Dedicated Server Hosting – Everything You Need to Know

If you have ever purchased a car before, you are probably good enough to purchase a dedicated server too. Yes, it is that simple.

Once, you have decided you want a website, what’s the next step going to be? Obviously, you need a server from where to fetch and store your files, scripts, images, and everything else.

A server is a drive-through. Shoppers stop by, make their order, get served and set foot on the throttle again.

Similarly, a dedicated server will also serve requests from visitors (site visitors). It will deliver the content from the database to the visitor’s computer. Depending upon how engaging the content is, the visitor will either hang around for some time, or choose to abandon immediately.

If you have never seen a dedicated server before, this is what it looks like.

In fact, every server looks exactly the same, be it – Shared Server, Virtual Private Server, or the Dedicated Server.

What Makes Dedicated Server a Dedicated Server?

When the hosting company leases you a server, it asks whether you want to share the lease with other users or want to rent the machine all by yourself.

When you choose –

1. To share the server with other tenants, all will bear the cost so per head cost is less.

2. To lease all on your own, though you have more freedom to do what you want, you end up paying more. 

In case 1	You are said to have a Shared Hosting, or a VPS Hosting.
In case 2	You are said to have opted for Dedicated Server Hosting or simply Dedicated Hosting.

Dedicated Hosting Advantages

If shared hosting can also get the work done, what’s the point in paying 5 times more for a dedicated server?

But it doesn’t work like that. A simple keypad phone is cheaper than iPhone X but does that mean people should stop buying iPhones? No.

Here are a few advantages of dedicated hosting to prove they, too, are worth the money.

1. Control –

Sole ownership translates to enhanced controls. You can do absolutely as you wish with your server. This is probably the reason why every developer yearns owning dedicated servers.

2. Security –

Who do you think is more secure among the two?

a. A shared hosting, in which hundreds of websites are hosted on the same server, with malware from one website breaking in to all other sites, or

b. Dedicated hosting, with a lone proprietor, isolated from all other vulnerable websites.

Dedicated hosting, of course.

Websites that store crucial data such as credit card details, payment info need to have a secure hosting and thus only prefer dedicated servers.

1. Performance –

Performance, perhaps, is why everybody wants Plesk dedicated server hosting. Because the entire resource of a server is in your hand, you can not only better manage it, but also effectively handle any surge in your traffic.

Uptime Comparison Among Various Hosting
Shared Hosting	99.6% and above
VPS Hosting	99.7 % to 99.92
Dedicated Server Hosting	99.95% to 99.999%

Note – figures only represent average estimation. Uptime varies from provider to provider.

Though there are other advantages as well – such as administrative controls, customizability, and reliability – the above three benefits sum them all.

Dedicated Server Types –

Depending upon services offered and Operating System used. Dedicated hosting is classified in several ways.

However, the classification based on Operating System is more profound and will be dealt with in more detail.

Linux Dedicated Server Hosting

When you buy a new desktop the first thing you probably consider is the Operating System to configure with it.

And so with every dedicated server you get to choose between a variety of OS, of which Linux and Windows are the most dominant ones.

A Linux dedicated hosting is one setup with Linux OS. Now with Linux only, there are as many as 500 distros or the distributions. Linux has open-source code. Means, anyone can modify, use and distribute their version of Linux OS.

This allows for even more control on dedicated server. You are free to make use of the source code and modify settings to service your website visitors better.

To know more about Linux, play video below.

Top 10 features of dedicated server hosting and comparison of windows dedicated server with linux dedicated server.

Windows Dedicated Server

Windows Dedicated Server has Windows as its underlying operating system. Though almost every desktop comes loaded with Windows, developers do not prefer it as much as they prefer Linux.

First off, Windows OS is highly expensive. The home-use licence itself costs a few hundred dollars and the server edition would come for no less than a thousand dollars.

1000 bucks are too much to pay when compared to Linux, which is absolutely free.

We have put things in place in the following table to help you better understand the difference in a more comprehensive manner.

Linux vs Windows Dedicated Servers
	Windows Dedicated Server	Linux Dedicated Server
1.Operating System
a.Source code	Restricted	Open
b.Cost	Paid	Free. Enterprise level paid version available.
c.Support	Available	Available only with paid version
2.Control Panel	Plesk & cPanel	cPanel
3.Control	OS does not offer much freedom	Control offered by the OS is a plus point
4.Customizability	OS-based customization not possible	OS-based customization possible.
5.Security	Both servers are more or less equally secure
6.Interface	GUI	GUI and command line
7.ASP and ASP.Net scripting frameworks	Compatible	Incompatible
8.Ease to configure	Easy to handle the server	Server handling is difficult
9.Updates	Provided.	Not provided frequently.
10.Features	Only updates can add new features	User can themselves add features.

Classification based on service type

Except shared hosting, which is always managed, every other hosting is of the following two types –

1. Managed

In managed dedicated server hosting, the provider will take care of all tasks involving data backups, security, setting up Apache and even routine maintenance. People often have a misconception that managed services lead to loss of control, but this is not always the case. You can do pretty much everything with managed hosting as you do with the unmanaged. The only difference being the provider will work on your behalf.

2. Unmanaged

Think of unmanaged services as a car. When you buy a new car the salesperson makes you sign papers, and, in turn, hands you the keys. You are then free to run your ride in whatever way you want.

 Unmanaged dedicated server hosting services are equivalent. The provider will setup the server, connect switches, turn on the lights and hand you the control. You only reach out to the provider when the server needs maintenance that is not in your hands.

Table below summarizes the difference between the two hosting –

	Managed Dedicated Hosting**	Unmanaged Dedicated Hosting**
Automated Backups	Automated	Manual
Performance Monitoring	Vendor-monitored	Manual monitoring
Software Updates	Automatic	Manual update required
Malware Removal and Scanning	Done by provider	Manual
Control Panel	Available	Available
SSH Access	Available	Not available
Support Service	Available	Available
On-demand Services	Available	Not available

How to choose the best dedicated server?

Not all dedicated hosting is the same. From technical standpoint, every server is different. So, how to do you choose the best dedicated server? Here’s how.

1. RAM

To run your website smoothly, your OS should meet the minimum requirements for your dedicated server. If your OS is not able to meet the compatibility, your website will load extremely slow and ruin user experience.

Know the amount of RAM your OS dedicated server demands from the OS. It is always advisable to run 1 or 2 GB more than what is required.

2. Amount of Traffic

You are not probably starting blindfolded. There has to be some digging you might have done beforehand. It is advisable to have an idea about the amount of traffic your website will have.

A lot of traffic needs a considerable amount of RAM to handle. If traffic is not going to be an issues as such, running bare minimum configuration would do more than enough.

3. Static or Dynamic, Responsive or not?

Well, if you have not heard of it before, static websites are those not linked to a database.

Static sites will not need as much RAM as it will need storage. On the other hand, Dynamic website require more RAM to smoothly load and deliver files from the database and cache it.

Responsive pages are those that adjust themselves according to the user’s view port.

For such pages to deliver graphics faster will require additional Graphic processors and more RAM than usual.

Dedicated server hosting – disadvantages

You might be wondering if dedicated hosting has all perks and no minuses, why people would use any other server.

As a matter of fact, there are some loose ends with dedicated hosting as well. Read below

1. Single point of failure

If any of your server’s components fail, your website will witness complete outage, until you fix each and everything again.

An outage is Stage IV Cancer. There is nothing you could do to prevent visitors from not abandoning your website.

2. Worn out parts

Choosing a good host is not sufficient alone. As the hardware gets old, the performance dips. Older data centers are bound to have more downtime and inferior performance.

3. Cost

Dedicated hosting involves huge cost upfront. It is perhaps why developers are more inclined towards Linux dedicated hosting – to save any extra penny they can.

We hope the above article on dedicated server hosting has helped you enough. If there are any more questions on Linux dedicated hosting or windows dedicated servers, kindly drop your queries in the comment box below. You shall hear from us in no time.

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