Rapid digitization has made everything accessible over the internet. Businesses need plenty of resources to grow and expand especially in the Indian market. Growing your business website is not easy due to heavy competition and lack of resources. Also, to beat your competitors, you need a better business strategy and a reliable hosting solution. Creating a high potential business strategy is not sufficient to run your business, you also need a secure hosting solution that offers you high uptime assurance. Buying web hosting is not an easy task, especially if you are not from a technical background. You will have to choose one out of shared, VPS, cloud, and dedicated servers in India. 

However, before we dive into why you should choose a dedicated server over other servers, let us begin with the understanding of a dedicated server.

What is a dedicated server?

A dedicated server is a physical entity provided by a web hosting company, which businesses can rent. Going with a dedicated server means having a dedicated physical server for your exclusive usage rather than sharing your server with other users. 

Now that we have understood the meaning of a dedicated server, let’s understand why you need a dedicated server.

Why do you need a dedicated server?

Dedicated servers offer numerous advantages like security, scalability, and performance that are missing in other hosting solutions. Here are a few reasons why you should go for a dedicated server in India:

Improved security for better data protection

Security is one of the most essential aspects of any online business, especially if you are an e-commerce business or you collect sensitive data. A dedicated server ensures that all your business data is safe as the hosting company protects it from external threats. However, shared servers are prone to hacks, viruses, and other risks that can breach the security of the server.

Security breaches happen on shared servers because web hosting companies do not include their users in updates and firewall installations. A dedicated hosting company ensures that you get sufficient knowledge about security updates on your website.

While on a dedicated server you will be in charge of your server’s security, your hosting company has IT experts who will help you manage your dedicated server. The management comes in handy, especially during software installation and security updates.

Faster page loading for uplifting user experience

Poor page loading time has a huge impact on how your website performs. Statistics have shown that websites that take more than three seconds to load often discourage site visitors from spending more time learning about your business. If most of your visitors leave your website even before getting to know about your services then it is a serious issue for your business. 

However, with dedicated servers, you can improve your page loading time. Every dedicated server comes with specifications that ensure your website offers faster page loading time even when there is a large number of people visiting the website.

Business growth and load balancing

The success of an online business depends on the rate of its growth. Additionally, who doesn’t want their business to grow? So, if you want to grow your online business then you need a dedicated server that helps you balance the load. You can take time and plan things as it ensures that there are no major troubles while making the change. However, you need to focus on not making the change in a hurry because it can be disastrous.

Start by doing basic research on the different dedicated servers available in the market. Apart from planning your future growth, it would help you in considering the load balance. Load-balancing allows you to effectively distribute your workload on the dedicated server and get optimum results. 

Optimised performance of the website 

Dedicated server providers offer an exclusive platform without sharing any resources with other clients. A dedicated server is entirely dedicated to you thus you can run your desired configuration. Along with the exclusivity, you get faster applications and better performance as compared to shared service or cloud-based service. However, cloud-based servers provide more business storage but certainly, that doesn’t mean it is more efficient.

With a better-performing website, you can organically grow your business in an effective manner. Moreover, you do not have to worry about search engines like Google not ranking your website. The best part about optimised performance is that more people can get to know about your business.

Pocket-friendly plans reduce investment costs

Dedicated servers are cost-effective because they provide you with a better value for money in the long run. Your dedicated server provider will also take care of everything that you’ll need, it is their responsibility to help you in resolving the issues. You just need to invest in a dedicated server and you get a complete in-house server with no worries about maintenance or acquiring the server. 

So, If you are ready to start your business website then ensure that you go for a dedicated server. It will not only guarantee you the benefits that come along with that but it will also assure you that all your business data is safe. 

When should you opt for a dedicated server?

Now we have gone over while you need a dedicated server, let’s talk briefly about how to know if it is right for you? After all, VPS provides similar features at a cheaper price.

Firstly, consider whether your website is receiving more traffic. If the numbers are increasing with each passing day then it may be the right time to upgrade your current hosting plan. 

All the server packages offer the potential for large bandwidth and faster page loading times. However, dedicated hosting has a few advantages over VPS is that it comes with optimised security. It is only because you have absolute control over the operation of the server.

Finally, there are other WordPress considerations as well thus your decision solely depends on the specific needs of your website. If the budget is not your concern then go for the dedicated server without any second thought. Sometimes while purchasing the first hosting plan, cost becomes the primary concern while making a decision.

What are the factors you should consider before selecting a dedicated server in India?

Once you have planned that out of all the hosting solutions, a dedicated server in India is the most suitable for your business. Here are a few key points that you cannot skip if you are considering a dedicated server in India:

Scalability of your server

Scalability is an important factor that should be kept in mind while selecting a dedicated server. How easily does your server scale? Is it easy to add more servers and will that increase the number of users you can serve?  If it allows you to easily scale then you can surely go with it. A few applications are difficult to scale to multiple devices.

The database is running on several servers is a challenge because it needs synchronisation over all the database servers. It can be easy to move the database to a server that has more processing capacity, RAM, and storage. However, a cloud environment can also be a good option because you can clone a server and add a load balancer to redirect traffic to multiple servers. 

Server performance vs traffic

How many visitors do you think will visit your website and how many servers do you need to meet such requirements? Here we will discuss server configuration that will define the capacity of a server.

Processor/CPU

You can select the number of processors and cores in a server. However, it depends on the application you are running on this server will benefit from more cores. Any multithreaded application will benefit from more cores, also consider the performance of the core defined in clock speed (MHz). Few processors have a better turnaround time with fewer cores and more GHz per core.

The choice of processor and how many cores to choose can be known from someone who is managing the application or the vendor of the software. However, they also need to take care of the expected number of users.

RAM

If the CPU is faster and has more cores in it then more RAM options will be available to you. If you are not sure about your RAM needs then you can go with the basic one but make sure that your server allows you to add RAM if needed. However, most servers allow you to add RAM since it is relatively easy. The range of RAM choices is wide, especially for double processors. 

HDD

If you have a large server then you have more hard drive options. SATA drives can stand for high volume but offer relatively low performance. SAS performs twice as well as SATA but it is expensive and has low capacity. SAS is overtaken by SSD which is 50 to 100 times faster than SATA. 

Load balancing across several dedicated servers

If your website can scale across several dedicated servers, a form of load balancing where users are divided across all the available servers is essential. Running a website on which traffic is rising then at some point you will need multiple web servers that serve a huge sum of the users for the same website.

With a load balancing solution, all the incoming requests will be redirected to a different server. Before following this procedure, the load balancer checks whether a server is up and running. However, if the server is down it redirects the traffic to another server.

Bandwidth requirement

Always go with the hosting provider who ensures your bandwidth without any additional charges suitable for your application or website requirement. You should also try to enquire about the charges which they will ask for the post-quota consummation of bandwidth.

Network quality

As a customer, you should always check where a dedicated server is placed physically. For an end-user, it is essential to know the location of the server. For instance, if your customers are in the Delhi region then hosting in the USA might not be an ideal choice because data delivery will be slow.

Data delivery also depends on the quality of the network used by the service provider. To know more about network quality, check the provider’s NOC (Network Operations Centre) pages and test the quality of the network. Most hosting service providers will not stop you from testing their network.

Server management

To which level are you allowed to manage your server? If you are running an application on a dedicated server then you will need technical expertise and knowledge to maintain the server. However, do you have access to a remote management module?

Most reputed servers are equipped with remote management modules. Providers will allow you to secure access to that module. Few service providers offer managed services without any additional cost. Moreover, they also provide ticket support, chat support, and phone support.

How to set up and get optimum performance from your dedicated server in India?

A dedicated server in India is one of the most powerful, customisable, and secure hosting solutions that offer a high level of control over the server. Apart from the benefits, a dedicated server needs to be set up correctly and optimised well to ensure better performance.

Dedicated server setup for optimum performance

A dedicated server is a machine thus it needs to be set up in a way that fulfils your specific requirements. Setup involves tweaking critical server features that are listed below so you can enjoy the best server speed and performance.

Remove all unused scripts from the server

A dedicated server used for hosting a website usually has a lot of pre-installed applications. However, most of these applications are useful. These applications may be themes, plugins, security applications, server management tools, web builder tools, etc. 

Any application on your server that is using server resources should be deleted. Additionally, disable all unused settings that are using server space and resources. Once you remove all that weight, it will automatically improve website performance.

Optimise JavaScript delivery 

While accessing your website through the browser, the website sends a heap of information to the browser. Furthermore, this information is then processed by the browser and displayed on the screen of the viewer. 

Information sent by the server is called a JavaScript file. A website will not load until its JavaScript file has been read. This procedure is called JavaScript render-blocking and it affects the loading time of the website.

Switching to a dedicated server can solve this problem. You can also follow a bunch of easy guides that will boost the loading time of a website. Changing your settings that allow the browser to load website data first and the JavaScript file last significantly improves the loading time. Additionally, the best way to increase website speed is by using simple, clean, and optimised code.

Change the priority setting

It is one of the most valuable changes that you can make to your dedicated server. When you are allotted a server, the priority setting of the server is set to normal by default. However, for increasing the speed of your website you need to change this to high priority. 

It gives you the freedom to control the order in which your server performs these specific tasks and how long it takes to do a task. According to your website content, media, and other configurations, the order that suits you best will vary. Hence freely change things a bit and see what works best for you.

Use of reverse proxy

When a user requests a file from your server, your server will fetch all relevant scripts that are on your desk to send that specific file. Once all the scripts are fetched, they are executed, data speed and the server assembles the main HTML file.

For every file requested, the server has to complete the same process. What if five people request the same file within a short interval of time? The server has to do all these tasks five times.

It can be observed that this is time-consuming, ineffective, and leads to slower performance. Here you can use HTTP reverse proxy, it is between the user and your server. Whenever the same file is requested within a short interval of time, it fetches from your memory rather than asking the server to perform these tasks. Using a reverse proxy can significantly improve the performance of the website.

Enable caching

Caching is not limited to dedicated servers. In fact, no write-up on server optimisation is complete without caching because it impacts the speed of the website.

Enabling caching allows a browser to locally store essential data about a website when that website is accessed. Whenever the browser is accessed with the same website, the website automatically loads on the browser and very little information needs to be sent out. Caching can drastically improve the website speed and should be enabled.

How much does a dedicated server cost?

Now coming to the dedicated server pricing, unfortunately, the cost of a dedicated server in India is not fixed. The cost of the plan also depends on both the service provider and the specifications you need. In general, you can expect to pay ₹9000 or $120 per month or more for a dedicated server. At a lower price, You will get fewer resources. As the cost of the plan goes up, available RAM and bandwidth also go up. The best-dedicated server is the one that suits your requirements and can grow with you. Search for a company that offers a variety of plans at reasonable rates.

Conclusion

On a dedicated server, you are the only individual who is storing data and making use of the server. A dedicated server in India is considered a primary hosting solution by most businesses due to its features like enhanced security, top-notch performance, and fast loading speed. However, if you are dealing with the low performance of your dedicated server in India then you can remove unused scripts, change priority settings, use a reverse proxy, and enable caching for getting optimum performance. Dedicated server pricing depends on your requirements with the server, but it usually starts from ₹9000 per month and keeps on increasing as you add more features. Choose a plan that fulfils your needs and offers optimum server performance.