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A Dedicated Server Hosting service is a hosting service where the customer leases the entire server for himself. This means that all the resources of the entire server are dedicated to one client alone, that’s why the name dedicated server hosting.
The good thing about dedicated servers is that they give you full control over your server and you don’t have to share your resources with anybody. The bad part is that they tend to cost significantly more than shared or VPS hosting. In this article we’re going to cover the most common mistakes clients make with their dedicated servers, and explain how to get fully exploit your dedicated servers.
1. Don’t go straight to the production
The first step is to take some time and familiarize yourself with your server before you launch your business and go online. This means that you should first make sure you know how to use everything right and learn as much practices for monitoring and security as possible. Don’t rush to launch your system before you’ve covered the basics.
2. Make your permissions and logins secure
After you’ve made your dedicated server purchase, there are 3 thing you need to do instantly:
1. Set a secure, difficult-to-guess password
2. Disable root logins
3. Limit file permissions to a select group of users
This is basic procedure when it comes to buying a dedicated server and it often gets ignored. Setting up a secure login for your server – and security altogether – should be your priority. But we’ll get to security later.
3. Don’t assume server specs are everything
The server power is just one way to look at your server. The network your server’s running on (both yours and your host’s) matters just as much the specs you’re weighing. When selecting a host, you need to make sure you’re not just looking at specs – you need to look at network and power redundancy and reliability and then see if the glove will fit.
4. Don’t ignore security
Ignoring security in general is one of the biggest mistakes web businesses make. Be smart to pick a decent web host that has taken strong steps to keep your server secure – Server Shield server hardening and 24/7 monitoring are a MUST. Although, this does not mean that security isn’t your responsibility too; don’t fail to manage your security installation and monitor your server for signs of forced entry.
5. Failing to properly manage costs
Failing to weigh the costs/benefits of dedicated servers is the number 1 mistake most clients make. Let’s make things clear: there are no hidden costs or setup fees associated with most dedicated hosting plans, but many businesses tend to underestimate the amount of money they’ll need to expend on IT or maintenance costs (if you’re going with unmanaged hosting). This one is the most important one so we’ll break it down bit by bit.
Firstly, there are two types of dedicated server hosting: the managed and the unmanaged. Managed dedicated server hosting is when the hosting provider takes care of everything in your server, while unmanaged dedicated server hosting means that the service provider simply leases the server to you and leaves everything in your care.
Secondly, not all companies can enjoy the benefits of a Dedicated Server hosting, especially when it comes to package price as it is considerably higher compared to shared hosting and VPS hosting. However, if a web business offers rich media-intensive and resource-intensive content and expects heavy traffic volume, dedicated server hosting offers a range of benefits:
With the whole server resources on your side, you are assured of better server reliability and performance. You are also assured that you will get the resources you need anytime.
Since you have no one else to share your server with, you’re given full Root/Administrator access to your server. Shared hosting clients do not get to enjoy this benefit. Also, the access you gain allows you to install programs and perform customized configurations to fit to your needs and monitor the usage of your server resources.
Without the need to share the server with other users, you get better security against malicious software and other forms of attack that might affect your server – your server is safely locked in a well-monitored, climate controlled environment in the provider’s data center.
Lastly, you have the option to let the provider manage everything for you or you opt to manage everything yourself with your own team; more flexibility and control over your server.
If you’re not expecting heavy traffic for your web business and if you don’t rely on rich media content that takes up all the resources, Dedicated servers are not for you. If your website handles a lot of traffic on a daily basis and needs to deliver heavy, media rich content that needs the full resources of a server, then Dedicated servers are the way to go. Also, you get a boost in security, which should be one of your top priorities.
Costly pricing is the biggest drawback of dedicated servers, before siding with it, see if it’s an absolute imperative.
