One day you arrive at a decision of getting your own Internet site or application, so you visit a so-called hosting provider and they ask you whether you would like to rent a shared or dedicated server in the USA. Then you may have a counter-question: “Oh, is there any difference?” If the case is yours, then you have to learn the basics of hosting in order to understand this difference and actually answer the provider’s question.
What Service does Hosting Company provide?
Metaphorically, hosting is a kind of renting an apartment, your Internet apartment with the address and room for your virtual things, that is files, databases and all sorts of resources. Your future website is this “apartment” and it’s up to you to choose what type of “accommodation” would be more comfortable for it. Would you prefer embarrassing neighbours next door to you, a room in each flat or a mansion at your disposal?
Thus, most hosting providers will offer you a choice of:
- A shared server. Here you share one server capacity with other clients and it works well in case of smaller projects.
- A virtual private server. You still share one server with other users, but your web site has its own special “corner in the room” with space and memory quotas. It is definitely a perfect option for a developing business whose web resources are expanding.
- Cloud hosting offers you a server cluster – a number of servers each of them holding a copy of your website’s data, so, if one server fails, your website is redirected to the cluster’s next one. They cannot fail all at once! Not a bad alternative for those who need a flexible enough approach.
- WordPress hosting is basically a subcase of shared hosting on WordPress – a content management system, or in simple words, a platform for website creation with a pocket of ready-made tools and plug-ins. A bit risky, if your website’s needs include something more.
- A dedicated server, finally, means one server for one website. This must be the best decision for a larger project and let’s check why.
What is After All a Dedicated Server?
According to the above mentioned metaphor, a dedicated server is a sort of online detached house or mansion which you can rent for your needs. Then your website gets the whole server for itself and now it is the unique user of this server. Is it so crucial to have this dedicated server? If we speak about a big enterprise or project, the answer will be positive as this may represent the optimal choice; and here are at least 3 options to define dedicated servers:
- Connection and download speed. It’s obvious, the bigger the project the more speed and memory capacities it needs. You simply cannot share your traffic with millions of other users if you expect your website to be round-the-clock available for your customers.
- Full flexibility of settings and preferences. Not every site can be designed in “one-size fits all” fashion and sometimes you need something special with a specific tool equipment for your online project. Moreover, you may want to manage the whole website geometry adaptively and control it on your own – you will be 100% able to do that with the help of the dedicated server.
- High-security option. As long as you have an exclusive right of your web site adjustment, its safety settings are no exception. And when the number of users are minimized to one user, there’s not a big chance for all types of scumware.
This tempting offer has only one drawback – it is rather costly, but sometimes the game is worth the candle. Finally, a good hosting provider should help you win this game.
Choose it in your clients’ region and take note of some hosting companies that are present in different parts of the world, for instance, GTHost which covers Europe, Canada and the USA. Subsequently, the product versatility and customer support level of the provider should be checked. If you take the same GTHost, you will see that they have diverse and flexible offers and solid support service for the clients. Thus, your dedicated server will never let you down and it will set your business on the path of prosperity.
