Dedicated Servers: The Whole Truth

Dedicated Servers: The Whole Truth

Moving to a Dedicated Server is like climbing to the top of the tallest tree in the forest. The view is incredible, but it’s not for everyone. Plus it’s expensive, and there are maintenance decisions to be made, and I’m aware the analogy falls apart a little there, but I think you get the point.

The service and reliability you will receive from a dedicated server is generally top class. You website will be more powerful, more resilient, and will bolster your online reputation. While these are great features, not everyone needs that kind of power.

But here are some issues to consider to determine if you are in that group, and a Dedicated Server is your best option.

Performance

There’s a reason this one is first on the list. It is the most recognisable problem. If your website is slow to load, crashes when traffic spikes, or is otherwise prone to errors, you are probably experiencing symptoms on an inadequate hosting arrangement. Moving to a dedicated server will boost the resources sitting behind the site, and increase reliability. You also gain the ability to scale up the server should your business continue to grow.

As your website becomes more popular, there is an increased threat of Denial of Service, or other malicious attacks against you. Accessing a dedicated server will improve your security, and your ability to respond to hackers. It also improves your ability to pursue legal charges against the attackers, as they become easier to track when they are being driven to a dedicated server.

Bugs

When updating a website there is always the chance of delivering coding errors. If your site operates off a shared server, it is possible updates from one of the other sites will impact on the performance of your site. The hosting provider will work to debug the machine of course, but if you have a dedicated server this process is far easier. You are working off your own code, and also have oversight over scheduling of maintenance and updates.

Freedom

By remaining with either a shared hosting arrangement or a Virtual Private Server, your business is bound by the rules and processes of the hosting provider. While it is unlikely these rules will be prohibitive (they are a business after all) they will be designed to address the concerns of not just your business, but the others that share the server. This reduces your ability to spread your wings, scale up the size of your website, or otherwise enhance it. Moving to a dedicated server will unleash your business to a level of online freedom of which you have only ever dreamed.