Written by Jose Vicente
Dedicated servers are so called when they are used exclusively by one user or company. In this case, the machines, licenses, etc., belong to the hosting company offering the hosting service, which also assumes the management of these servers and guarantees their uninterrupted operation.
When choosing a dedicated server, it is very important to know which features are the most important. These will depend on the requirements and needs of the Web page(s) to be hosted.
Dedicated servers are used only by a user or company to host their web pages or applications exclusively.
The following are some of the most important features to consider before hiring a dedicated server:
- Operating system: depending on the needs of the websites to be hosted, you will have to choose between Linux or Windows-based systems.
- Ram memory and processor: the processing capacity and memory depend on important factors such as the speed with which the Web will be displayed or the number of simultaneous visits it may have.
- Hard disk: the capacity of the hard disk will be the one that allows to store more or less information. Keep in mind that not only do website files take up space, but email accounts and databases also need storage capacity.
- Traffic: refers to the amount of traffic that is transferred both inbound and outbound. For this type of service, traffic usually ranges from hundreds of Gigabytes to unlimited.
- Infrastructure: an optimized network infrastructure with a 1Gbps connection will allow you to receive a large number of visits without losing speed. In addition, it is important to have several connectivity providers so that in the event of failure of any of them, there is an alternative.
Like all hosting services, dedicated servers also have their advantages and disadvantages. The most important of these are described below.
Advantages of dedicated servers
- Exclusivity: The customer ensures that all contracted capacity is dedicated exclusively to its own Web application and that other customers’ failures will not affect the availability and speed of its Internet site.
- Full access: in this case you will have full access to the server and will be able to make the necessary configurations for the hosted Web pages to work correctly.
- Installation of own applications: having the server in exclusivity, you can install your own applications or others that require special configurations and there will be no problem in adapting the system for its correct operation.
Disadvantages of dedicated servers
- Price: the price of dedicated servers is usually the highest of all hosting services that can be hired.
- Administration: specialized personnel are usually required to perform the tasks of installation, management and optimization of the machine. This management can be contracted separately, depending on the supplier, although this will significantly increase the price.
Dedicated servers are especially suitable for hosting web pages with high performance requirements, such as websites with a large number of concurrent visitors.
