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For those considering building their own website to grow their business online, there are different types of servers and web hosts to look into when creating your plan. One of the types of servers owners consider often is a “dedicated server.” The purpose of a dedicated hosting service is to pay a lease for a server for their own sole purpose and not to be shared with any other business or person. It is an appealing deal and it may be a better suited server for some businesses over others. There are plenty of advantages to using a dedicated server, but there are some disadvantages as well for each type of server. Here’s the 411 on dedicated servers and what you need to know about their advantages and disadvantages when deciding which web hosting to get for your business’ website.
The Skinny on Dedicated Servers
Already you know that a dedicated server does just want it sounds like, dedicates its services directly to your business and only your business. What you might not know is that there are actually three different types of dedicated servers:
- Managed dedicated servers
- Semi-dedicated servers
- Unmanaged dedicated servers
Again, it all sounds pretty much straight forward and here is what you should know about each type of server. For a managed and semi-dedicated server contract, the leasing company will help either fully or partially maintain the server according to the terms and conditions set hosting levels that have been agreed up by both parties. Clearly with a semi-dedicated server, a client will be more independent than with a managed contract thus allowing them to be able to have more flexible control over the website.
An unmanaged dedicated server means that the client is entirely responsible for the server’s maintenance and any operation issues if they arise. If the web host needs to help the client in anyway, then they will most likely charge a fee on top of the hosting price as well. However, the web host is still responsible for any problems with the hardware equipment and will repair or replace them if it is necessary.
Why a Dedicated Server? What are the Advantages?
Whether it’s a fully managed, semi-dedicated, or unmanaged server…why should you consider one in the first place for your website? First of all, if your business is growing swiftly or it’s predicted to take off, you will have much more space available to grow your site with different tabs and information to share with clients and visitors. A dedicated server also allows you to access more bandwidth so that you do not have to worry about your website crashing with multiple visitors online at once.
With a managed and semi-dedicated server account, you can save money on hiring from any other outsourced services to help maintain and update the software or monitor the server because the hosting service is doing all of it for you. A perfect example of a service that has the resources to do all of this for their clients is a PCI hosting provider. On the other hand, if your company already has well-trained staff with a team that is able to take care of the server, then you can save money by purchasing the unmanaged hosting service.
Any Disadvantages to the System Provider?
One common downfall to using a dedicated server to host your website is the overall cost of the services. Managed and unmanaged dedicated services can be quite expensive already and if any additional requirements are need to repair a hole in the system, the additional service bills could add up fast. Also, because the service provider will be overseeing the website with a full or partially managed contract, you may not have admission access to your own website to make changes as freely and whenever you want.
Now that you have all of the facts on dedicated servers, will you consider one of the three for your business? Have you looked into any other types of hosting services?