Is dedicated server hosting right for me?
Is dedicated server hosting right for me?
Although dedicated server hosting is mainly aimed at businesses who need a web hosting service that can guarantee them a respectable level of uptime, they can also be used by individuals who are running busy websites; however, the main boundry with dedicated server hosting is the cost – the price of dedicated servers can be anything from $50 to $500, meaning that some are able to afford them whilst others won’t be able to. Dedicated server hosting is the next step up from VPS hosting, meaning that if you are starting to outgrow your high end VPS hosting package, your best bet will be to consider a low-mid range dedicated server that will be able to meet your requirements. Dedicated server hosting does generally tend to be more reliable than any other forms of web hosting available, which is something that makes it popular with those who are after greater uptime. However, dedicated servers do need to be managed by someone who knows what they are doing; this means that they have to kept secure and that all the software which is being used must be updated on a regular basis. Many different web hosting providers sell dedicated servers these days; although this may mean that there are many different offers to choose from, it means that you can get what you want at a price that suits your budget.
Dedicated server hosting is the only form of web hosting in which you don’t have to share server resources with any other users, unless you explicitly wish to do so for one reason or another. As well as that, there are other advantages that can come with dedicated server hosting such as full support and an increased amount of uptime, which at the end of the day is probably one of the main reasons that you have chosen to use dedicated server hosting. There is no point in considering dedicated hosting if the advantages that come with it are unable to help you in any way, since you will just be wasting your money on an expensive server that you don’t need. Such advantages provided by dedicated server hosting include:
- reliability – since you don’t have to share your server’s resources with anyone else, you should have greater reliability just as long as you have your server configured correctly – the only reason for your website to go down will be if there are network or power problems external to your server, although such issues are normally very rare because of the redundant infrastructures now being used by many web hosting providers
- support – a majority of dedicated servers come fully managed which allows you to get on with more important tasks while your server is managed by your web hosting provider, such management tasks may include keeping the server secure and ensuring that all software is up to date – however, it is important to note that cheaper dedicated servers are unlikely to come with any high level of support because of the low cost of the server
- isolation – by having your own isolated dedicated server, the actions of other users are unable to affect the performance of your own server – however, the speed for the connection to your server can be affected by other factors such as if another server on the same network as yours is being DDOS’d (attacked).
A majority of users can make use of such advantages that are provided by dedicated server hosting, although if they aren’t going to help you then you should be considering VPS hosting for your needs. Dedicated servers are able to provide you with a scalable web hosting solution that can be upgraded as needed, and can be as redundant as you would like it to be.
However, although dedicated server hosting can provide you with many advantages, there are still disadvantages with this form of web hosting, regardless of which side you look at it from. The main thing that puts many off dedicated server hosting is the high costs that are involved, since a majority of people require high end dedicated servers which can cost anything up to $500, which is just too much for many individuals but some businesses can just about justify that amount. For some, the level of knowledge needed to manage a dedicated server effectively can also be offputting, although only the most experienced of people usually consider dedicated server hosting. All in all, the main disadvantages that can arise from dedicated server hosting can include:
- cost – when you rent a dedicated server, the overall cost that you are paying includes the cost of the server that you are using, as well as the power that is required for your server and the bandwidth needed to make it accessible – the costs of the individual things which make up a dedicated sevrer rental fee are high, which makes the actual server rental cost high – in some cases you may also find that your dedicated server rental fee may rise and fall sometimes
- support – although you have nothing to worry about if you purchase a dedicated server that comes with full support, if you purchase a lower end server which doesn’t come with any support then you may find it hard to manage your dedicated server because of the necessary knowledge that is needed to do so – however, there are third party management companies that you can hire to do the task for you
- network and power problems – network and power problems can affect dedicated servers mroe so than other web hosting services since they tend to be hosted on different networks to shared and reseller web hosting servers, meaning that the network itself may not be redundant or as well equipped as any other.
Don’t let the disadvantages of dedicated server hosting influence your decision too much, since at the end of the day if your needs justify the requirement of a dedicated server then you will probably find that your website’s reliability will increase greatly. And as long as you can hire a third party support team to manage your server for you, you should be sorted in terms of support.
Since you are provided with your own dedicated environment in which you can install any program of your choice with dedicated server hosting, this means that you can effectively use your dedicated hosting server for anything you want, just as long as what you wish to use it for falls in line with your web hosting provider’s AUP. Since dedicated servers some with root/administrator access, you can install pretty much anything you want, just as long as it is able to run on the server operating system that you have chosen to use with your dedicated hosting server. Depending on your dedicated server’s specifications, you may want to use it for things such as:
- media streaming – because of the low bandwidth caps on shared hosting services and the low resources that come with VPS servers, you can only perform media streaming services via dedicated servers meaning that you can use your server to offer online radio solutions as well as being able to stream media on demand to your visitor’s computers – such solutions normally come free with operating systems, such as the Windows Media Server that comes with Windows Server 2003
- file server - since you are unable to use shared hosting services for file hosting, you may want to consider using your dedicated server as a centralized storage server for all your data so that it can be accessed as and when needed, allowing you to access all the files that you need to view regularly from any itnernet connected location in the world
- web server – you may simply want to use your dedicated server as a web server, which can be of benefit to you if you wish to modify the source files of the web server that you want to use in order to make it run the way you want it to – in this case you would probably be using the Apache web server on a Linux operating system.
Unlike other forms of web hosting, dedicated servers can be used for almost any purpose which means that you can purchase a dedicated server and use it solely for one service unless you wish to use a control panel such as cPanel with it to enable you to use and manage multiple services on your dedicated hosting server.
In conclusion, the question of whether dedicated server hosting is right for you or not is dependent on what your requirements are. If you need a more reliable web hosting service that will allow you to do what you want then by all means consider dedicated server hosting, but if your website doesn’t receive many visitors then it would be better for your pocket if you choose a lower end form of web hosting such as reseller web hosting or VPS server hosting. However, you may find that the overall cost of dedicated server hosting is too much for you, which means that you may have to consider VPS hosting.
