The Benefits of Having a Dedicated Hosting Provider

Business large and small is faced with a wide range of options for hosting their website,  web application, or mail server. The most common option is shared hosting, where a single server’s resources are shared by a number of different websites.

But a company looking for more power and control may need a service provider who offers dedicated hosting. With dedicated hosting, a client rents a server from a dedicated hosting provider and has exclusive use of that server’s resources. The provider works with the client to give them the CPU, RAM, and disk space that they need. The provider builds and maintains the server, eliminating a  business’ upfront cost of purchasing their own.

Some advantages of choosing a dedicated hosting provider are:

1. Server resources are not shared

When you choose a dedicated hosting provider, you get the full resources of a single server. You don’t need to worry about other websites clogging up the server’s CPU and RAM. With a dedicated server, you can be sure that bad scripts running on another website or spikes in bandwidth usage won’t slow your server down.

2. Enhanced performance and security

Choosing a dedicated hosting provider guarantees maximum uptime for your website. Shared hosting is often best for websites with low to medium traffic. If your website receives a lot of traffic, though, dedicated servers provide more stability and reliability than shared hosting.

With a dedicated server, you can also be sure that you aren’t sharing space with a malicious website or a potential spammer. Dedicated hosting allows enhanced security, particularly important for companies handling sensitive transactions over FTP or SSL.

3. Flexibility

A dedicated server allows a client the flexibility of customizing the server to the client’s unique needs for CPU, RAM, disk space, and software. With shared hosting, a customer is limited to the applications, software, and operating environment already loaded on the server. They may either offer the software a client doesn’t need or lack things that they do.

A dedicated server allows organizations a customizable server environment that fits their needs. They can choose the platform and software they really need, allowing more control over how their dedicated server is configured.

4. Unique IP address

Each server has its own unique IP address. With shared hosting, that means that you are also sharing an IP address with multiple other websites. If one of your neighbors is a spam site or an adult site, this could mean having your websites’ rank pushed down.

With dedicated hosting, you have a dedicated server, which means your own unique IP address. This is especially important if you are a large running an e-commerce site that requires SSL for credit card processing.

5. No overhead for purchasing or maintaining equipment

If a company needs a dedicated server but doesn’t have the time or resources to manage a server themselves, dedicated hosting is a low-cost way to access the resources of a full server. A dedicated hosting provider handles the cost of building and maintaining server equipment, reducing the overhead for a business purchasing server space, and improving their return on investment.

These advantages come with a cost, however. Shared hosting is the cheapest way for a business to run its website, and dedicated hosting is far more expensive in comparison. But sites that deal with a lot of traffic, or have strict needs for customization and security, may find that a dedicated hosting provider is their best option.