VPS, containers and NAT: what the labels mean.

“VPS” describes a product, not one technology

A provider can sell a virtual private server using a full virtual machine or a container. Seeing “VPS” in the product name does not tell you whether it has its own kernel, dedicated CPU time or a particular network arrangement.

This matters when you need a custom kernel, sustained CPU capacity or software with specific virtualization requirements. Start with the provider's technical description, not the name of the plan.

The VPSDime example

VPSDime's Linux VPS FAQ says its Linux VPS line uses LXC, or Linux Containers. The same page says CPU capacity is shared, while memory and disk space are dedicated to the instance. Its Premium VPS is a separate product line.

Those Linux plans are still VPS products. RackRadar places the collected Linux line in the container category because of the published virtualization technology. We do not move it into the full-VM category just because the sales page uses the word VPS, and we do not apply its Linux specifications to Premium plans that have not been collected.

A container is not the same thing as NAT

A container shares the host kernel. NAT describes network address translation. These are separate properties: container virtualization alone says nothing about whether the instance includes a dedicated public IPv4 address.

RackRadar's “Container VPS / NAT” category groups container-based products and explicitly NAT-based offers. It is a broad browsing category, not a claim that every listed offer uses NAT. Use the networking details and IP filters to check what a particular offer includes. An unpublished IP allowance remains unknown.

For the underlying technology, the Linux Containers project describes LXC's use of the host kernel and Linux isolation features.

Shared cores and dedicated cores

A sold vCPU count is a published allocation, not a benchmark. A shared-core VPS can be appropriate for a small service with occasional bursts; a workload that needs sustained CPU time should examine the allocation and provider's usage policy closely.

Dedicated-core VDS products reserve CPU allocation according to the provider's terms. Bare metal gives you a physical server. Neither label alone proves a particular performance level: the hardware, storage and network still matter.

Cloud is another broad product label. RackRadar preserves the provider's published cloud family rather than implying that every cloud instance has dedicated cores.

What to check before choosing

• Kernel requirements: can the product run the kernel or operating system your software needs?
• CPU policy: is allocation shared or dedicated, and are there sustained-use limits?
• Networking: which IP versions and addresses are included, what is the port speed, and what traffic allowance or fair-use policy applies?
• Evidence: are the facts specific to this offer, platform-wide claims or paid options?

Use the offer filters to narrow the published requirements, then compare the source terms. The value index guide explains why a high advertised-spec score does not settle these questions.