Do You Need Dedicated Hosting?
If you are new to web hosting, you have probably often seen the term “dedicated server”. Or maybe you are familiar with the dedicated servers and have witnessed their popularity during your process of finding a web host provider. Which ever category you fall under, this article will shed more light on the subject and will help you ascertain when it may become necessary to obtain a dedicated server and find the right provider.
Dedicated vs. Shared
When choosing a web host, you generally have two options - to lease space on a shared server or lease a dedicated server. With a shared hosting server, your site or sites are sharing server space with others sites. However, by leasing a dedicated server, you receive the complete server along with a network connection all to yourself.
Shared servers are more affordable than dedicated servers and generally require a much lower level of technical skill. This is due to sophisticated control panel software and the fact that the host handles the majority of the actual server administration. For this reason, shared servers often make the best solution for personal individuals and small businesses who do not receive high volumes of web traffic.
A larger company on the other hand, may find themselves rather limited on a shared server.
These businesses often have high amounts of traffic that require more disk space, bandwidth, software and security. Although a dedicated server is more expensive, this type of hosting gives you much greater control and capability. This is an idea solution for online businesses with both a steady flow of traffic and revenue.
In shared hosting, many providers will guarantee an uptime of 99.9%, a figure that can be calculated in a number of different ways. The performance of your site can be impacted by the service interruptions caused by others on the server. Worst of all, most of these instances will be out of your control. You alone are responsible for managing a dedicated server. This includes building the machine to anticipate high levels of traffic along with any other events that may impact server response and performance.
With a shared hosting plan, you have limited access to applications and the operating system used by the host. Dedicated hosting allows you to install and run customized e-commerce applications, database management utilities and other software to increase functionality. As your site grows with traffic, your storage and applications will need to be enhanced to keep up with demand. A dedicated server also makes way for upgrades whereas a shared server is limited. Not only can software be upgraded but also hard drives, ram processors and even the operating system itself.
Dedicated hosting is likely to be somewhat more secure than shared hosting as well. A dedicated server can be protected with its own firewall along with server security software to fight off malicious content. This is an attribute greatly appreciated by companies storing highly sensitive data on their servers.
In Closing
Dedicated hosting offers a number of benefits to the rapidly evolving business. It puts the power of the web host in your hands, giving you authority over every function down to the critical aspects of the operating system. In your quest for a dedicated hosting provider, be sure to look for one that includes reliable customer support and solid security as well.
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