Are all 32-bit VPS's the same?
There seems to be some confusion about 32-bit VPS’s in the general marketplace. It seems like it might be appropriate to take a minute and look at 32-bit and 64-bit support and how the various options might affect you.
There are in theory three different possible combinations of kernels and userland:
A) 64-bit kernel with 64-bit userland
B) 64-bit kernel with 32-bit userland
C) 32-bit kernel with 32-bit userland
Userland simply refers to everything other than the kernel (system libraries, your applications, etc.).
On the surface, options B and C would seem to be pretty much the same. In many instances they are. However, there are a couple instances where option B turns out to be inferior to option C.
The first is if you are adding any of your own kernel modules. Because the kernel is 64-bit, the modules will need to be 64-bit too. This is certainly doable, but some installation or compilation tools will give you some trouble because of the mix of 32-bit and 64-bit (you will need a compiler capable of generating 64-bit code, along with appropriate compilation flags).
This is related to the second issue: when compiling or installing some software (cpanel for example), the build or install process will determine what architecture to use based on the kernel, not based on userland. This can result in an attempt to install 64-bit software into the 32-bit userland. In theory this can work, but in practice usually won’t because all of the system libraries are 32-bit.
In both instances, having a through-and-through 32-bit environment avoids all these potential problems and hassles.
Consistent with Zerigo’s commitment to making things easier for you, our 32-bit VPS’s and Cloud Servers have a 32-bit kernel and 32-bit userland (option C). And of course, our 64-bit servers (64-bit kernel and userland) are always available to you too.