Are Dedicated Servers Worth It? A Complete Guide – Virtual private servers and shared hosting options work well for some organizations. However, if you want the most powerful, secure, and customizable web hosting option, you need to use a dedicated server. This kind of server gives you full access to all of the server’s resources and processing power. The downside is that dedicated hosting is more expensive.
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What Is a Dedicated Server?
Dedicated hosting is a form of internet service. You have exclusive access to a server. This means that you won’t share RAM, CPU, or other resources with clients. Since your website has the server all to itself, it is immensely flexible, powerful, and customizable.
You can have multiple websites on a dedicated server. If you need more websites than your dedicated server’s resources allow for, you can upgrade to a more powerful server. There is no limit to what you can do with email hosting, web hosting, data operations, and more. You can even make money off a dedicated server by reselling access to the server to others.
Different Types of Dedicated Servers
Dedicated servers fall into two categories. They are managed and unmanaged. Managed dedicated hosting is more expensive than its unmanaged counterpart. However, cost should not be the only thing you consider when determining whether to go the managed or unmanaged route.
Although unmanaged dedicated hosting is less expensive, you need to have sufficient expertise and resources to make the most of the server. It will be up to your in-house team to perform updates, install scripts, mitigate security risk, and deal with compatibility issues. The web hosting company sees to it that the hardware infrastructure runs smoothly.
Managed dedicated hosting will cost you more money, but the hosting provider is wholly responsible for managing the server. Their job is to make sure that engineers monitor and configure your service. They handle all aspects of its operation. Managed dedicated hosting solutions come with solid security options. This includes monitoring for malware, DDoS protection, automatic data backups, regular updates, and operating system hardening.
As a result, managed dedicated hosting typically offers the best performance and highest uptimes. Additionally, if someone else takes on administrating your server, your team has more time for other projects.
Is Dedicated Hosting Right for You?
According to Liquid Web, “Choose between self-managed, core-managed, and fully managed Dedicated Server Hosting plans depending on your business needs.” The number one question you need to answer is, how much traffic do you expect? If you expect a lot of traffic or frequent spikes in traffic, dedicated hosting might be right for you. Dedicated hosting is almost always a must for e-commerce businesses.
If your website is slow during periods of high volume traffic, it is affecting your bottom line. The worst-case scenario is that your site could crash. Visitors might not be able to access it. This means greater bounce rates and lower revenue.
Now Is the Time to Consider Dedicated Hosting
Dedicated hosting is definitely something that you should consider if you have special events or promotions. You want your site to be able to handle spikes up to 30 times your typical daily traffic.
