Fed up of sharing a server with other hosting customers? It may be time to upgrade to dedicated hosting.
Dedicated servers are ideal for businesses looking for more power and control over their projects, including web hosting, database management and machine learning. Shared hosting is adequate for hosting a website with a lower amount of traffic, but as your business grows, you’ll need a hosting solution that can grow with you and offer the most support.
To learn more about the advantages of dedicated hosting and its many applications, our guide will explain everything you need to know.
What is dedicated hosting?
Dedicated hosting is a service where you rent a whole dedicated server from a hosting provider to handle your business’s computing needs, such as hosting your website (or multiple websites) and storing important data. Unlike shared hosting, which is where multiple customers share space on the same server, dedicated hosting gives you an entire physical server to yourself.
These single-tenant servers give you dedicated computing resources like RAM, CPU and storage space, which you won’t have to share with anyone else. Since you’re the only customer on the server, you have full control over its settings, operating system (OS), configuration and resource usage. However, you won’t have to worry about maintaining the server’s hardware or purchasing the server yourself, as server maintenance and upgrades are handled by the hosting provider at one of their data centres.
Learn more: What is a dedicated server?
Advantages of dedicated hosting
We’ve already briefly looked at why dedicated hosting is so appealing, but let’s dig deeper into its main advantages below:
1. No sharing of server space
One of the biggest advantages of dedicated server hosting is that you’re the only tenant on the server. This means you avoid the risk of having bad neighbours on a shared server who take all of the bandwidth and use more than their fair share of computing resources, such as CPU and RAM. Instead, you’ll have your own dedicated resources you can use as you see fit, and no one else can slow you down.
2. Superior performance
Because there’s no one else on the server taking your resources, you can benefit from superior server performance. Thanks to your increased resources, you’ll experience much better stability and reliability with your dedicated server, which is essential if you plan to grow your business. A dedicated server will enable you to host high-traffic ecommerce websites, store vast amounts of data, or even host many websites at the same time, all with maximum uptime.
3. Increased security
Another advantage of having your own server is that you won’t run the risk of sharing server space with people who don’t implement strong security measures. These customers can expose a server to security threats like malware and viruses, putting everyone else on the server at risk.
With a dedicated server, you can avoid these security liabilities. Plus, since you have full control over your single-tenant server, you can install your preferred security software and configure your own security settings, such as two-factor authentication, firewalls and data encryption. This greater level of security is a major reason why companies handling sensitive data (such as businesses in the healthcare and finance industries) prefer dedicated server hosting.
4. Full root access
Full root access gives you the level of control you need to implement all of these security features and install security software. Root access means you’re authorised to access any resource and execute any command on a device (such as your server), so you can customise it to your exact needs.
Having your own dedicated server means that you get full root access and control. This means you can install new applications and updates, customise all software settings and deploy your preferred tools.
5. Flexibility
With a shared server, you’re limited to a pre-loaded operating system and set of applications determined by the hosting provider, which means you can’t customise your server to your own needs and preferences. However, dedicated hosting offers you much more flexibility because you can continually configure and adjust your server. As the needs of your business change, your server can change with you.
6. Scalability
Crucially, this flexibility is what makes dedicated servers so scalable. Since you have a much larger set of allocated resources, your server can easily grow with your business and keep up with the demands of higher traffic loads and larger amounts of data. This isn’t possible with shared hosting, as you’re limited to a much smaller section of a physical server’s resources.
7. No need to purchase or maintain dedicated server equipment
Even though you have more control over your server, you don’t need to worry about physical server maintenance with dedicated hosting. If you purchased your own on-site physical server, you would be in charge of managing the server and paying for its upkeep in your server room. However, with a dedicated hosting plan from a hosting provider, all of the physical maintenance is handled for you, as the provider will keep the server in one of their data centres. This means you can get all the benefits of full server control without the hassle of server management.
Applications of dedicated hosting
So, who can get the most out of these benefits? Let’s explore some of the most common uses of dedicated servers:
1. Databases
Due to the superior storage capacity of dedicated servers, they’re ideal for hosting large amounts of data in a server database. Plus, since these servers are much more secure, they’re the perfect place to store confidential customer information and keep it safe. If your business needs to process, transfer and store a lot of data, dedicated hosting is the best option.
Here at Fasthosts, our dedicated servers are ideal for those who need to store a large amount of sensitive information safely. Fasthosts dedicated hosting customers benefit from up to 192GB of RAM, HDD, SSD or NVMe storage, and Cyber Protect security add-ons.
2. High-traffic ecommerce hosting
If you have an ecommerce website that attracts a lot of daily traffic, you need a server with phenomenal uptime and speeds to prevent customers from being turned away by a slow, buggy site. A dedicated server offers all of the resources you need to keep speeds consistent and maximise your uptime, helping you keep your customers happy and increase your profits. Dedicated servers also have the power necessary to handle seasonal traffic spikes and process a high number of transactions simultaneously, making them the best option for any ecommerce business or any high-traffic websites.
3. Managing multiple websites
Need a server that can grow with your business? Dedicated server hosting is the ideal solution for you.
If you need to host and manage multiple websites, only a dedicated server can give you the resources, power and performance you need. So, if you’re expanding your business or juggling multiple projects, you should consider upgrading your hosting now.
4. Gaming servers
Whether you want to improve your gaming experience for personal satisfaction or create a profitable gaming community, dedicated servers are your best bet when it comes to hosting gaming servers. Dedicated hosting offers the best speeds and stability, which will lower your latency as much as possible and give you a smooth gaming experience. Plus, with full root access, you can fully customise your gaming server and install your favourite mods.
5. AI and machine learning
With the rise of AI technology, many companies are now hoping to harness the power of AI and machine learning to improve business processes and maximise profits. If this sounds appealing to you, you’ll need a powerful dedicated server to handle these complex algorithms and deliver the results you need.
Disadvantages of dedicated servers
There’s no such thing as a perfect solution for everyone when it comes to server hosting. Here are some of the reasons why dedicated servers may not be the best option for some customers:
1. Expensive
All of the amazing benefits of dedicated server hosting come with a higher price tag. With shared hosting, the costs can be evenly distributed among multiple customers, making it a much cheaper way to host a website. With dedicated hosting, you need to pay for your own server space and your dedicated resources by yourself. This can make dedicated servers too expensive for small businesses and start-ups, but you can always upgrade to dedicated hosting in the future as your business grows.
2. Harder to manage
One of the downsides of full root access is that you’ll have to configure all of your settings and install software yourself, which can require quite a bit of time and technical know-how. For those who are new to server hosting, the idea of having all of the settings already configured in a shared hosting environment can be quite appealing.
3. Need to choose the right hosting provider
Choosing your dedicated hosting provider can also be pretty daunting. There are many hosting companies currently offering dedicated hosting services, but not all of them will offer you what you need. To find the best dedicated server hosting for your business, make sure you compare multiple hosting providers and consider the following points:
- The operating system offered – if you prefer Windows or Linux, make sure you choose a hosting provider that offers your favourite OS.
- The type of storage – many hosting companies offer HDD and SSD storage.
- The amount of RAM, bandwidth and processing power offered.
- Security features – does the hosting provider offer excellent server security features like data encryption, firewall management, multiple SSL certificates and security add-ons like Acronis Cyber Protect?
- The level of customer support offered – 24/7 support is necessary if you want quick responses to server problems at any time to keep your business running smoothly.
Get all of these features and more with Fasthosts Dedicated Server Hosting. Our Dedicated Servers give you the best tech, first-class security and unparalleled performance, so whatever your business needs, we’ve got you covered. Get in touch for more information on our Dedicated Server deals.
