A server is a computer that manages, stores, transfers, and processes information. It also provides programs, data, resources, and services to other computers (called client machines). A server has a configuration that allows it to respond to requests from other computers. There are different kinds of servers, and they’re classified according to their functions.
As a business website owner, it’s impossible to scale your business without a server. Your websites’ performance is significantly hinged on your server’s qualify and the type of server hosting solution you choose. Many times, businesses have to pick between shared and dedicated server hosting, VPS, cloud, or managed hosting.
Among the server hosting solutions, dedicated server hosting is fast becoming the most sought-after. That’s because it has a lot of advantages that are peculiar to it. But what is a dedicated server, and what can it do for you? We’d provide answers to those questions in the course of this article.
What’s a Dedicated Server?
Having a dedicated server or hosting plan means that you have a single server to yourself. Unlike shared servers, a dedicated server ensures that you don’t ration server resources among other users. It’s called “dedicated” because it is strictly planned to accommodate your needs and no one else’s. All its resources are devoted to your needs.
Here’s an analogy— imagine that you’re searching for a residential apartment. You can agree to rent a flat with your friends as co-tenants. You can also decide to rent the flat and live there all by yourself. Of course, there are upsides and downsides to both arrangements.
If you decide to be a co-tenant, you’re probably doing so to reduce the cost of rent you’d pay. However, because you’re sharing a flat, you wouldn’t enjoy the privacy that you need. Again, you’d be sharing water, electricity, and other apartment resources with your co-tenants. This means that you may have to ration some household resources for them to go around.
On the other hand, having a flat all to yourself will be more expensive than co-renting because you’re footing all the bills yourself. However, you get to enjoy the privacy you deserve and wouldn’t need to share utilities with anyone. Again, you can personalize your apartment to suit your tastes and preferences without any problems. You’d have full, unrestricted control over your home.
That’s the difference between shared hosting and dedicated server hosting. The shared server user is a co-tenant, sharing server resources with other tenants. The dedicated server owner is a single-tenant that doesn’t need to share utilities with anyone.
Typically, dedicated servers may seem expensive at the beginning. But in the long-term, it’s relatively cost-effective and convenient. For the many benefits that you will enjoy as a dedicated server user, the extra bucks you pay would be worth it.
Is a Dedicated Server Worth It?
If you own a small business website, your priority would be to maximize operating costs as much as possible. That’d mean cutting down costs on a lot of expenses — web hosting included. In this situation, you may want to opt for shared hosting. After all, your website is just starting up, and you wouldn’t need a lot of resources to run it. But this should only be a temporary arrangement to sustain your business in its nascent stages.
As your business grows and your site starts receiving more traffic, you should begin considering an upgrade. You can also upgrade to a dedicated server if you’re anticipating growth in no distant time.
You may wonder if a dedicated server is to coax you into spending more money or if it does provide the value you need. The simple answer is that a dedicated server offers you tremendous value for your money. We’d tell you why:
1. Tighter Security
While shared hosting provides a security level for its users, the possibility of hacking is higher as the number of stored sites on the server increases. The fewer sites stored on a server, the less prone it is to attack from hackers.
That’s why dedicated servers offer users a level of security that other servers can’t provide. With dedicated hosting, you can lock down your sensitive data more securely than any other hosting solution.
2. Privacy
You’d like your sensitive data to be accessible to only you. With many users on a server, data privacy is highly unattainable. If you wish to hide your data from everyone else and not worry about others accessing your private info, dedicated hosting is your best option. That’s because you’d be the only one using the site.
3. Absolute Control
You have absolute control over your dedicated server to the exclusion of any other user. This ensures that you can utilize the server for any purpose you like without hitches.
4. Configuration Customization
As a dedicated server user, you can configure your server settings to suit your taste. First, you have the liberty of choosing the physical location of your server. Next, you can determine the operating system your server uses.
5. More Resources
One of the major reasons businesses choose dedicated servers is because it provides more resources for its users. This means more storage space, faster page loading, and better server performance. Sites with high traffic influx fare much better with dedicated servers than any other solution.
Useful Things To Do With My Dedicated Server
After subscribing to a dedicated hosting plan, you’d want to use your server for as many tasks as you can. The more undertakings you can accomplish with your server, the greater value you’re getting for your money. So what can you do with your dedicated server? Let’s show you:
1. Data Backup
Often, website owners build from scratch from little to no following; they can attract thousands or millions of visitors after a while. However, sometimes, hacking or technical hitches can cause the site to go down and lose all the data it has gathered for years. Having a dedicated server helps you avoid this. With dedicated hosting, you can back up all your data files so that during a crisis, you can bounce back without hassles.
2. Manage Smart Devices
If you’re looking for a centralized method of managing all your smart devices, a dedicated server is a great choice. You can collate data from all your sensors or smart gadgets and analyze them whenever you like whatever tool you fancy on a dedicated server.
3. Company Analytics
Setting up company analytics helps you to measure your business growth rate. It also lets you know what areas you should improve on. This includes web analytics that gives you a better understanding of your customer base and your site’s effectiveness.
To get the best of company analytics, you need a dedicated server. It accommodates several analytical tools and features that help you get ahead of your game.
4. Website Hosting
You can host multiple websites on a dedicated server comfortably. Dedicated servers are structured to provide you with enough resources like bandwidths and storage facilities to run your sites without hassles. It also guarantees your visitors a smooth, friendly, and top-notch user experience as they interact with your site.
5. Photo and Video Storage
A dedicated server functions as a viable storage system for your videos and photo content. If you store them on your dedicated server, you can access them through any device that is connected to the server.
6. Set Up Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
VoIP uses the internet as a medium of delivering voice communications and multimedia sessions. With VoIP, you can make calls and organize media sessions over an internet connection instead of using a regular phone line. VoIP offers useful features that you cannot access with a traditional telephone service.
The Voice over Internet Protocol works by modifying your voice into a digital signal. The signal then travels over the internet to reach the recipient. Many VoIP services only function on computer systems, enabled by dedicated servers.
7. Optimize your Gaming
You can optimize your gaming experience by using a dedicated server to play games. It’s even better when you’re playing multiplayer games with your friends from varying distant locations. With a dedicated server, you can play your games confidently without the fear of downtime, slow speed, or any glitches.
8. Create a VPN
VPN is short for Virtual Private Network. It improves security on a network connection by using end-to-end encryption during data transfer between two or more computers. In simpler terms, it codes your message and makes it readable to only authorized readers. So, anyone snooping on the network wouldn’t be able to read the file.
You can use your dedicated server to set up a VPN. There are many tutorials online in this respect, and it’s a straightforward process.
9. Project Management
With dedicated servers, project management has never been easier. Dedicated servers allow you to manage your business projects with project management tools like ProjectLibre. You can upload and save data files on a personal cloud like Dropbox or Google Drive and retrieve them whenever you want. Programs like ownCloud mix project management features alongside data syncing for a fantastic user experience.
10. Use it as Test Servers
Do you want to try out new software, operating systems, or applications to test their functionality before use? You can do that securely with a dedicated server.
Using a dedicated server as a test server means that you can try out a new function without harming your existing operating system or server. Suppose the experiment comes out fine, good for you. If it doesn’t, you wouldn’t need to worry about your main server malfunction as a result.
What Should I Look for in a Dedicated Server Provider?
If you’ve decided to get a dedicated server, it can be challenging to pick the right reliable hosting service if you’re not clear on what you want. Apart from your unique needs and preferences, an excellent dedicated server provider like GTHost Dedicated Servers will offer you the following advantages:
1. Quality Network
Network quality increases with closer proximity to your server location. It also depends on the strength of your hosting provider’s network. Ensure that you test network quality before choosing your provider.
2. Application Scalability
How well will your application scale in case of any upgrade? You should only stick with providers that offer you high scalability.
3. 100% Uptime
Aim for 100% uptime and no downtime when choosing your dedicated hosting service.
4. Adequate Bandwidth
Your dedicated hosting provider should provide you with ample bandwidth resources to accommodate the increasing traffic influx. High bandwidth also enables interactivity and faster data transfer speed and performance.
5. Top Performance
You’re choosing to use a dedicated server because you want improved performance. Your hosting service provided should guarantee you nothing less. Other considerations should include internal security, cutting-edge software, and hardware, customer care support, etc.