Why it is important to have a VPS server in the Czech Republic and not abroad

When choosing a VPS server, most people focus on specifications: how many vCPUs, how much RAM, disk size and price. Server location is often treated as secondary: a mistake that only becomes apparent when it's too late. This article explains when the physical location of your server matters and when it does not.

Latency: Figures that have a real impact

The speed of light in optical fibre is approximately 200 000 km/s. The distance between Prague and Frankfurt is approximately 700 km. This means the pure physical latency for a packet to travel there and back is around 7 ms. In reality, the figures are higher due to switches, routers and packet processing: the actual ping from Prague to Frankfurt is typically 15-25 ms.

Prague-Amsterdam: 25-35 ms. Prague-London: 30-45 ms. Prague-USA (East Coast): 90-120 ms. Prague-USA (West Coast): 150-180 ms.

When latency truly matters

Not every application is equally sensitive to latency. A static website served via a CDN will be fast regardless of where your server is located, CDN nodes are close to users worldwide. However, these scenarios differ fundamentally in terms of data centre latency:

• Database applications - each database query adds latency there and back. An application that performs 50 SQL queries to load a page is 6 seconds slower on a 120ms server than on a 5ms server.
• Real-time application - chat, online games, video conferencing, trading platforms. For these applications, 100ms latency means visible lag for every user in the Czech Republic.
• SSH and remote administration - Writing commands via SSH with 150ms latency is unpleasant. At 5ms, server management is smooth.
• Microservices architecture - when communicating between services, latency accumulates. If your API gateway calls 10 internal services, 20ms latency for each call adds 200ms to the response time.
• E-shops and booking systems - Every page displaying prices, availability or the user's shopping cart executes database queries. Page load speed directly affects conversions.

GDPR and the advantage of EU data centres

GDPR applies to the processing of personal data of EU citizens regardless of where the server is physically located. Technically speaking, a server in the USA can be GDPR-compliant if transfer mechanisms (standard contractual clauses, binding corporate rules, etc.) are met.

In practice, however, it is more complicated:

Schrems II and data transfers to the US

Following the Schrems II ruling of 2020, Privacy Shield was invalidated and data transfers to the USA are once again subject to legal uncertainty. The EU-US Data Privacy Framework of 2023 improved the situation, but many lawyers and DPA (supervisory authorities) still recommend primarily EU hosting for data containing personal details of EU subjects.

For e-shops, healthcare applications, HR systems, banking software and any application processing personal data, an EU data centre is the safest choice from a compliance perspective. It eliminates the need to implement transfer mechanisms and demonstrate their adherence during a potential audit by the Office for Personal Data Protection.

The Cloud Services Act

Certain regulated sectors in the Czech Republic (banking, insurance, healthcare, parts of public administration) have specific requirements regarding data locality. Particularly for the public sector, data must remain within the territory of the EU or the Czech Republic. Hosting outside the EU is excluded for these institutions.

Czech support: Value that does not show up in benchmarks

Hosting is essentially an infrastructure service: and infrastructure takes care of itself until it doesn't. At that point, it depends on who you are communicating with.

The difference between Czech and foreign support becomes apparent in specific situations:

• Technical communication without a language barrier - For many technical users, a description of the problem in Czech is more accurate than in English. A misunderstanding when describing a production incident can extend downtime by tens of minutes.
• Understanding the local context - the Czech technical community, specific certifications (ICA, NÚKIB), and local banks' requirements for hosting partners: foreign providers may not be aware of these nuances.
• Time zone - Central European Time, with no need to wait for US or Asian support opening hours. An incident at 9 am in Prague is an incident within working hours.
• Contractual relationship in Czech - contract in Czech, invoicing in CZK, VAT arrangements compliant with Czech legislation

Local SLA and connectivity outages

Major international providers (Hetzner, OVH, DigitalOcean, Linode/Akamai) offer solid uptime SLAs: typically 99.9% or 99.95%. The issue is not the availability of the server itself, but the connectivity between the server and users in the Czech Republic.

International routes pass through multiple networks, and outages or degradation of a single transmission node can affect server availability for Czech users, even if the server itself is running. A server in a Czech data centre is only 1-2 networks away from most Czech internet providers, which reduces the likelihood of isolated connectivity outages.

Connectivity of IX.cz and NIX.cz

Czech data centres are typically connected to the Czech Internet Exchange (NIX.CZ): a neutral internet hub in Prague where almost all major Czech ISPs are interconnected. Data exchange between servers in Czech DCs and Czech users takes place via NIX.CZ without leaving the Czech network. The result is low latency and high reliability for domestic operations.

When a foreign-based server makes sense

A fair comparison must also include cases where a foreign website is the right choice:

• Global audience - if your application serves users worldwide, a single server in the Czech Republic will not be optimal for anyone. The correct architecture here is CDN + edge servers or multi-region deployment.
• Price - Hetzner in Frankfurt or OVH in Roubaix offer VPS at prices that Czech hosting can hardly match. If price is the deciding factor and the application is not latency-sensitive, this is a legitimate choice.
• Specific cloud services - AWS, GCP and Azure offer managed databases, ML infrastructure and global CDNs that have no local alternative. If your architecture uses these services, a server in the same region makes sense.
• Disaster recovery and replication - A backup server in another country is standard for critical applications. Here, a foreign server is the intention, not a compromise.

Summary: When to choose a VPS in the Czech Republic

A VPS server in the Czech Republic is the right choice if:

• Your user base is primarily in the Czech Republic or Central Europe.
• You operate interactive applications (e-shop, CRM, ERP, applications with database queries).
• You process personal data of EU subjects and need straightforward GDPR compliance.
• Do you work in a regulated sector (banking, healthcare, public administration)?
• Do you need technical support in Czech without a language barrier?
• Do you want to take advantage of low latency to NIX.CZ and Czech ISPs?