When your website grows, the entry level hosting (which is usually a shared hosting) may become insufficient and you may have to start thinking about going dedicated. Buying dedicated server hosting comes with its own share of benefits and disadvantages, and you should weigh them well before taking any decision. No doubt, dedicated hosting is always good for your site; yet it may not be always beneficial for you to go for it. So, knowing the limitations and taking an informed decision will ensure a smooth ride.
Benefits of dedicated hosting:
Among the host of benefits that come along with dedicated hosting, here are the major ones:
Better Performance: When you get a server wholly for your own use, it’s obviously going to give you far better performance. Higher disk space and bandwidth will mean faster loading site and lesser downtime. However, don’t forget that the quality and configuration of your server hardware has a larger role to play. So, check out what RAM, processor, etc. you are getting in your account.
Scope for Expansion: Since the capacity is larger (you are not sharing it with anyone), it will be easier for you to scale your site activity. You don’t have to worry about the load on server due to increasing number of visitors, or hosting additional sites in your account.
More Reliable and Secure: One of the major concerns in shared hosting is that the stuff hosted by somebody else may jeopardize the security of your site. This is automatically taken care of in dedicated hosting. The server will be totally in your hands and there is no question of anybody else hosting their stuff. Thus, it becomes more reliable and secure.
Flexible: Dedicated hosting gives you root access to the server. You can install the software and applications of your choice, as well as customize them as per your requirements.
Limitations of dedicated hosting:
Be sure to know these limitations before you jump in for dedicated server:
Higher cost: This is one obvious offshoot. As you are not sharing the server with anybody, you are not sharing the cost of its maintenance either. Thus you’ll have to bear the whole financial brunt. So, if your website is not earning you much, it may not make a wise decision to go for dedicated hosting. But luckily, there are some cheapest hosting providers available. Browsing comparison sites like CheapestDedicatedServers.com will stand you a good chance of getting a fair deal.
Unutilized capacity: If you have just one or two websites with very less traffic, your hosting account may be far from utilizing the capacity you are paying for. Or in other words, you are paying $100 a month for something you can do away with for just $10 a month. This of course, will not make any business sense.
Hassle of server administration: In shared hosting, your vendor takes care of the server administration and management on behalf of all the customers. But in dedicated, this burden falls on your shoulders; putting data security and other measures in place become your sole responsibility. As an exception rather than the rule, some companies like Hostgator offer managed dedicated hosting as well but this may again shoot up the cost. This is where you may want to use discount coupons from sites like Hostgator-Coupons.us in order to avoid burning a hole in your pocket.
Is dedicated hosting for me?
If there is a marked increase in your site traffic, so much so that your site is getting sluggish or is frequently down, then perhaps it’s time for you to start considering moving over to dedicated hosting. The decision can also be fueled by your desire to give a better browsing experience to your users, especially when the nature of your website demands this. Security is yet another reason for migrating to dedicated servers; if you are planning to install SSL encryption or your website will be processing financial transactions, then dedicated hosting would be best suited.
