Do I Need A Dedicated Server?

• May 7, 2011 20:54
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You started your own internet business a while back. It is doing remarkably well and it is starting to outgrow its current hosting plan. You know that it is time to upgrade your hosting plan but you are not sure how much of an upgrade you need.

Is it time to move your site to a more permanent home? Do you need to get your own dedicated server? When looking at this situation there are six factors that you need to look at. You need to consider how much processor speed you need, how much RAM is necessary to keep your site running smoothly, the security aspects of your site, the kinds of software that you need to run, how much storage space you need, and how much bandwidth your site is going to consume. When you take a close look at these factors you will have a better understanding as to whether or not you need a dedicated server.

1. Processor Speed

When trying to determine the processor speed that you require you need to consider any scripts that your site needs to run and how crowded your site gets. Some scripts, especially those that run on a continual basis, can eat a processor alive. The more scripts that your site runs and the more sophisticated that they are the faster processor that you will need. Just about any processor can handle traffic to a website no matter how many visitors it gets if it gets the visitors one at a time. The more visitors your site gets simultaneously, the more pages it tries to serve at the same time, the faster the processor that you will need. With a dedicated server you will have access to the entire processor and will get to choose which processor is in your server.

2. RAM

The considerations for how much RAM you will need are along the same lines as processor speed, they go hand-in-hand. The more scripts that your site runs and the more pages it needs to serve simultaneously, the more RAM you are going to need. With a dedicated server you get to decide how much RAM is installed.

3. Security

Does your site need better security than a typical website? Do you need to install special software to handle your site’s security needs? Do you know how to handle the security of your website? With a dedicated server you are responsible for all security issues. You can outsource this to your web hosting company, hire an outside company to handle it, or you can do it yourself. Just remember that no matter which option you choose it is your server therefore your responsibility.

4. Software

Does your site require special software to run? Is there some software that you would like to install that you believe would make your site run better? With a dedicated server you can install any software that you want.

5. Storage Space

How much disk space does your site take up? Shared hosting, and even reseller or VPS plans, have space limits. With a dedicated server the only limit that you have is the size and number of the hard drives. In most cases you can decide how big they are and how many to install.

6. Bandwidth

How much traffic does your site get? Even if your site doesn’t need a dedicated server based on the other five criteria, it may be cheaper for you in the long run to obtain a dedicated server and the bandwidth that comes along with it rather than pay the overage charges for the extra bandwidth on your current account. Keep in mind that if you have an extremely popular site it may in fact require more than one dedicated server.

Take a close look at these six criteria and you will have a much better idea of your web hosting needs. More likely than not, if your website has become popular enough that it is using enough resources or getting enough traffic to justify moving to a dedicated server, your web hosting provider has already made the suggestion. A dedicated server is a large investment, but it is an investment in the future of your website and your internet business.

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