Dedicated Web Hosting Explained
Why is dedicated hosting such a big hit on the business
web hosting market? If you look at the costs it involves,
usually ranging from $150 - $1000 per month, another question
comes into your mind: Does it even worth it?
Why is dedicated hosting such a big hit on the business
web hosting market? If you look at the costs it involves,
usually ranging from $150 - $1000 per month, another question
comes into your mind: Does it even worth it?
When you have one single web server is rented to a single
customer by the web hosting provider, you have dedicated
web hosting. There are two similar solutions quite common
too in the web hosting industry: virtual dedicated servers
and co-location web hosting.
To make it easier to grasp the concepts, a virtual dedicated
server shares the resources of a web server computer with
other customers of the web hosting provider. You don't get
an entire computer just for you in virtual dedicated server
hosting plans.
Co-locating web hosting also shares some similarities with
dedicated web hosting. The main difference is that while
in dedicated web hosting the web server computer belongs
to the web-hosting provider and is only rented by the customer,
in co-locating web hosting the customer owns the web server
computer. The web-hosting provider only houses the web server
computer and sells bandwidth to the customer.
Real dedicated web hosting a single web server is rented
to a single customer.
Dedicated web hosting is the ideal solution for businesses
that work with high traffic. The functionalities of your
web site as well as the application required for its operation
will fall under your precise control.
But with dedicated web hosting there are even more advantages.
Your hosting provider handles all concerns regarding the
maintenance, the security, and the reliability of your web
server. As your rent the computer, not purchasing it you
don't have to bother yourself with maintaining the hardware
and the connectivity of the computer. This frees you from
replacing the component or solving the problem, as all these
fall into the provider's responsibility. Many web hosting
providers will even offer you compensations as part of the
Service Level Agreement (SLA). Usually, in the event of
such failure you will be reimbursed with the cost of your
hosting plan for a month or a fraction of it, depending
of the severity of the failure. Looks quite good compared
to having to pay for the component and for the technical
support required for actually replacing the component, all
this while your web site in not online. At the end of the
day you will only pay for functional hardware.
Think what your business could do with all the resources
you have just saved on the above maintenance issues.
As the costs of administering and maintaining the web server
you have rented vary depending on your web hosting provider,
you can choose between "managed" or "unmanaged"
service levels.
Should you feel uncomfortable with the technical expertise
required by the management of a web server computer, you
could opt for "managed" dedicated hosting. This
means that you will have available a "control panel".
The control panel allows you to perform all the essential
tasks required by the proper functioning of your web server
via a simply point-and-click user-friendly interface. This
way you won't need to know or type any command lines, or
poses no in depth knowledge of the operating system, while
still being able to setup, administer and maintain all the
web sites on your web server.
The "unmanaged" option is recommended only for
those with great degree of technical expertise in mastering
a web server as it provides root access to the server. This
in turn, offers complete server administration, thus the
possibility to configure every service on your web server.
Of course, not having the necessary services are configured
properly, may result in serious system failure. These are
the reasons that make unmanaged dedicated hosting only recommendable
for people with solid server administration background or
for web developers that need custom applications for their
web sites, or a customized environment.
Having a dedicated server means that the stability of the
computer will not be prone to the plagues affecting shared
web hosting solutions. Just think at overload, server being
crowded with applications and components required by the
other customers, or even errors in programming usually made
by the beginners. Add to that the fact that on a shared
web server the processor time and the installed memory is
shared with the software applications needed by the other
users.
Managed or unmanaged, dedicated web hosting makes it easier
for you to provide instant support to your own customers
when it is required. This would not be possible on a shared
hosting plan or you will be faced with delays and possible
additional technical support fees. Needless to say a prompt
support service on your side also means happy customers
and business growth.
For those running a business in web design for example,
the advantages of having their own dedicated web server
are invaluable. This is true not because his studio will
be able to offer pure hosting services, but because he will
able to offer them packaged with the web design activity.
Modifying a web site for a customer or uploading a new one
is a matter of minutes when you have around-the-clock access
to your web server. Another advantage comes from the fact
that once a complete web presence solution, design and hosting,
is offered by the studio to a customer, there is a higher
chance for having that customer become a regular.
The benefits of a good dedicated web hosting solution for
businesses translate into sales growth, better customer
relationship, improved company image, reduced cost compared
with in-house web hosting solution, and the list could go
on. A dedicated web server means that you can run a better
business and better business reads profit.
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