Last updated on December 7th, 2023 at 10:13 am
What does dedicated hosting mean?
Dedicated hosting simply means that your website or software is hosted on a server dedicated only to you.
Shared hosting is however the most popular hosting, meaning that you share a server with several websites. Although shared hosting is the most popular, it has some clear disadvantages which include potential security risks, your website loads slowly, you don,t have full control over your website, etc.
Dedicated hosting allows you to set up a workload-optimal IT environment and completely control the hosting setup.
You can think of it as an upgrade from shared hosting in every regard, with notable improvements in performance, reliability, scalability, and security.
Now, dedicated hosting benefits differ slightly based on where your hosting equipment is located. A company has three options when setting up a dedicated hosting:
- On-premises- if you have skilled IT staff and a sound server room you can set up a server in-house. Although you have complete control over the device, upfront costs are high and network connectivity can be a concern.
- Rent a server- you can also rent a server from a service provider. Although you control the server configuration, the vendor deploys the device and handles maintenance.
- Colocation hosting- Colocation allows a company to set up a privately-owned server at a third-party data center. With this option, a business invests in dedicated hosting but rents the rack, cooling, power, physical security, and connectivity.
In this article, we will share the 9 most impactful dedicated hosting benefits.
Table of Contents
#1. Server Resources are Dedicated to a Single Use Case.
A dedicated hosting provider gives you the full resources of a single server. With dedicated hosting, you don’t have to worry about other websites clogging up the server’s CPU and RAM. you will never have to worry about any bad scripts running on another website or spikes in bandwidth usage slowing down your server.
Dedicated hosting does not force you to share resources with other organizations, websites, apps, or users as is the case with a shared server. You have exclusive use of the server’s resources which include:
- Disk space
- CPU usage.
- Bandwidth
- RAM.
With dedicated hosting, you can eliminate all significant risks and issues of shared hosting such as:
- Network congestion
- Another website eating up resources hence slowing down your IT operations.
- Slow loading times during peak usage or traffic hours.
- A bad script running on another website or spikes in bandwidth, slowing down your processes.
- Frequent downtime.
Since you are not competing for resources, you ensure stability and consistent performance hence improving the user experience and building up your brand reputation.
#2. More Reliable Uptime.
In 2022, a reliable server is extremely important. If your website goes down for any reason, your customer will shift to your competitors and if the service provided there is better, then you might have lost them.
With a shared server when your traffic or usage spikes, chances are that the performance will degrade quickly. In most cases, high bounce rates and loss of revenue are caused by your website going down.
Dedicated hosting ensures your site or app is always running fast and smoothly, even during peak traffic hours. If you configure the device correctly, then you can be sure that users will always have a good experience no matter how much traffic or usage the server is processing.
In addition to that data centers hosting dedicated hosting give an extra boost such that even during local natural disasters, fires, or power outages you are unlikely to suffer downtime.
#3. Consistently Fast Loading Times.
More available resources enable faster loading speed. The speed of a website is one of the key SEO factors Google uses to determine search engine ranking, therefore a fast website will help your business rank higher in search results. A site’s speed is vital to conversion rates as illustrated below:
- Every second added to your load time results in 7% fewer conversions.
- A one-second delay in response time can result in 11% fewer page views.
- Almost 40% of shoppers leave a website that takes more than three seconds to load fully.
- Around 46% of people who abandon an online shopping cart claim to have experienced slow website speed.
The speed of dedicated hosting enables you to add custom features to your website without long loading times.
#4. Simple and Flexible Scalability.
A dedicated hosting provider allows you the flexibility of customizing the server to your unique needs. You can request more processing power, storage space, or bandwidth, and the vendor will adjust the server to meet your needs.
A shared hosting limits a customer to the applications, software, and operating environment already loaded on the server. They may offer the software a client doesn’t need or lack things a client need.
Dedicated hosting allows you a customizable server environment that fits your needs. You can choose the platform and software you need, allowing more control over how your dedicated hosting is configured.
You can also customize the server’s software to be able to:
- Install the OS tool and app you may need.
- Configure the server to meet your needs.
- Set up and use any resource control system.
- Deploy ideal security and data backup measures.
- Control the way users interact with the server.
You must carefully schedule your scaling plans to benefit more from this dedicated hosting benefit. Align server changes with your business plan therefore you do not have to regularly add and remove components since they may cause unnecessary downtime.
#5. Dedicated Servers are Early tech Adopters.
Dedicated hosting is the provider’s priority for adopting new tech. Renting dedicated hosting from a top-tier vendor gives you the option to set up and start relying on cutting-edge tech as soon as a new component enters the market.
The lack of virtualization in the latest hardware enables you to make the most out of server components.
#6. Superior Cybersecurity.
For companies with high-security demands, dedicated hosting is typically the preferred option for them. Using a dedicated server eliminates most security issues such as:
- Malware or a virus from another website.
- Losing access to your data or experiencing downtime due to another website experiencing a DDoS attack.
- Accidental neighbor activity that may affect your website or app.
The in-house option also contributes to high levels of security. These include top-tier protection against cybersecurity attacks and real-time server monitoring.
Dedicated hosting also enables you to customize protection measures and tailor security to fit your needs. Since you have complete control over the server, you can deploy solutions alongside the provider’s safeguards. You can do any of the following:
- Set up new and fine-tune existing firewalls.
- Use any anti-virus and malware program you prefer.
- Deploy an intrusion detection system (IDS).
- Create a custom disaster recovery plan.
- Limit admin access.
- Protect data with encryption at rest.
- ensure users are creating strong passwords and updating credentials regularly.
Renting or colocating a dedicated hosting also enables you to rely on high-end physical protection. A data center has considerably better security than just an average on-prem server room, therefore your device remains safe with:
- Locks with biometric scans.
- Armed guards.
- Mantraps.
- Round-the-clock video surveillance.
- Motion detection.
Customizable security and high physical protection give dedicated hosting the go-to option for companies that must comply with PCI and HIPAA regulations.
#7. Outsourced Server maintenance.
Most providers offer managed hosting services to those clients who decide to rent or colocate a dedicated hosting. Plans that include server management differ depending on what vendor you choose, but most providers are ready to handle:
- Device setup and configuration.
- General maintenance.
- Backup and recovery responsibilities.
- Server monitoring.
- Software updates.
Managed services are the best option for companies that are in this category:
- Are not in the position to invest in top-tier IT staff.
- Wish to free the in-house team and have them focus on other business fronts.
- Are not based near the hosting data center.
- Host mission-critical functions which do not tolerate downtime.
Most providers offer both fully and semi-managed services, therefore you can negotiate with your provider on what the data center team handles and what they should leave to your staff to handle.
If you opt to rent or host a dedicated hosting at a third-party facility without managed services, make sure that your team has the necessary skills and know-how to manage the server.
#8. High Cost-effectiveness.
Renting a server is a highly affordable way to ensure dedicated hosting benefits, especially for those who do not have the budget for an in-house server room or devices needed for colocation. You can also save some cash and raise your overall ROI by avoiding upfront expenses on costly equipment.
Colocation and on-prem dedicated hosting is also cost-effective in terms of how much value you get for your money.
Although cloud and shared servers are cheaper, a dedicated server offers much more in terms of resources and the number of users you can serve without running into issues.
#9. A Unique, static IP address.
Shared hosting serves several websites that are run from the same IP address.
One big disadvantage with shared hosting is that if one website starts spamming or performing black hat SEO, search engines could penalize that IP address hence affecting every website on that server.
A company that opts for dedicated hosting gets a unique IP address, therefore, reducing the risk. With dedicated hosting, you won’t have to worry about other website activities since you are the only one responsible for the health of your server’s IP address. IP address is very important for hosting a dedicated mail server or an e-commerce site that has an SSL certificate for credit card processing.
A public static IP address also means that your team does not have to worry about updating records when a lease expires or when you rotate IP addresses.
Conclusion
Although a dedicated server is not ideal for everyone, a company with a use case that requires dedicated hosting can typically not operate properly with any other hosting model.
If your business can benefit from the dedicated server benefits listed above, you should consider deploying or renting a server capable of keeping up with your business needs.