What Is A Dedicated Server Host?
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Having a dedicated server host basically means that your website or websites are on their own stand-alone server. When you sign up for a dedicated server web hosting account, the hosting service commissions a server just for you.
With a dedicated server, you get to choose the hardware, operating system, control panel software, customer management software, application software and support, multimedia support and overall server configuration. You also get full root access, security controls and reseller tools.In short, a dedicated server gives you complete control.
Perhaps the main advantage to having a dedicated server is that it allows for much more memory and bandwidth. You are free to change and add much more without worrying about it being too much volume for the server. On other types of hosting accounts there is a limit, and when that limit is reached, your site goes down.
Dedicated servers can handle much larger amounts of bandwidth, which means that the website can handle more traffic and the flow of information back and forth from the end user to the server. A dedicated server usually has intrusion detection and other serious methods to help maintain the security of the server and the information it handles. Programmers can change or tweak just about anything they wish, giving the website much more power and ability to function in a large web environment. Dedicated server hosting also gives you the ability to be a hosting reseller if you so desire.
Dedicated servers are typically housed in a collocation center or data center. Data centers feature the state of the art in environmental control technology. This is necessary to maintain the optimum operating environment for the servers. The servers get hot, so they must be kept clean and cool. The humidity must also be controlled to prevent condensation as the temperature in the data center cycles between its set-points.
Security is another function of the data center. The typical data center has no windows. Keycard & code security along with biometrics (fingerprint recognition, voice identification and weight matching) are required for access to the servers. Fire detection and suppression systems are also a key component and can include firewalls between sections of the data center, advanced smoke and fire detection systems, sprinkler systems and gaseous fire suppression systems. These can be tied into the power control network of the building to enable an alarm to cut power to affected systems.
Data and system reliability is also a key component of the data center architecture. Most good dedicated server hosting companies have technicians and system administrators on site that monitor the servers 24/7 and act on issues as they occur – before they turn into major problems.
UPS backup power supplies and backup generators for building main power are also in place to mitigate power outages. RAID arrays are part of this infrastructure as well and exist to keep redundant backups of all server data. A data center typically has multiple high-speed Internet backbone connections and fully redundant telecommunication and server equipment. Good dedicated server hosting companies (or any good hosting companies) have no single point of failure, meaning no single failure can bring down the system – or your website.
Types Of Dedicated Servers Hosting
Fully Managed Dedicated Server Hosting
Managed dedicated server hosting is by far the most popular choice for businesses and web designers. With managed dedicated server hosting, you are not expected to be the full time system administrator. This means most of the server operations, such as security, software maintenance and updating and troubleshooting are handled by the hosting company.
As a business, you most likely will not have time to maintain a server while running your business. So, hosting companies bundle a number of these services with your account.
Benefits included in managed dedicated server hosting plans can include:
- Software updates
- Operating system updates and maintenance
- Control panel software
- Advanced software and server configurations
- Application deployment
- Database management
- Backup services
- Server monitoring and recovery
- Advanced technical support
- Telephone based support
- Firewall configuration
- Anti-spam and virus protection
- Security scans and audits
Unmanaged Dedicated Server Hosting
Unmanaged dedicated server hosting is essentially the opposite of managed plans. With unmanaged hosting, the company still houses your server in their data center and provides all of the security and controls necessary to keep the server physically running. Server configuration, software installation and updating, operating system maintenance and updates, data / website security and day-to-day administration are left to the customer (you).
Unless you really know what you are doing, we don’t recommend unmanaged hosting. Many of the unforeseen problems and software issues that come up can be daunting to fix for those who are not experienced administrators or IT professionals. Also, performing all of these tasks takes time – time that is better spent running your business.
Unmetered Dedicated Server Hosting
Unmanaged dedicated server hosting is not the same as unmetered dedicated server hosting. Unmetered dedicated server hosting means that the server provider does not meter the bandwidth usage and/or other usage metrics typically monitored by a dedicated server host. Unmetered dedicated server hosting is typically more expensive than managed dedicated server hosting because there are no limits on your plan. This is the top of the line, and is only needed for those websites that are truly immense and get thousands of unique visitors per hour.
Who Needs Dedicated Server Hosting?
Dedicated web hosting is usually what large websites run on. Very large companies contract out their own servers for their internal and external web sites. They may even have their own servers in-house and IT staff to support them. Websites that perform a high volume of work, such as high traffic, extensive video or streaming content, a large download library or very large websites (1000’s of pages) typically require dedicated server hosting to achieve the necessary performance to serve their visitors and customers.
Dedicated managed web hosting is absolutely the way to go if you’re planning on having an e-commerce business website selling physical goods. Since you will hopefully have a lot of traffic on your website, you will need the best bandwidth you can get to avoid crashing the website. Some e-commerce businesses can decide to start slow, and then build their way up from shared hosting to VPS hosting and eventually up to dedicated server hosting. Ecommerce websites that receive a lot of traffic and/or produce a lot of sales will need a dedicated server.
Dedicated Servers hosting is the top of the hosting food chain, and therefore is the most expensive hosting option. Most sites start small, on shared hosting plans. Those that thrive and grow eventually end up needing a dedicated server. It is very important to know what the goals are for your website and how they will be achieved. This way, you have a plan in place for your business to grow and be able to support the higher cost of dedicated server hosting.
While the price of using a dedicated web host is usually much higher, the stability and flexibility is definitely worth it. High traffic websites usually need a dedicated server just to support the number of views or hits they receive. This especially includes the amount of information being communicated to the server if there are multiple financial transactions (sales) being made. Such a site needs to be able to handle all of this activity without getting bogged down, slowed down or shut down.
The Best Dedicated Server Web Hosting
The following table is a comparison of the best dedicated server hosting providers. They are ranked and sorted so you can get a clear picture of what each provider offers. When you choose the one that fits your needs, click the link to check it out.
| The Best Dedicated Servers Hosting | ||||||||||
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| Package Name | Basic | Standard | Elite | Pro | AMD Level I | AMD Level II | Intel Level I | AMD Level III | Intel Level II | |
| Rating | Best Starter | Best Mid-Range | Best High Capacity | |||||||
| Package Monthly Cost (Managed) | $174.00 | $219.00 | $279.00 | $374.00 | $199.00 | $239.00 | $239.00 | $339.00 | $369.00 | |
| Package Monthly Cost (Unmanaged) | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | $149.00 | $189.00 | $189.00 | $235.00 | $235.00 | |
| Setup Cost | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free | |
| HARDWARE | ||||||||||
| Package Name | Basic | Standard | Elite | Pro | AMD Level I | AMD Level II | Intel Level I | AMD Level III | Intel Level II | |
| Processor Type | Intel Xeon 3040 | Intel Xeon 3110 | Intel Xeon 3210 | Intel Xeon 3360 | AMD Athlon X2 5050e | AMD Athlon II 250 | Intel Core 2 Duo E7600 | Dual AMD Opteron 2350 | Dual Intel Xeon 5520 HT | |
| Processor Speed | 1.86GHz Dual Core | 2.00GHz Dual Core | 2.13GHz Quad Core | 2.83GHz Quad Core | 2.6 GHz Dual Core | 3.0 GHz Dual Core | 3.0 GHz Dual Core | 2x 2.0 GHz Quad Cores | 16x 2.26 GHz Cores | |
| Memory | 1 GB DDR RAM | 4 GB DDR RAM | 4 GB DDR RAM | 8 GB DDR RAM | 1 GB | 1 GB | 1 GB | 2 GB | 6 GB | |
| Hard Drive Storage | 250 GB | 2x 250 GB (dual) | 2x 500 GB (dual) | 2x 500 GB (dual) | 320 GB | 320 GB | 320 GB | 320 GB | 750 GB | |
| Monthly Bandwidth | 1500 GB | 1500 GB | 2500 GB | 2500 GB | 2000 GB | 2000 GB | 2000 GB | 3000 GB | 4000 GB | |
| Network Speed (Up & Down) |
100 Mbps | 100 Mbps | 100 Mbps | 100 Mbps | 100 Mbps | 100 Mbps | 100 Mbps | 100 Mbps | 100 Mbps | |
| IP Addresses | 5 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | |
| ADMINISTRATION | ||||||||||
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| Control Panel | Linux: cPanel & WHM
Windows: Plesk Control Panel 9.x |
cPanel & WHM | ||||||||
| Client/Reseller Management | Linux: WHM or WHMCS
Windows: Plesk Control Panel 9.x |
ClientExec | ||||||||
| Domains | Unlimited | Unlimited | ||||||||
| Sub Domains | Unlimited | Unlimited | ||||||||
| MySQL Databases | Unlimited | Unlimited | ||||||||
| FTP Accounts | Unlimited | Unlimited | ||||||||
| SSH / Root Access |  |
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| URL Redirect | |
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| Web Based File Manager |
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| Custom Error Pages |
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| SOFTWARE | ||||||||||
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| Operating System | Linux: CentOS 5.x (recommended/standard), RHEL4 (RedHat), FreeBSD 6.2, Fedora 4 and 4.5, or Debian
Windows: Windows Server 2008 R2 w/ Remote Desktop (64-bit w/ 32-bit compatibility) |
RedHat Linux | ||||||||
| Web Server | Linux: Apache
Windows: IIS |
Apache | ||||||||
| *ASP.NET (Windows Only) | |
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| *MS SQL (Windows Only) | |
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| CGI | |
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| PHP | |
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| MySQL | |
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| Perl | |
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| Ruby On Rails® | |
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| fastCGI | |
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| Python | |
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| SSI | |
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| JSP | |
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| Cron | |
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| Curl | |
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| CPAN | |
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| GD/GD2 | |
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| Image Magick | |
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| FFMPEG & FLV | |
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| Streaming Video/Music | |
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| SiteBuilder | |
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| FrontPage Extensions | |
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| SUPPORT & SECURITY | ||||||||||
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| No Contract | |
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| Uptime Guarantee | 99.9% | 99.9% | ||||||||
| Customer Support | 24/7/365 | 24/7/365 | ||||||||
| Managed Firewall | |
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| Security Patches | |
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| Software & Script Updates |
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| Antivirus | |
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| Hotlink Protection | |
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| IP Deny Manager | |
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| Password Protected Directories | |
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| Online Tutorials & Knowledgebase | |
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| 24/7 Server Monitoring | |
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| Secure Datacenter | |
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| Backup Power & HVAC |
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| Data Backups | |
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| Backbone Connection | |
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| Host |
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| POP3 | Unlimited | Unlimited | ||||||||
| IMAP | |
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| SMTP | |
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| Web Mail | |
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| E-mail Alias | |
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| Autoresponders | |
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| Catch All | |
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| Spam Assassin | |
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| Mail Forward | |
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| Mailing List | |
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| Outgoing Emails/Hour | Unlimited | Unlimited | ||||||||
| SCRIPTS | ||||||||||
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| Fantastico Script Library |
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| Soholaunch Pro | |
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| PHPnuke | |
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| Chatroom | |
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| Forum | |
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| Guestbook | |
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| Counter | |
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| FormMail | |
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| phpMyAdmin | |
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| Blog | |
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| WordPress | |
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| Joomla | |
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| Drupal | |
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| SERVER STATISTICS | ||||||||||
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| Urchin 5 | |
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| Analog | |
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| AWstats | |
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| Raw Access Logs | |
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| Access | |
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| Referrer Logs | |
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| Error Logs | |
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| E-COMMERCE | ||||||||||
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| Private SSL Support | |
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| Interchange Shopping Cart | |
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| osCommerce | |
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| ZenCart | |
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| Cube Cart | |
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| Free Website Templates | |
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| Brandable Control Panel |
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| Domain Name Reseller | Enom Domain Reseller Account | |
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| Package Monthly Cost (Managed) | $174.00 | $219.00 | $279.00 | $374.00 | $199.00 | $239.00 | $239.00 | $339.00 | $369.00 | |
| Package Monthly Cost (Unmanaged) | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | $149.00 | $189.00 | $189.00 | $235.00 | $235.00 | |
| Setup Cost | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free | |
| Rating | Best Starter | Best Mid-Range | Best High Capacity | |||||||
| Package Name | Basic | Standard | Elite | Pro | AMD Level I | AMD Level II | Intel Level I | AMD Level III | Intel Level II | |
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