6 Key Benefits Of Having DDoS Protection On Your VPS

As a VPS owner, protecting your server from potential threats is important.

One of the most common threats you might encounter is a DDoS attack. These sneaky attacks can slow down your server or even take it offline, which can be a real headache for you and your business.

That’s why we’ve got Abhishek from RDP Arena to explain what DDoS attacks are, how to recognize them, and their different types. With over 10 years of experience in the VPS hosting industry and successfully blocking more than 3000 DDoS attacks, you can trust Abhishek’s expertise.

We’ll also discuss the many benefits of having DDoS protection for your VPS and guide you to where you can get it.

So, are you ready to learn how to fortify your online presence? Let’s dive in!

What Is A DDoS Attack?

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) is a type of cyber attack that interferes with the regular function of your VPS by flooding it with a bunch of fake internet traffic.

This fake traffic is created by attackers using botnets and is not caused by real users. These botnets are a collection of compromised devices ranging from personal computers to IoT devices.

The primary objective of a DDoS attack is to prevent genuine users from accessing your VPS or a website hosted on your VPS. It’s not designed to steal your data or break into your systems but rather to make your server unavailable or too slow to function properly.

At times, DDoS attacks also serve as a diversion for other malicious activities that might occur simultaneously.

The motives behind DDoS attacks can be diverse. Sometimes, it’s an act of vandalism, with attackers causing chaos and then demanding a ransom to cease the attack.

Other times, it could be a business competitor initiating the attack to gain an advantage by disrupting your operations.

Regardless of the intention, DDoS attacks can cause significant harm to your business, which is why it’s important to ensure that robust protective measures are in place.

What Are The Different Types Of DDoS Attacks?

DDoS Attacks can be classified broadly into three types:

1. Volumetric Attacks: These attacks are like a torrential downpour of internet traffic that swamps your VPS server to the point that it uses up all its bandwidth. Think of it as someone using all the lanes on a highway, causing a traffic jam.

A well-known example of a volumetric attack is a DNS amplification attack. The attacker sends requests to a DNS server during a DNS amplification attack.

But here’s the tricky part – they pretend to be someone else. They use the IP address of your VPS Server.

So the DNS server, thinking it’s just doing its job, sends its response back to your VPS server (target), not the actual requester.

When this happens on a large scale, your server could receive a flood of DNS responses it didn’t ask for. This can cause a significant disruption in your network, leading to massive downtime.

2. Protocol Attacks: Protocol attacks aim to wear out the resources of your VPS server or its networking systems, like firewalls, load balancers, or routing engines. One such protocol attack is called a SYN flood attack.

To understand things better, let’s take a minute to discuss how a secure communication channel is initiated between two computers.

They first perform a process known as a TCP handshake. This handshake is a way for the two systems to exchange basic information. Sending an SYN packet is usually the first step of this TCP handshake. In simple terms, it’s like the client’s computer saying, “Hi server, I’d like to start a conversation.”

In an SYN flood attack, the attacker overwhelms the server with a massive amount of these SYN packets, each pretending to come from a different IP address.

Your VPS server tries to respond to each packet with an SYN-ACK (synchronize-acknowledge), which is like saying, “Sure, let’s talk.” But the attacker never responds back to complete the handshake.

So, your VPS server ends up waiting for a reply that never comes. When this happens with too many requests, your VPS server crashes from the strain on its resources.

3. Application Layer Attacks: The application layer is where your VPS server works to respond to an incoming request. So if someone wants to visit a page on your website — let’s say http://www.abc.org/appointments/, they send an HTTP request to your server asking for that ‘appointments’ page.

Your VPS server then collects all the details about this page, packages it up, and sends it back to the person’s browser.

Now, an application layer attack is when a bad actor, using multiple bots or machines, starts repeatedly asking for the same resource from your server.

This is like asking your server to do the same task over and over again, with no break. As you can imagine, this can quickly overwhelm your VPS server and can even cause your VPS server to crash.

What Are The Signs Of A DDoS Attack On My VPS?

1. Your VPS Starts Lagging: One of the first signs might be that your Virtual Private Server (VPS) begins to slow down. It might take longer than usual to load or process information.

2. Your VPS Becomes Unresponsive: If your VPS is not responding at all, this might indicate a DDoS attack. An attack could overwhelm your server, causing it to freeze or crash.

3. You Can’t Access Your VPS: If you’re having trouble logging into or accessing your VPS, it could be under attack. Difficulty accessing the server is often a telltale sign of a DDoS attack.

4. The Internet Slows Down On Your VPS: If the internet becomes slow or seems choked on your VPS, that could be due to a surge in fake traffic, a common symptom of a DDoS attack.

Remember, these signs may not always mean a DDoS attack is taking place; there could be other reasons for these symptoms.

However, you should always contact your VPS provider’s support team to investigate and fix the issue.

Having a DDoS Protected VPS can help you mitigate these issues quickly.

What Is A DDoS Protected VPS?

A DDoS protected VPS is a virtual private server located in a network or data center specifically designed to handle large-scale DDoS attacks.

These networks and data centers have super high bandwidth capacity and special hardware firewalls that can stop malicious packets in their tracks before they can cause any damage to your server.

With DDoS protection in place, your server is shielded from bad actors who want to take it down using brute force in the form of a DoS/DDoS attack. This ensures that your VPS server remains available and accessible to you and your customers 24×7.

If you’re someone who faces a constant threat of DDoS attacks, having a DDoS-protected VPS can be an incredibly useful tool. You’ll enjoy peace of mind knowing that your server is safe and secure.

What Are The Advantages Of Having DDoS Protection On My VPS?

1. Improved Security: DDoS attacks are often used as a diversionary tactic to exploit vulnerabilities in a server’s security infrastructure. DDoS protection on your VPS adds an additional layer of security, reducing the risk of other types of cyber attacks that may co-occur during a DDoS attack.

2. High Availability: DDoS attacks often lead to service downtime. With DDoS protection, your VPS will be able to withstand such attacks, ensuring the continued availability of your services to your customers. This added reliability allows you to retain customers in the long term.

3. Better Performance: During a DDoS attack, a server can become overwhelmed by the sheer volume of requests, leading to reduced performance or even total failure. A DDoS-protected VPS can help maintain your server’s performance by filtering out illegitimate traffic.

4. Preservation Of Resources: During a DDoS Attack, your server’s resources (like bandwidth, processing power, etc.) can get rapidly consumed, preventing real users from accessing your service. Plus, it makes your support team’s day a nightmare as they scramble to handle a flood of tickets and chats from customers experiencing service downtime. With DDoS protection on your VPS, you can keep resources ready for your actual users and let your support team focus on what they do best – helping your customers.

5. Financial Savings: Downtime can quickly eat into your profits when a DDoS attack strikes. It can be especially tough if an attack happens during a big event or sale. But the costs don’t stop there. Bouncing back after a DDoS attack can also be a pricey affair. If your hardware takes a hit during the attack, you might find yourself shopping for replacements. However, you can avoid these potential losses by opting for a DDoS-protected VPS.

6. Protects Your Reputation: Frequent website crashes or slow services due to DDoS attacks can start chipping away at your hard-earned reputation. The tricky thing about reputations is once they take a hit, it’s a tough climb to get back on track. And as we all know, word of mouth travels fast. But with a DDoS-protected VPS, you can maintain your brand’s reputation by ensuring that your website or service remains consistently accessible and your customers have a smooth user experience.

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