Benefits of Dedicated Server
Dedicated hosting is a type of hosting service offering in which a server is devoted to a single customer or for a single purpose, such as a website.
A dedicated server contrasts with shared hosting, in which a server acts as a host to multiple customers. A dedicated server is sometimes referred to as a dedicated hosting and can be set up in-house or externally as a service from within a data center facility.
Benefits of Dedicated Server
Server Customization
A dedicated server grants a certain freedom and control that other hosting services are unable to provide. The fact that the server is dedicated to one customer and there are no other customers means that the server (and overall hosting solution) can be tailored to the specific needs of that customer. This ensures that they can select and pay for the features that they require.
Uptime
In a world where convenience is everything and consumers aren’t used to waiting, it is vital to ensure that a website, for example, is always functional; site downtime could lead to customers moving on to competitors.
Dedicated server hosting allows for high performance and stability to ensure that websites and other business functions are operational virtually 100% of the time (usually upwards of 99.4%). To this end, dedicated server providers typically offer server monitoring and back-up facilities alongside support services (described below) to keep functions running as seamlessly as possible.
Congestion
Server congestion is much less of an issue with a dedicated server, especially when compared to shared hosting options. With the latter, you often run the risk of congestion due to the traffic and usage levels of other websites or applications hosted on the same server, competing for bandwidth, disk space and CPU usage.
The very nature of dedicated server hosting ensures that this isn’t an issue. It also works the other way; if the website in question is resource heavy then dedicated hosting may be the answer to ensure that other websites aren’t disrupted.
Security
Clients using a dedicated platform will be able to deploy security measures, such as anti-virus and firewall configurations, that are more tailored to their own functions; whilst also avoiding the security vulnerabilities that can otherwise be introduced by the activities of neighboring clients on shared hosting platforms.
In addition, dedicated servers located within data centers can benefit from the physical security measures that such facilities often put in place, including, for example, biometric authentication, security guards and mantraps.
Support
Some dedicated hosting services come with a certain level of support. This is important as a high percentage of dedicated hosting customers use the service to host mission critical or important computing functions or websites. Effective support ensures that site disruption is kept to a minimum. A fully managed hosting provider, for example, may offer support 24 hours per day, 365 days a year.
Details of support levels, as well as information regarding reliability statistics can usually be found in the service level agreement (SLA). These documents can often provide an insight into the quality of a service and should be consulted carefully when going through the process of choosing a provider.
If opting for a dedicated server that does not come with any support, it is important to ensure the presence of the necessary knowledge to manage and maintain a server effectively.