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More about Dedicated Servers

What is Dedicated Server Hosting?

A dedicated server, as the name implies, is a server solely provided and used by one customer. A server is simply a type of high end computer meant to provide certain types of applications or services, in this case hosting a website. Beyond hosting a site, the server can also be configured to serve other software including email, ecommerce and various databases. When web hosting first began, the cost of servers was high while the needs of websites were pretty basic. Thus all but the highest end websites were hosted on shared servers. Shared servers were just that, shared between customers and hosting multiple websites.

As computing power, processors, memory and disk space exponentially increased in power and availability, the cost of these components continued to fall. Simultaneously, the exploding use of the Internet led to websites that grew far beyond the basic “brochureware” sites of the early days. Websites were complex applications that served customers, sold products, measured items, managed finances and played games. The unique demands of websites sometimes required unique requirements on the application side. Dedicated hosting grew from the demand for more control and flexibility over the hosting environment.

What Are the Differences Between Dedicated Versus Shared?

Shared servers have multiple customers utilizing the same server and resources, just partitioned or separated from the other sites. This means that the processing power available is subject to how many others are currently using the server at the same time. If your traffic increases suddenly due to a new product launch or press coverage about your company just as others on the shared server have high demands, loading times could slow to a crawl. Worse yet, without a dedicated server your visitors could get the dreaded “Page Not Found” display if it takes too long.

Beyond the obvious fact that a dedicated server is yours and yours alone to use, dedicated servers provide much more control over the server and applications. With dedicated hosting, you can make the determination of when you want to increase your hard drive disk space. You can decide if you want to go from 1 GB of RAM to 2 GB of RAM. Need the latest Microsoft SQL database installed? Not a problem with dedicated hosting. And whether you are a Microsoft or a Linux fan, most versions of operating systems can be installed on a dedicated server.

Benefits of Dedicated Hosting

Flexibility: The overarching theme of why dedicated servers are the flexibility of control for operating systems, applications and hardware. A dedicated hosting plan gives you a wide range of options to customize.

Security: Shared hosting plans have an inherent risk involved even with partitioning of servers. Actions taken by others on the server could inadvertently affect your website through no fault of your own. With dedicated hosting, your website and applications are housed in their own standalone servers with true containment.

Scalability: Dedicated web server hosting plans such as those offered by CleoHost provide room for upgrading as your business grows.

Predictability: Fully understand your bandwidth and processing requirements based on patterns in your business and adjust accordingly.

Case Study of the Need for Dedicated Servers

Ted is a fan of fantasy baseball and creates a website to post his thoughts on fantasy baseball as well as predictions on how players will do in the future. At this point, Ted requires a simple, cheap shared hosting plan. As the number of visitors to his site increase, he decides to build an online fantasy baseball game where managers can pay, sign up, draft and manage a virtual baseball team throughout the year. Ted prefers to build the site in .NET using DotNetNuke and running on Microsoft Windows Server with a Microsoft SQL database backend, but his shared plan doesn’t allow for these features.

Ted goes to a site such as CleoHost and looks over the various dedicated web hosting plans that begin with an entry level dedicated servers with Intel Dual-Core processors, 2 GB of memory, 500 GB of disk space and 2000 GB of bandwidth from only $159.95 per month. The dedicated server allows Ted full root access to the server to make customizations as needed, along with an easy-to-use control panel.

Ted launches his fantasy baseball game to great fanfare, and customers come to his site daily to check their results and manage their team. After a year, Ted’s business has tripled as he adds more innovative features. He feels the website’s performance has slowed, and upgrades to the top of the line CleoHost dedicated enterprise web server running dual Quad-core Intel chips, a whopping 16 GB of RAM and 4 TB of disk space in RAID configuration.

As Ted becomes busier with his site, he doesn’t have the time to personally manage his dedicated server. He takes advantage of CleoHost’s affordable server management for all dedicated web hosting plans for only $39 per month.

A Dedicated Server as Unique as Your Business

Your business needs a dedicated server that you can count on to host your website with the highest availability, top-of-the-line equipment and backed by round the clock support. Dedicated hosting shouldn’t be shopped for the cheapest common denominator like toilet paper. Instead, look for a dedicated hosting provider that truly understands each component of what it takes to help you succeed.

Dedicated Hosting Plans from A to Z

CleoHost offers numerous dedicated hosting plans to fit your exact needs and roadmap. With blazing fast Intel dual-core or dual Quad-core processors, generous amounts of memory, huge disk space and enormous bandwidths, there are dedicated servers that meet your needs. Install various features such as blogs, content management, forum boards, ecommerce and more free of charge with your cPanel dedicated server. Round the clock technical support ensures you’re never far from help. Full daily backups and server management is available. And should your needs change, CleoHost can provide you with easy upgrade options to the next level of dedicated servers.