Should your app run on a virtual machine, in containers, in microVMs or directly on a physical server? This guide helps you choose a virtualization type by working through the questions that actually decide it, from isolation needs to the skills on your team.
Before you start
- List what you will run: languages, databases, OS, expected traffic and data size.
- Background reading: containers vs VMs.
Question 1: who else shares the hardware?
- Untrusted tenants (customers, unknown code): full VMs or microVMs give the strongest boundary.
- Only your own services: containers are usually enough.
- Compliance requires dedicated hardware: bare metal.
Question 2: what operating system and kernel do you need?
- Windows, BSD, custom kernel modules (WireGuard, ZFS) or a specific kernel version: a KVM VM or bare metal.
- Standard Linux userland only: containers (Docker, LXC) work.
Question 3: how predictable must performance be?
- Latency-critical databases, high packet rates or GPUs: bare metal, or VMs with pinned CPUs and PCI passthrough.
- Typical websites and APIs: a VPS is plenty.
Question 4: how many workloads and how fast do they change?
- Many small services, frequent deploys, autoscaling: containers, often orchestrated.
- Short-lived sandboxes or serverless functions: microVMs (Firecracker, Cloud Hypervisor).
- A few long-running servers: VMs.
Question 5: budget and skills
- No time to manage servers: managed or shared hosting, such as cPanel web hosting, is simplest for websites.
- Comfortable with Linux: a KVM VPS, optionally running Docker.
- Running your own fleet: a hypervisor platform such as Proxmox VE or a VPS panel.
Decision summary
| Situation | Good fit |
|---|---|
| Single website or WordPress, minimal admin | Shared hosting |
| Custom app stack, root access | KVM VPS |
| Microservices on your own servers | Containers inside VMs |
| Selling servers to customers | KVM + VPS panel |
| Untrusted code execution at scale | MicroVMs |
| Heavy, steady workloads or hardware needs | Bare metal |
Common mistakes
- Picking OpenVZ-style containers and then needing Docker or a VPN kernel module.
- Running everything on bare metal without any isolation, making upgrades risky.
- Overcomplicating a small project with orchestration it does not need.
Frequently asked questions
Can I mix approaches?
Yes, and most teams do: VMs for isolation, containers inside them for deployment.
Is bare metal always faster?
It avoids virtualization overhead, but a well-configured VM is within a few percent for most workloads.
When should I move from shared hosting to a VPS?
When you need root access, custom software, or resources beyond your plan. See hosting types compared.