. Your opportunities are endless, and you have full freedom to decide the type of project you will be running on the machine. In this guide, we will learn more about this type of hosting and how [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Split Dedicated Server into VPS Guide | ScalaHosting KB","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vps-hosting"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2597"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2597\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5860,"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2597\/revisions\/5860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scalahosting.com\/kb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}