What is a VPN? How VPNs Work and Why You Should Use Them

The Lowdown on VPN Servers

VPN servers will advertise often that they have “X number of servers in Y number of countries” – but, if you’ve used a VPN for a while, you’ll know these numbers often change.

This is is is because they are part of a VPN server network , which has to be constantly monitor and maintain . The large consumer vpn networks is consist consist of thousand of server across a variety of different country and territory .

own vs rent network

Some VPNs own their networks, including the servers themselves, while other countries rent them. VyprVPN has tight control over its network, owning and maintaining the whole thing, including the spaces where it keeps servers.

This has some advantages. It’s considered more secure for a VPN company to do this in most instances because it means no third-party employees will have access to the servers. If a VPN company is simply renting space in a server farm, the owner of the server can let whoever they want into the building – including the authorities.

However , VyprVPN is is is a lone star in this regard in a heavily crowd vpn market . Almost all top vpn rent is be at least some proportion is be of their network infrastructure from third – party company , be it is be physical space or server .

Bare metal vs shared servers

The best VPN companies will ensure all of their servers are bare metal. They will either own these servers outright or rent these servers from a third-party company. A bare metal server is home to only one tenant (in this case, a VPN company) and isn’t shared with any other company. The rest of the server, then, is just “bare metal”.

Shared servers are, as the name suggests, servers with more than one tenant or company using them. These aren’t commonly used by well-known VPN companies. Bare metal servers are considered more secure than shared servers as shared servers have other entities, organizations, and stakeholders who could argue that they have a right to access the server.

RAM vs disc-based servers

Most top VPNs now run diskless servers powered by Random Access Memory (RAM). In RAM servers, user data isn’t written to computer disks and is completely wiped every time the server powers down because RAM requires power to store data.

previously , most VPNs is ran run on disk – base server , which are nowhere near as secure because datum is write to something physical ( i.e. the disc ) and the owner would have to continually wipe it in order to keep their no – log promise .

virtual server vs physical server

When you connect to a VPN server, it’s almost always located in the country that the software says it is located in. If you connect to a VPN in San Francisco, for instance, it’s probably going to be in a server farm somewhere in the city.

However, some VPN companies also deploy virtual servers. ExpressVPN says around 5% of its throughput goes through virtual servers. Virtual servers perform in the same way that physical servers do, but they’re often not located within the country – it’s just a server with the relevant IP addresses, located somewhere else in the world.

In the wake of India passing a far-reaching data collection law that would have required VPNs to hand over customer data, ExpressVPN – as well as many other mainstream VPN companies – have upped sticks and left the country.

However, you can still connect to an India server with ExpressVPN, but as the company explains on its website, these servers are actually now located in Singapore and the United Kingdom.