A Dedicated Server is a server provided by a web host for you to rent. It is a different from normal virtual (shared) hosting. In fact, having a dedicated server is completely the opposite, every aspect of that server, as well as the network connection is dedicated only to your website.
Of course, a semi-dedicated server is one which is shared by few clients. A dedicated one is the next step up from a shared hosting environment and is used for many business, management and development purposes. It is usually needed for a website (or set of related company sites) that may develop a considerable amount of traffic or when they expect considerable amount of visitors. It is yours to use exclusively, so you have 100% of the processor and 100% of the available disk space working for you. Being like your own server, you do not have any restriction on the bandwidth or the CPU utilization.
So it’s ideal for advanced users who want maximum freedom and flexibility. One advantage in having such a server is that you can create customized control panels for managing your server. Furthermore, the certificate services are the backbone of your organization’s security. In the Web hosting business, this is typically a rented service, leased from a hosting company. Although it’s more expensive than a virtual one, the cost to set up your own dedicated server is still quite low.
Getting started is always a little laborious and standard setup time for this server is usually 24-48 hours after your order has been verified.
Dedicated Server – What’s That?
Web hosting comes in two general flavors – shared servers (where you and a bunch of other clients of the hosting provider are all hosted on the same physical machine) and a dedicated server (where your hosting is on a single machine for all your own web sites.)
Shared server solutions are great for getting into the business, because they’re usually set up to be more user friendly to the novice web site administrator. They’ll have consoles, lots of menus to select from and they’re also usually a lot cheaper. They’re also usually on lower-end hardware, because the people who sell hosting packages know that the people who need more will upgrade.
The downside of shared servers is that performance can take a serious hit. Now, if you’re mostly using WordPress for a blog, hosting a couple of database driven items, that’s not so bad – up until your traffic spikes. Or, worse yet, if one of the other people on that physical box has their traffic spike, or they get hacked, or spam-scripted into oblivion.
Much the same way that everyone sharing the same bathroom means you have to wait for the shower, the same thing applies to splitting CPU cycles, disk space, bandwidth and RAM on a server. If you notice that your site is consistently loading slowly, you’re probably in the market for a dedicated server package.
Other signs of this need include wanting to use a piece of software that isn’t already installed on the server; most hosting providers won’t let you install, say, your own custom software on a shared server, because it’s possible you could bring down a lot of other web sites if you screw up with it. On your own server, they’ll give you enough rope to hang yourself, and may even give you shell access.
Dedicated servers are a lot more expensive than shared ones. But they’re critical if you’ve got a piece of functionality that must always run, like a shopping cart package. They’re also important if you want more direct control over your metrics and your own web site administration.
When it’s time to get a dedicated server, you should talk to your hosting provider and see what can and is available, and how scalable the packages are. Most will be happy to give you the upgrade, and will usually bundle something with it as part of a contract setup.
The major downside of a dedicated server is that there’s a lot less handholding, and the tech support gets a lot more expensive. Hosting providers are trying to minimize expenses, which is why shared hosting exists – it’s less expensive for them, and from a software installation perspective, it’s the equivalent of a fast food order – you can only get the things off the menu. It costs less to train the techs, there’s less need for the techs to do things…and when you go to a dedicated server, in a lot of cases, you’re going to be your own technical support agent.
Different Types of Server Hosting
There are many different types of internet server hosting services that would help you in maintaining and improving your website. However, there are only two basic classifications of servers. They are the free web and the commercial or paid hosting. The free hosting services offered by many companies have advantages and disadvantages of their own. The client need not make any investments whatsoever. But the utilities and services are very limited when compared with paid services and this means that the chances of improving your website are very low.
When you talk about paid hosting services, there are many which are highly useful for the build-up and the popularity of an internet website. However, the most popular, or in other words, the most preferred forms of paid services of them all are only a few. The names of such popular services are the shared web-hosting, reseller web-hosting, dedicated servers and managed servers. In shared web-hosting, the client will hire a server from a provider on a rental basis (Monthly rentals). This is slightly better than the free server hosting as it has many features like better bandwidth, larger space etc. However, it is not as good as many of the other paid services because it has lot of disadvantages like insecurity, inability to handle big traffic. But the option of a shared server hosting service is very good if you are opening a relatively new website and if it does not have large space and sensitive information. Moreover, shared web hosting does not require much of an investment.
A reseller web server is nothing but you buy and distribute a server. For example, you buy an account in any server provider (Say for $25 per month). You then divide this server into many smaller units and sell them separately to other people who are in need of servers. This is actually a business oriented approach where you can earn lot more than you spend on a monthly basis. This is recommended for all those who want to earn some healthy money through online if they feel that they are not good enough to handle and maintain a website of their own.
Dedicated web server is the server bought to run and maintain your website. This is in fact the best form of hired server service because all the powers of controlling the server are vested in your hands. Dedicated servers are best suited for clients who own a big website or for organizations that deal with lot of online customers.
There are many other server hosting services which require special mention. They are the Virtual Dedicated Server, managed Hosting service, Cloud, Colocation Web, Grid, Clustered, Homer server, FFmpeg hosting service etc. There are also other forms of web server hosting services provided by different providers which includes File Hosting, Blog, Shopping Cart Software, E-mail, Video, One-click and Image Hosting Services respectively.