Server hosting is an architecture delivery model that provides IT companies with remote access to server resources (CPU, Memory, Disk, etc.) in order to power applications and store data without the hassle of buying, configuring and maintaining the server hardware themselves. So, to make the best decisions about an organization’s Information Technology (IT) architecture, it is helpful to have a clear understanding of the function of web servers and server hosting. Many terms related to computers and the Internet are used casually or improperly correct which can make a technical term challenging to understand.

What Does Server Hosting Mean?

Webopedia define server as “a type of computer or device on a network that manages network resources”. It aims to run something on the Internet such as a website or application. Servers are a specialized type of PC engineers to operate at a consistent performance level 24-hours a day for extended periods of time.

Server hosting means outsourcing of company’s server placement and platform to a third-party Managed Hosting Provider (MSP). A user uses the Internet to connect to data and applications on a managed server and pays a recurring fee to the service provider. MSP generally works and oversees huge server farms with handfuls, hundreds, or thousands of facilitated workers for at least two customers. So, this model is called colocation or colocated hosting.

When you have just started your business and are building your website, you will need to make a choice with regards to the web hosting plan. There are plenty of hosting plans and options for your website or application, like Shared Hosting, Cloud Hosting, a Virtual Private Server, or a Dedicated Server.

With an eye to budget and smaller requirements, you may opt for Shared or VPS Hosting. However, there will come a time, as your business continues to grow, that you will wonder if you require dedicated resources that can handle the rising traffic on your website. Should you buy a Dedicated Server Hosting Plan? So, let’s identify when you need to make the choice to switch to a Dedicated Server, and what benefits that choice can bring to your business.

What is Dedicated Server Hosting?

A Dedicated Server is a remote server, which is dedicatedly allocated to the use of one organization, individual or application. You will not share any resources with another company or application like you would in a shared server setup. Unlike hosting plans with shared servers, you will not share or split resources like Disk Space, RAM, Bandwidth. Your website remains completely isolated and independent and you will run the server.

There are two kinds of Dedicated Hosting – unmanaged and managed. Unmanaged servers require you to configure and maintain the server by yourself. With Managed Dedicated Hosting you will have a provider to handle the maintenance of your server. Additionally, your hosting provider may also offer varying degrees of support for software updates, configurations, etc. With Managed Dedicated Hosting, the service web host provider will maintain, manage and customize the server for you. If you do have the staff to customize and manage the server, you can have full control over the resources without needing the help of a web hosting service.

The right time to invest in a Dedicated Server Plan

1. Large Website/ Heavy Traffic: One of the most common reasons to consider investing in a Dedicated Server is if you have a large, high traffic site. With a shared server, you won’t have enough resources to store massive amounts of data and content or handle large volumes of traffic. You could run out of space when building your site, high volumes of visitors could crash the server resulting in downtime for your site. If you notice a decrease in performance on your site, it’s definitely time to switch to a Dedicated Server.
2. Improve Page Speed and Uptime: A lack of resources not only prevents your site from accommodating more visitors but also slows downloading time. If you’re on a shared server, it is responsible for returning responses for multiple sites, placing the server under strain. If you can’t achieve your site speed goals, even after image compressing, browser caching, deferred JavaScript and other methods, you may need to scale up to a Dedicated Server.
3. Tighter Security: We mentioned that if you handle a lot of sensitive data, you may want to consider a Dedicated Server. This is because, the more sites that are stored on a server, the more opportunities for cyberattacks to breach server security. If another site is attacked, your information instantly becomes more vulnerable. Even if you follow best practices for website security, what are the chances that the other sites are doing the same? Dedicated Hosting allows you to secure your information, reducing any potential vulnerabilities.
4. Customizing the server configuration: You get more options for configuration when you opt for a Dedicated Server. This includes server location and Operating System (OS). With server location, you want the server to be close to your primary audience, which will improve loading time for them. For OS, most users may be satisfied with a Linux server, which is the default for many hosts. Others may want a Windows server though, and Dedicated Server allows you to choose. 

Concluding

So, if you’ve already started looking for a Dedicated Server, make sure to keep these factors in mind. Does it allow you full root access, quick setups, powerful configurations, easy customizations through intuitive panels, great uptime, dedicated system support from experts, state-of-the-art infrastructure, and more?