DataSlab provides a service which is sometimes called Virtual Machine Hosting, or Virtual Private Server. Essentially, this is a service which splits a server into several smaller pieces, each with it's own individual file system and resources. DataSlab calls each of those smaller pieces of a server a slab. In this system, a single host server can host multiple slabs. Each slab is fully allocated, which means that the RAM, disk, and CPU for the slab are completely reserved for use by the slab, as opposed to shared web hosting, in which users must share all of the resources in a way that allows some abusers to use more than others.

The result of all of this is that the user has the equivalent of an isolated server, at a fraction of the cost.