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When you embark on a web project, it is relatively difficult for you to guess its success, so it is common to begin with a shared hosting package. A shared web hosting service may have been operating okay for you for some time, consequently you never thought of upgrading to a higher level plan throughout that time. What might have been most annoying to you now and again could have been the total amount of downtime your website had seen ever since it was residing on a shared web hosting server. Unauthorized access to your account because of intrusion attempts may also have been a matter of concern to you, which kept you worried in view of the fact that you were not pleased with the level of security on your shared web hosting account. Such kind of problems may not have been that important when you started, however, given the current development and success that your project is seeing, you may no longer be able to endure them. Consequently, there may arise a need later on to consider alternative hosting options, either because your online business has grown to the level where shared hosting cannot sustain it, or a better functionality is needed over the extension phase.
A VPS hosting service may be considered as suitable at such a time. However, even a VPS web hosting service may not be able to sustain the exponential growth pattern reflected by a rapid surge in the number of visitors to your site. This is precisely the point where you may start feeling that the challenging requirements of your online venture can only be sustained by a higher-level web hosting service, i.e. a dedicated hosting server. As a result, a dedicated hosting service appears to be a smart and practical option to you, since it can not only sustain your online growth but can also offer that extra functionality and protection needed by your project.
In order to find out what to expect from a dedicated hosting service, entrepreneurs are strongly advised to read this article since it can give them an idea of what may be expected from such a service. What follows describes the important characteristics of dedicated web hosting.
1. Complete Server
Dedicated server hosting implies that the web hosting company lets out an entire server to you, which can then be used as stated by your personal requirements. This gives you the peace of mind that your server resources are not meant to be shared with others, be it the microprocessor, the hard drives, or the random access memory.
2. Customized Programs
The installation of software according to your specific needs is another advantage of a dedicated server.
3. Full Control over Access Rights
In case you have provided access to other users to the software that is set up on the system, they can also use those applications concurrently with you.
4. Unrestricted Data Transfer Quota
A dedicated hosting server is particularly appropriate for any website that gets loads of traffic. This is because dedicated hosting providers do not usually restrict the total data transfer, thereby allowing your site to continue to function even at peak loads.
5. Flexible Customization Options
Aside from the ability to set up almost any kind of program on the machine, what adds the greatest value to such a plan is the level of possible customization. The ability to adapt the server is usually unlimited in the case of many dedicated server hosting companies.
6. Flexible Options to Add Additional Features
With a dedicated hosting deal, you may opt for any of the available features in order to achieve the required configuration.
7. Choice of Operating System
Since different programs demand different operating environments, one of your first concerns is the selection of the correct OS. Two major operating systems namely Windows and Linux Red Hat are commonly offered by a great majority of dedicated hosting providers.
8. A Number of Control Panels to Choose from
On the control panel side, CPanel and Plesk are two of the most popular control panels, consequently these are generally offered by dedicated server hosting providers. Although CPanel is the more widely used one, Plesk is also admired for a number of reasons and functions that are absent in CPanel.
9. Reliable Web Hosting Platform
Stability is another primary factor behind the popularity of dedicated hosting in contrast with a shared hosting server. The low response time of the installed programs is another eminent trait of a dedicated hosting server, which is again because the system resources are not shared among many users.
10. Unrestricted Bandwidth Results in Much Faster Access
With a dedicated server, the total bandwidth that your site is receiving will remain unaffected because there is no other site asking for any bandwidth from the server. The effect is that your high-traffic site will run at lightning fast speed and the requests originating from the browsers of your visitors will be fulfilled in literally no time.
11. Extra Security
A dedicated server hosting plan is also well known for its ability to handle any security risks contrary to a shared hosting server. Since numerous user accounts reside on a shared hosting server, it becomes fairly easy for a user to upload a malicious virus-infected file or application, which if goes undetected by the installed antivirus, can infect your account as well. In order to counteract this, a huge majority of dedicated servers come installed with an external hardware firewall which can tighten your security defenses along with giving you the option of changing any access rights you may wish. As a result, with a dedicated server, you can enjoy a tension free sound sleep in the night being aware that no one can get access to your server under any circumstances.
12. Unique IP Address Eliminates Translation Software
The availability of a dedicated IP address turns out to be another significant benefit of dedicated server hosting, in that when a visitor attempts to access the website, it is recognized almost immediately. The availability of a unique IP address with companies offering shared hosting packages is quite limited. Even those who do offer this feature generally cost more than those who do not. A shared IP address, available with a shared hosting server, results in a comparatively slower access to the site, owing to the fact that a separate software on the server identifies the partition to which the URL is assigned. Although this operation is typically quite fast, it has the potential to be slowed down due to a large number of sites hosted on the shared server all of which have simultaneous incoming requests. Contrarily, there is no translation software needed in the case of a dedicated hosting server, which results in a much quicker access speed.
13. Extra Level of Protection for Your Data
Dedicated server hosting is also differentiated from shared server hosting in that it also provides you the option to set up extra hard drives on the server. Having an added hard disk is very useful, given that it can be used for making regular backups, aside from the primary hard disk which has the operating system and programs installed on it. This adds a great deal of safety to your crucial business data and is available only with a dedicated server. One application of the secondary storage medium may be to safeguard any crucial data your web applications might be generating, such as your client credit card information. Besides, a secondary backup FTP account may also be provided by the dedicated hosting company, which may be used to reproduce the crucial content on the regular FTP account.
Conclusion
We expect you to harness the information presented in this article to your benefit, by making an informed decision to go with the right dedicated web hosting provider, which is not only low-cost but also suits your specific needs. This may not be as hard as it seems to be once you have acquainted yourself with all the necessary information given by this article. To be very frank, there is no hard and fast formula for identifying the right dedicated hosting company in accordance with the user requirements, and there are more than one ways to reach the correct conclusion. However, no matter which dedicated company you ultimately decide to go with, the above-mentioned important benefits must be looked for in a company before making the final decision.
Summary
The intent of this article is to pinpoint when it becomes necessary to switch from a shared to a dedicated server. This is followed by a description of the fundamental attributes of a dedicated server. The intent is to acquaint the customer with what may be expected from such a service.
About the Author
Michael Smith has been reviewing and rating the leading web hosting companies since 2005. He owns and operates a website Cheap Web Hosting which offers articles on hosting, information about web hosting technologies, along with category wise reviews of some of the best web hosting companies.
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