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Dedicated Web Hosting Explained
By Calin Indre
Why is dedicated hosting such a big hit on the business web hosting market? If
you look at the costs it involves, usually ranging from $150 - $1000 per month,
another question comes into your mind: Does it even worth it?
Why is dedicated hosting such a big hit on the business web hosting market? If
you look at the costs it involves, usually ranging from $150 - $1000 per month,
another question comes into your mind: Does it even worth it?
When you have one single web server is rented to a single customer by the web
hosting provider, you have dedicated web hosting. There are two similar
solutions quite common too in the web hosting industry: virtual dedicated
servers and co-location web hosting.
To make it easier to grasp the concepts, a virtual dedicated server shares the
resources of a web server computer with other customers of the web hosting
provider. You don’t get an entire computer just for you in virtual dedicated
server hosting plans.
Co-locating web hosting also shares some similarities with dedicated web
hosting. The main difference is that while in dedicated web hosting the web
server computer belongs to the web-hosting provider and is only rented by the
customer, in co-locating web hosting the customer owns the web server computer.
The web-hosting provider only houses the web server computer and sells bandwidth
to the customer.
Real dedicated web hosting a single web server is rented to a single customer.
Dedicated web hosting is the ideal solution for businesses that work with high
traffic. The functionalities of your web site as well as the application
required for its operation will fall under your precise control.
But with dedicated web hosting there are even more advantages.
Your hosting provider handles all concerns regarding the maintenance, the
security, and the reliability of your web server. As your rent the computer, not
purchasing it you don’t have to bother yourself with maintaining the hardware
and the connectivity of the computer. This frees you from replacing the
component or solving the problem, as all these fall into the provider’s
responsibility. Many web hosting providers will even offer you compensations as
part of the Service Level Agreement (SLA). Usually, in the event of such failure
you will be reimbursed with the cost of your hosting plan for a month or a
fraction of it, depending of the severity of the failure. Looks quite good
compared to having to pay for the component and for the technical support
required for actually replacing the component, all this while your web site in
not online. At the end of the day you will only pay for functional hardware.
Think what your business could do with all the resources you have just saved on
the above maintenance issues.
As the costs of administering and maintaining the web server you have rented
vary depending on your web hosting provider, you can choose between “managed” or
“unmanaged” service levels.
Should you feel uncomfortable with the technical expertise required by the
management of a web server computer, you could opt for “managed” dedicated
hosting. This means that you will have available a “control panel”. The control
panel allows you to perform all the essential tasks required by the proper
functioning of your web server via a simply point-and-click user-friendly
interface. This way you won’t need to know or type any command lines, or poses
no in depth knowledge of the operating system, while still being able to setup,
administer and maintain all the web sites on your web server.
The “unmanaged” option is recommended only for those with great degree of
technical expertise in mastering a web server as it provides root access to the
server. This in turn, offers complete server administration, thus the
possibility to configure every service on your web server. Of course, not having
the necessary services are configured properly, may result in serious system
failure. These are the reasons that make unmanaged dedicated hosting only
recommendable for people with solid server administration background or for web
developers that need custom applications for their web sites, or a customized
environment.
Having a dedicated server means that the stability of the computer will not be
prone to the plagues affecting shared web hosting solutions. Just think at
overload, server being crowded with applications and components required by the
other customers, or even errors in programming usually made by the beginners.
Add to that the fact that on a shared web server the processor time and the
installed memory is shared with the software applications needed by the other
users.
Managed or unmanaged, dedicated web hosting makes it easier for you to provide
instant support to your own customers when it is required. This would not be
possible on a shared hosting plan or you will be faced with delays and possible
additional technical support fees. Needless to say a prompt support service on
your side also means happy customers and business growth.
For those running a business in web design for example, the advantages of having
their own dedicated web server are invaluable. This is true not because his
studio will be able to offer pure hosting services, but because he will able to
offer them packaged with the web design activity. Modifying a web site for a
customer or uploading a new one is a matter of minutes when you have
around-the-clock access to your web server. Another advantage comes from the
fact that once a complete web presence solution, design and hosting, is offered
by the studio to a customer, there is a higher chance for having that customer
become a regular.
The benefits of a good dedicated web hosting solution for businesses translate
into sales growth, better customer relationship, improved company image, reduced
cost compared with in-house web hosting solution, and the list could go on. A
dedicated web server means that you can run a better business and better
business reads profit.
Calin Indre is editor at HostPinPin (http://www.hostpinpin.com),
a Cheap Web Hosting Directory. HostPinPin.com is a resource for webmasters and
consumers looking to find a web hosting company. Providing web hosting articles,
tips, web hosting reviews, compare web hosting plans, free web hosting guide,
free hosting quote, web hosting glossary and more.
This article may be reprinted or published without the authors consent as long
as the “About” and “weblinks” are kept intact.
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