Virtual server location
A server advertised as being in one country while the hardware physically sits in another.
Glossary
Server count
The number of servers a provider advertises, typically in the thousands.
Why it matters
It is the most prominent number in VPN marketing and one of the least informative, which is why our rubric does not score it.
What most explanations leave out
A provider can add a thousand virtual servers in a week. Count measures marketing budget; what matters is capacity per user on the routes you use, which nobody publishes. Country coverage is slightly more useful, and even that is inflated by virtual locations.
Related terms
Terms are defined here because they appear in our scoring rubric or in provider reviews, not to fill a glossary.