Web Hosting Reviews & Ratings

April 21, 2011

Is the High Cost of Dedicated Hosting Warranted?

Dedicated hosting is by far the most expensive hosting type available today, with monthly costs ranging from $100 to more than $400, depending on the size and capabilities of the server. Dedicated hosting provides unparalleled server power that equates to excellent site performance and minimum site downtime. If your websites are hosted on a dedicated server the pages will load quickly, and you'll be able to accommodate a large number of visitors simultaneously. While these attributes are certainly appealing, it is possible to obtain the same level of service with a cheaper hosting plan if your hosting requirements are less demanding. The majority of webmasters choose to purchase a dedicated hosting plan because in most industries high cost equates to high quality, and this is certainly true of dedicated hosting. However, dedicated hosting plans are not necessary for the majority of webmasters. The following paragraphs list situations in which the high cost of dedicated hosting would be warranted.

Hosting a Massive Website

If your website is growing exponentially and the level of traffic cannot be accommodated by your current hosting plan, you'll want to consider upgrading. It should be noted that most large websites can be hosted with a VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting plan adequately, and only the largest and most successful sites will require the use of a dedicated server. The primary determining factors to consider when deciding whether or not a dedicated server is needed to host your authority site are the daily traffic level, subsequent bandwidth consumption, and the total amount of disk space needed to store all of your site's files. Ultimately, you should make the decision to upgrade based on the current performance of your site; if you notice slow page loads or persistent site downtime it may be time to consider a dedicated hosting plan.

Hosting a Large Network of Smaller Sites

Most people underestimate the needs of a network of small blogs, and fail to accommodate these needs as the network expands. Novice webmasters typically begin their online endeavors by purchasing a cheap shared or VPS hosting plan. If the webmaster is successful this plan will quickly become obsolete and will need to be upgraded. Unfortunately, most people upgrade several times before obtaining a plan that can adequately accommodate their hosting needs on a continual basis. With each site that is added to the network, more bandwidth and disk space is being consumed, placing a greater strain on the web server. If your network is starting to exceed 20 to 30 websites, it may be time to consider the advantages of a dedicated hosting plan.

Utilizing Server-Based Software

If you have the need to operate server-based software that automates site administration and search engine optimization tasks, a dedicated hosting plan would most definitely be beneficial. A dedicated hosting plan will give you access to the server root were the software configuration of the server can be changed, and new applications can be installed. Unfortunately, shared hosting plans and some VPS plans do not provide this privilege, and are therefore not suitable for software operation. It should be noted that Microsoft-based applications will need to be run within a dedicated server that uses the Windows operating system, which is slightly more expensive than those that utilize Linux.

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