The Ultimate Guide to Dedicated Servers

There are many types of web hosting on the market, so if you’re looking for a server to host your web project – whether that involves developing an app, hosting an e-commerce website, managing databases, AI algorithm development, or hosting a private gaming server – where do you even begin?

We understand your frustration, which is why we’ve created a series of ‘Ultimate Guides’ to help you understand the main types of web hosting products out there, from Web Hosting to Email Hosting. For customers looking for a premium web hosting option, you can’t get any better than a Dedicated Server – giving you dedicated resources, total privacy and security, full control over server customisation, and unparalleled storage capacity and processing power for even the most demanding applications.

Interested? Keep reading to discover everything you need to know about dedicated server hosting, including what a dedicated server is and how it works, its advantages and disadvantages, the different types of dedicated servers, and how to choose the perfect dedicated hosting plan for your needs.

Let’s get started!

What is a dedicated server?
How does a dedicated server work?
How do I access and manage a dedicated server?
Dedicated server vs Bare Metal server
Dedicated server vs VPS
Advantages of dedicated servers
Disadvantages of dedicated servers
Uses for a dedicated server
Types of dedicated server
How to choose the right dedicated server
Looking for another type of server?
Frequently asked questions about dedicated server hosting

What is a dedicated server?

A dedicated server does exactly what it says on the tin – it’s a server dedicated entirely to one client, i.e., dedicated entirely to you. Dedicated hosting is the opposite of shared hosting, which is where multiple customers (or tenants) share space and computing resources (including storage, RAM and CPUs).

To help you picture this concept, think of a shared server as a single flat in an apartment block and a dedicated server as a detached house. In the first example, you’ll have to share common areas of the building and you may be more affected by the actions of your neighbours, but your living costs will be cheaper. This is a great analogy for shared web hosting, as it’s typically the cheapest option because you have to share resources – and you also may be affected by “noisy neighbours”, referring to other tenants on the server who use more than their fair share of resources (which can slow you down). To avoid “noisy neighbours” and get plenty of resources all to yourself, you can upgrade to a dedicated server – or a detached house, in this example – but this will naturally be more expensive.

Not only are all the resources dedicated just to you, but since there are no other tenants on your dedicated server, you get total control to customise your server environment however you wish – there’s no need to accommodate other tenants’ requirements, after all! Having the highest level of administrative control on a server is called full root access, and this is very valuable for those who want total freedom when it comes to installing software, managing security settings, installing updates, and more.

How does a dedicated server work?

When you rent a dedicated server from a hosting provider like Fasthosts, you get exclusive access to a physical server housed within the provider’s data centre. Your server provider will give you full root access to the server, allowing you to customise server settings according to your needs, whether you want to host an e-commerce site or develop an app. Plus, you’ll also get the freedom to select which operating system (OS) and hardware you want, as well as your network bandwidth, RAM, CPUs, and so on.

How do I access and manage a dedicated server?

Since your dedicated server will be housed in your provider’s data centre rather than on your business’s premises, you will need to connect to it remotely. For a Linux server, you can connect via SSH (Secure Shell), which will involve using an SSH client like PuTTY and entering your server’s IP address and root username and password. For a Windows server, you can connect using the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).

Dedicated server vs bare metal server

If you’ve already read our ultimate guide to bare metal servers, you may be wondering what the difference is between dedicated servers vs bare metal servers. While these server hosting options are very similar – with both offering dedicated resources and full root access to completely customise your server environment – they’re not exactly the same.

A key difference between the two is that bare metal servers usually come with all of the latest server technologies as standard, whereas dedicated servers sometimes offer the same technologies as optional add-ons. This can make bare metal servers the preferred option for those who want these features from the get-go, but at the same time, this can mean that more technical knowledge (and time) is required to manage a bare metal server.

Another difference is that bare metal servers can be fully or partially virtualised with a bare metal hypervisor in order to create a private cloud network, which you can learn more about in our Bare Metal Server Ultimate Guide. Creating a private cloud can offer performance, control, customisation and scalability benefits if you’re interested in server virtualisation, but the downside is that set-up and management can be time-consuming and challenging.

Here at Fasthosts, we support the virtualisation of bare metal servers so you can get the most out of your server configuration. Our Bare Metal Servers are supported by our CloudNX infrastructure, giving you the power of dedicated resources with the flexibility of a virtual server. While dedicated hosting gives you a set amount of resources and a fixed monthly payment structure, our bare metal hosting gives you the option to start, stop and pause your server whenever you need, and you’ll get down-to-the-minute billing so you only pay for the resources you use. This is especially useful for projects with fluctuating resource demands, such as hosting an ecommerce website with seasonal traffic peaks.

However, if you prefer the easier management and consistent billing of a non-virtualised dedicated server, then a dedicated web hosting package may be better for you.

Dedicated server vs VPS

Virtual private servers (VPS) are also frequently compared to dedicated servers. VPS hosting gives you the opportunity to get dedicated resources and full root access without paying for an entire dedicated server, which can get pretty expensive. But how can a shared server offer this?

A VPS (less commonly known as a virtual dedicated server) is created by splitting a physical server into isolated virtual compartments called virtual machines (VMs). Each VM or VPS has its own allocated resources and runs its own operating system, giving you some of the benefits of a dedicated server for a fraction of the cost.

However, since you’re not getting access to a full server and all of its resources, dedicated hosting is still the best choice if you need a lot of power for your projects – and total privacy from other clients. Usually, small-to-medium-sized businesses will start with a VPS, and then as their requirements and budget both increase, they will move from a VPS to a dedicated hosting plan to take advantage of greater speeds, processing power, storage capacity, security measures, and more.

Advantages of dedicated servers

With so many other hosting options available, what would make someone choose dedicated hosting? Here are the main benefits you can expect from a dedicated server hosting plan:

1. More resources

As the only tenant on the server, you avoid the risk of having bad neighbours who take all of the bandwidth and use more than their fair share of computing resources. Instead, you’ll have your own dedicated resources you can use as you see fit, and no one else can slow you down.

2. More powerful

With an entire server’s resources dedicated solely to you, you’ll have the power you need to run any kind of project – no matter how demanding. Whether you’re hosting multiple high-traffic websites, developing complex applications, streaming high-quality audio and video, developing machine learning algorithms, or managing multiple large databases, you need a dedicated server to handle your projects without downtime, errors or drops in performance.

3. More secure

Since you’re not sharing a server with anyone else, this greatly improves your data privacy and security. Even on isolated shared servers like VPS, there’s still a risk that another tenant’s poor security practices could have an impact on you. For example, if cybercriminals got access to their portion of the server, this could pose a risk to your projects.

To get total peace of mind, you need a dedicated server. Without any other tenants to worry about, you’ll also get full root access to customise server settings – including security settings. Install your preferred security software and take cybersecurity measures into your own hands to protect your data.

4. More control

Not only can you install your preferred security software, but full root access to your dedicated server also gives you the ability to completely customise all aspects of the server environment. Install your preferred OS, software and tools, and adjust your server settings to suit the needs of your projects – and no one else’s.

5. More scalable

A dedicated server is a huge step up from a shared server or VPS, and with all of those resources now at your disposal, you’ve got lots of scope to scale up your business operations over the years. This means there’s no need to switch hosting plans or providers for a long time, thus reducing potential disruption from moving hosting services.

While dedicated server hardware resources certainly aren’t unlimited, you’ll have more than enough to support even the most demanding of projects with ease. So even if you plan to grow your business rapidly in the near future, your dedicated server will be able to keep up.

6. Better for larger organisations and projects

VPS hosting is a great option for small businesses and solo entrepreneurs, but if you run a larger organisation, you need the power of a dedicated server to support you. Dedicated servers can host websites, manage databases, develop complex applications and algorithms, and even host huge private gaming servers without performance issues, making them the number one choice for customers looking for a server with a little more ‘oomph’.

Need an even beefier dedicated server with enough storage capacity to securely manage multiple large databases? Take a look at our Dedicated Storage Servers to get up to an incredible 96TB raw storage.

Disadvantages of dedicated servers

If dedicated servers were perfect for everyone, there wouldn’t be so many other types of hosting packages to choose from. Here’s why a dedicated server may not be the best choice for some customers:

1. Expensive

All of these amazing benefits come at a cost – often a very large monthly cost. Renting an entire server for yourself is obviously much more expensive than renting part of a shared server, as the hosting costs of that shared server can be split among multiple customers.

The most powerful dedicated hosting packages can cost hundreds of pounds per month, but by customising your hardware and OS choice, you can find relatively cheap dedicated servers from some providers. Here at Fasthosts, our cheap dedicated hosting option starts at just £70 per month (50% off for the first month), rather than multiple hundreds of pounds. If you’re starting to outgrow a VPS hosting plan, trying a less expensive dedicated server is a great way to ease the transition from VPS to dedicated.

2. Hardware limitations

You’re unlikely to outgrow the abundant resources of a dedicated server, but this doesn’t mean they’re unlimited. In fact, in certain cases, you may actually find your dedicated server to be less scalable than virtual server options, such as VPS or cloud servers. This is because renting a dedicated server means you’re restricted by the hardware limitations of that server – essentially, there’s a set amount of resources. However, with cloud hosting options, you can continue to add virtual resources to your plan as needed, because you’re supported by an entire network of cloud servers rather than one physical server.

3. More difficult to manage

Full root access is a brilliant benefit if you want total control over server customisation, but the downside is that you will need to spend more time on server management. Not only can server management be time-consuming, but it can also be challenging if you don’t know what you’re doing. And in the worst-case scenario, you could potentially make your server vulnerable to security breaches through improper management.

Managing a dedicated server is more feasible if you have IT professionals or an entire IT team in your organisation to stay on top of server maintenance, including software installation, upgrades, threat monitoring, and more. This, coupled with the high monthly costs of dedicated servers, is a key reason why dedicated hosting is much more common among larger enterprises than small businesses or solo entrepreneurs.

Uses for a dedicated server

So, what are dedicated servers used for? Dedicated servers are used for more resource-intensive projects, but for less demanding applications like hosting a blog, shared hosting or VPS hosting would be more appropriate. Here are just a few examples of what these resource-intensive projects might be:

1. Managing large databases

With an entire server all to yourself, you have all the storage capacity you need to host and manage large databases – especially if you opt for a dedicated storage server. Thanks to their impressive processing power, physical isolation and robust security, dedicated servers are excellent at handling a high volume of data requests while also ensuring the security of your data and customers’ data against cybercriminals.

2. Hosting high-traffic websites

Whilst a VPS is definitely sufficient for a business website or a smaller ecommerce site, you need the power of a dedicated server if you want to host multiple high-traffic websites without performance bottlenecks. Page load time is an essential metric for keeping visitors on your website, and to secure the best possible speeds and minimal downtime, you need the abundant resources of your own dedicated server.

For hosting high-traffic ecommerce sites in particular, a bare metal server may be an even better option if your traffic fluctuates heavily across different seasons. This is because you can start, stop and pause your server whenever you need, and with down-to-the-minute billing, you only pay for the resources you actually use. Dedicated servers give you a set amount of resources for a set price each month, so they’re the better choice if you need more consistency (and easier management) from your server.

3. Hosting private gaming servers and streaming services

Just like with hosting a high-traffic website, excellent speeds and minimal latency are crucial for online gaming, where even the smallest amount of lag can make a huge difference to your gameplay. For a private gaming server with friends, a VPS would be more than sufficient for your needs, but if you want to potentially monetise your game server by inviting large numbers of people to a unique, heavily modded gaming environment, a dedicated server would be a much better choice. Similarly, if you’re hoping to stream content online, you need a powerful server that’s able to deliver live or on-demand multimedia streams without lag – and a dedicated server is perfect for this.

A dedicated server offers far superior processing power and an abundance of resources, allowing you to host hundreds of players or stream online without frustrating lag or crashes. Whether you’re looking for a Minecraft dedicated server, Palworld server, CS2 server, or any other type of game server for your gaming or streaming needs, a dedicated server is sure to offer you all of the resources you need and more.

Looking for a dedicated server that’s optimised for gaming? Check out our range of dedicated game servers!

4. Big data processing

Big data processing refers to a collection of frameworks, techniques or models used to access large-scale data and extract useful information. As you can imagine, storing and processing these huge amounts of data requires a very powerful server – like a dedicated server.

For example, if you’re collecting huge amounts of data from Internet of Things (IoT) devices, a dedicated server will be able to process this data without performance issues, allowing you to extract key data rapidly and precisely. Plus, due to the physical isolation of dedicated servers, they can store this data more securely – which is essential when handling sensitive data or proprietary projects.

5. Staying compliant with data protection regulations

Speaking of sensitive data, dedicated servers are an excellent choice if your organisation needs to comply with strict data protection regulations like GDPR. Thanks to their total physical isolation and the ability to take full control over security measures, a dedicated server environment is preferable – and sometimes even required – if your organisation handles sensitive information like medical, legal or financial data.

6. App development

The power of dedicated servers makes them ideal for web project development – especially if you need plenty of resources plus the security of a totally isolated server environment. With a dedicated server, you get abundant resources and top-of-the-line security for the design, production and testing processes of app development, which is especially useful if you’re working on proprietary software or using sensitive data that needs to be completely private.

Types of dedicated server

Now you know a bit more about the benefits and uses of dedicated servers, you may be interested in looking for your own dedicated server deals. However, there’s more than one type of dedicated server on the market, so to find the perfect one for you, you need to know a bit more about what’s available and the types of customers they’re right for.

1. Managed dedicated server

Some hosting companies offer managed hosting packages, which means they’ll take care of server management tasks like:

Day-to-day server maintenance
24/7 technical support
Server configuration
Server setup
Server monitoring
Load balancing
Caching
Server security (which can include firewall configuration, DDoS protection, malware scanning, intrusion detection, and more)
Resource and performance optimisation
Physical security at their data centre
Server hardware management
Backups and disaster recovery
Network infrastructure management

Some managed hosting plans offer different levels of management. With a fully managed dedicated hosting plan, your hosting provider will handle all server maintenance for you, including the tasks listed above and the installation of patches and updates to keep your dedicated server secure and performing optimally. Other managed dedicated hosting packages, including semi-managed dedicated hosting, may give you more responsibility for some updates, configuration and day-to-day monitoring and maintenance, but you won’t have to worry about all of the initial setup and hardware management.

Managed hosting is perfect if you want the power of a dedicated server without the hassle of managing it yourself. This is especially useful if you don’t have an IT team available to handle server maintenance for you. You’ll be able to devote more time to your business, and you won’t run the risk of improperly managing your server and potentially increasing the chance of a security breach.

However, the downside is that managed dedicated hosting is even more expensive than regular dedicated hosting packages, as you’re paying for the time and expertise of your hosting provider. This extra cost may be worth it if you’re willing to pay more for your time and peace of mind, but if you have a team on hand to handle server maintenance for your organisation, you can save money by doing it in-house rather than outsourcing this work.

2. Unmanaged dedicated server

As you can imagine, an unmanaged dedicated server is the opposite of a managed one. Your hosting provider won’t handle anything beyond the physical maintenance of your server in their data centre. You’ll be in charge of all day-to-day server maintenance tasks, including installing and updating software, resource monitoring, server security, load balancing, server configuration, data backups, and more.

Unmanaged dedicated servers are cheaper than managed ones, so if you’re just transitioning to dedicated hosting and want to stick to a strict budget, unmanaged hosting will be more accessible. However, bear in mind that managing an entire server can be more time-consuming and require more technical expertise, so make sure you have enough time to set aside for server maintenance (or an IT team to handle this for you).

3. Windows dedicated server

Once you’ve chosen between managed and unmanaged dedicated hosting, the next step is to choose your preferred operating system (OS). One of the many benefits of dedicated hosting is the complete customisation control you get over your server, including the OS.

The main choice you’ll have to make is Windows vs Linux. We discuss the differences between these two popular operating systems in more detail in the guide linked above, but the basic idea is that you’ll want to choose the OS that’s compatible with your preferred software. If you use Microsoft technologies and are familiar with the Windows GUI (graphical user interface), you may prefer a Windows Dedicated Server. However, one downside is that Windows servers tend to be more expensive because of the Windows licensing fee.

4. Linux dedicated server

If you find this extra cost off-putting, you may prefer a Linux Dedicated Server. Linux is free and open-source, so there are no licensing fees to take into account when looking for a Linux server. While it may not be as beginner-friendly as Windows, the lightweight architecture of Linux makes it popular among developers looking for a fast, lightweight OS. Plus, there are plenty of Linux distributions to choose from, including Ubuntu, Debian and Red Hat.

5. Intel dedicated server

Next, you can choose your preferred processor technology. Here at Fasthosts, we offer both Intel Dedicated Servers and AMD Dedicated Servers. Intel and AMD both offer a wide range of CPUs to suit different processing needs, so when you’re looking for a new dedicated server, make sure you research the different hardware components included in each server to find one that suits your requirements within your budget. Generally, Intel offers better performance per core, but Intel chips can be slightly less power-efficient.

6. AMD dedicated server

Again, each AMD or Intel CPU will have different specifications, so you’ll need to do some more research to make an informed decision on your dedicated server’s hardware. However, in general, AMD chips can offer more cores for the price, but their performance may be slightly worse than equivalent Intel cores. AMD chips can also offer more cache and better graphics – which is great for gaming – but these gaps are constantly closing as both AMD and Intel continue to develop new processor technologies.

7. Colocated dedicated server

Want total control over your dedicated server? You might be interested in a service called colocation. This is where you rent space in a provider’s data centre rather than renting a server. Instead, you’ll purchase your own dedicated server outright and use a provider’s colocation service to house your server in their data centre, which means they’ll be in charge of on-site server cooling and security. Therefore, you can have your own dedicated server without the cost of building, powering, cooling and securing your own data centre or server room.

With colocation, you can still access your server hardware to handle physical maintenance or fix errors (which you’ll be required to handle, since the server is entirely yours). This is why it’s important to choose a provider with a data centre you can travel to easily. Alternatively, if you don’t want to deal with the hassle (and expense) of purchasing and maintaining your own server hardware, it may be much more convenient for you to rent a dedicated server from a hosting company like Fasthosts.

How to choose the right dedicated server

Interested in renting a dedicated server? Follow our top tips to find the perfect server for your needs.

1. Choose a reputable hosting provider

It goes without saying that you need a trustworthy hosting provider who’ll offer you the service guarantees you need to run your business smoothly. As a general guide, here are the key attributes you should check when evaluating a hosting provider:

Customer reviews and testimonials
Hardware specifications (e.g., choice of Intel vs AMD CPUs and HDD vs SSD storage)
Range of hosting plans available (and their prices)
Customer support – do they offer 24/7 support to fix issues whenever they arise?
SLAs and uptime guarantees (e.g., 99.999% uptime)
Data centre locations (you want to pick a location close to you for minimal latency)
Security measures, including multi-factor authentication and DDoS protection

Always do your research to ensure you’re choosing a reputable, trustworthy hosting company like us, or you could end up with the hassle of switching to a new provider in the near future.

2. Choosing the right resources (within your budget)

When choosing the best dedicated server hosting for your projects, it’s all about getting the resources and hardware you need for the right price. Not getting enough resources for your project will mean performance issues, SEO penalties, latency, and downtime, but it’s also important to ensure you aren’t paying too much for extra resources you don’t need.

This is why you need to figure out your exact resource needs (both current and projected) when deciding on your budget and hosting provider. Can your chosen dedicated server host give you what you need within your budget? To determine this, you’ll need to evaluate your resource needs against the range of storage capacities, RAM and CPUs on offer.

Storage

More storage means higher costs. Whilst an entire dedicated server will naturally have a lot more storage capacity than a shared server, a cheaper dedicated server plan may not offer enough storage if you have far greater needs (i.e., if you need to manage multiple large databases).

Here at Fasthosts, our cheapest dedicated server costs £70 per month (£35 for the first month) and offers 2TB of HDD storage, but at the other end of the scale, our second-most expensive dedicated server costs £380 per month (£190 for the first month) for 8TB of HDD storage. Working out your exact storage needs – whilst also allowing for projected future growth – will help you pick the appropriate server for the best price.

But it’s not just the amount of storage you need to consider – you also need to look at the type of storage on offer. For example, solid state drive or SSD storage is a more modern technology than hard disk drive or HDD storage, and therefore an equivalent amount of SSD storage can be more expensive than HDD storage. SSDs store data permanently using flash memory chips, whereas HDDs use mechanical motors and other moving parts. As a result, SSDs offer much faster data access and read/write speeds, plus increased durability and reduced energy consumption.

An even newer storage technology is NVMe (non-volatile memory express), so you can expect to pay more for dedicated servers with NVMe storage – our most powerful dedicated server offers 1.92TB NVMe storage for £400 per month (£200 for the first month). NVMe is a data transfer protocol that can greatly increase read/write speeds and access latency. In fact, NVMe storage can be 5 times faster than traditional SSD storage!

RAM

RAM (random access memory) is another type of server storage – it’s the hardware that provides temporary storage and short-term memory. RAM is used for caching, multitasking and loading frequently used programs, which is why it’s much faster than secondary storage (HDDs, SSDs and NVMe SSDs). However, because RAM is volatile, it only retains data while your device is on, so if your device has to be rebooted, files must be reloaded into RAM from your HDD, SSD or NVMe SSD.

As single-tenant physical servers, our dedicated servers will offer a lot more RAM compared to shared server options – even at the more affordable end of the scale. For instance, our cheapest dedicated servers offer a fantastic 32GB of RAM for £70 per month (£35 for the first month). However, if you need up to a whopping 256GB of RAM for projects that require you to process lots of data simultaneously, such as AI algorithm training and 3D rendering, we’ve got you covered too.

CPU

The CPU (central processing unit) is the ‘brain’ of your dedicated server. As the server’s primary processor, it sends signals to multiple components to control the entire system, including running the OS and applications, executing program instructions, performing complex calculations, and so on. A more powerful CPU makes it easier to perform resource-intensive tasks like 3D rendering, high-end gaming and video editing – which are all common uses for dedicated servers.

When looking for the right CPU, you need to pay attention to clock speed and the number of cores. Clock speed is the speed at which the CPU executes instructions (with a higher speed meaning better performance for single-threaded applications), and CPUs with multiple cores can process multiple sets of instructions at the same time (perfect for multitasking).

The better the CPU, the more expensive the server. Here at Fasthosts, we offer both Intel and AMD CPUs to suit your preferences, with options ranging from 6 cores x 3.8GHz to 32 cores x 2.8 GHz (3.7 GHz Boost).

3. Choose your preferred operating system and extras

Finally, once you’ve chosen your dedicated server host and server specifications, you can focus on details like your operating system (Linux vs Windows) and preferred management style (i.e., managed, unmanaged or semi-managed). Depending on your chosen provider, you may be able to add useful extras to your plan, such as free IP addresses, instant setup, and security add-ons like Acronis Cyber Protect Basic – all of which are available at Fasthosts!

Looking for another type of server?

Dedicated servers aren’t right for everyone, which is why we offer a wide range of other server hosting packages to suit all customers – from solo entrepreneurs to large enterprises.

1. Shared hosting

Host a website for your small business or personal projects from just 49p/month for the first 6 months. Being on a shared server means that costs can be split between customers and kept super low, and you’ll still have access to amazing features like unlimited bandwidth, free domain names, unlimited subdomains, and much more!

2. VPS hosting

Another affordable hosting option for small-to-medium-sized businesses, VPS hosting gives you a dedicated server environment and allocated resources at the price of shared hosting thanks to server virtualisation. Your VPS is virtually isolated from other customers and therefore boasts superior security and no “noisy neighbours”.

3. Bare metal hosting

Get the unparalleled power of a dedicated server with the flexibility and scalability of a virtual server. Our Bare Metal Servers offer total security, dedicated resources and full root access, all with down-to-the-minute billing so you only pay for what you use!

4. WordPress hosting

Prefer to work with WordPress? Get optimised performance, pre-installed plugins, and a new AI website creation feature for your WordPress sites with Fasthosts WordPress Hosting!

Frequently asked questions about dedicated server hosting

What’s the difference between a server and a dedicated server?

A dedicated server gives you an entire server dedicated only to you – no need to share resources with noisy neighbours! In addition to giving you far more resources than you’d get with a shared web hosting plan, dedicated servers offer much more privacy and security thanks to their total physical isolation, in addition to full control over server customisation. Dedicated servers are ideal for larger organisations with greater resource and data protection requirements, but due to the high price tag, they’re usually not the best option for small-to-medium-sized businesses and solo entrepreneurs.

How much does a dedicated server cost?

Dedicated servers are more expensive than most other server hosting plans, but there are a range of different pricing options available to suit various budgets and resource requirements. Our Intel and AMD Dedicated Servers range from £70 per month to £400 per month, and new customers can enjoy 50% off for their first month.

How long does it take to set up a dedicated server?

The server provisioning process can vary a lot because there are many different types of dedicated servers, but in general, we can deploy a typical server in a matter of minutes. Your in-house IT team can set things up for you, or you can get in touch with our support team for assistance at any time.

How do I use a dedicated server?

A UK dedicated server is just like having your own on-premises hardware in an office or server room. You can easily log in as an administrator (using SSH for Linux servers or RDP for Windows servers), install software, and manage data. If you just want to get going quickly with standard functions like hosting websites or email, it’s simple to add a server management tool like Plesk Obsidian.

When should I switch to a dedicated server?

If you’ve noticed that your website performance is slowing down, if you’re experiencing issues such as latency and downtime, or if you’re simply gaining clients and need to expand your business, it may be time to move from a shared server or VPS to a more powerful dedicated server. Hosting costs will increase, but your greater earnings from your improved performance and productivity will soon eclipse these extra expenses!

Unsure which server is right for you? Get in touch with us today for expert advice, or check out our other ‘Ultimate Guides’ for all of the web hosting information you need!

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