Why dedicated server hosting is crucial to expand your digital venture? You may already know that an impressive website needs a robust web hosting solution to achieve organizational goals. While there are tons of options to choose from in the hosting space, the one that stands out as the most powerful is dedicated server hosting. Dedicated servers are often chosen by businesses to support high-traffic sites. If you have little idea of what dedicated servers are, keep reading.

In this super-detailed guide, we will cover everything related to dedicated server hosting-what dedicated servers are, what are their key benefits, how they compare with popular forms of hosting, how much they typically cost, and a lot more.

So, let’s get started.

What is a dedicated server?

As the name suggests, a dedicated server is a server reserved exclusively for your website and its digital peripherals. Because you have a server all to yourself, you enjoy complete control over the machine and can optimize it to meet your unique requirements.

While this kind of server offers immense power and flexibility, it comes at a premium. Hence, you must conduct proper research before signing up for a dedicated server hosting plan.

What are the key advantages of a dedicated server?

There are some obvious benefits of choosing a dedicated server in India. You enjoy more power and reliability for your website in addition to better control over your hosting configuration. Let’s talk about these (and many more) benefits one by one.

• Speed and Performance

In this day and age, when a high-performing website is an absolute must, the best-dedicated server hosting in India offers what your small business needs to thrive and compete. All the resources on the server, be it RAM, CPU, bandwidth, or storage, are reserved for you. As a result, your site functions optimally-its pages load fast and there are no performance issues even when your traffic surges.

And since a fast-loading website fares better in search engine results, you are likely to get more visibility in search engines-something every business aims to achieve.

• Control and Customization

Another beneficial feature of dedicated server hosting is that you have complete control over the server. This means you can have a server tailored to your specific needs. So, you can fine-tune server configuration, install software of choice, and tweak resources to meet your requirements.

• Security

Another noteworthy feature of dedicated server hosting is security. As you do not share server space with anyone else, the chances of a malicious intrusion or attack are minimized.

In addition, you have the freedom to customize the server as per your requirements, so you can install the firewalls, anti-malware, and other security tools that align with your needs. All this lends your hosting environment a high degree of security.

• Support

As you may already know, dedicated server hosting plans are amongst the most expensive options in the marketplace. So, they generally come with top-notch support. As a result, you are likely to have dedicated technicians at your beck and call.

Such an arrangement ensures that your site runs without disruption. And, even if some glitch occurs, the same can be resolved within a short period of conduct speed. This is especially important for businesses that use their website to sell their offerings.

How does a dedicated server compare with other forms of hosting?

Now that you have a fair degree of understanding regarding a dedicated server, let’s compare it with other common forms of hosting i.e. shared, VPS and cloud. We will describe the key features of each of them one by one.

Shared Hosting

It is the preferred hosting option for beginners. When you sign up for a shared plan, your host puts your website on a server with hundreds of other websites. This means each client has to share the computing resources-CPU, RAM, storage, and bandwidth with every other client.

As you might have guessed, shared hosting is quite economical. It’s the cheapest hosting solution available these days.

Pros 

Pricing: As already discussed, shared hosting is cheap. You can purchase a shared hosting plan for as low as $3 a month.

Beginner-friendly: For those with little to no hosting experience, shared hosting can be a safe bet. Every aspect of the server security, upgrade, and maintenance is taken care of by your hosting provider.

Cons

Limited Resources: As you share the hosting space with hundreds of other websites, you are constrained in terms of memory, space, and processing power. This may affect your loading speed and performance at times.

Security Concerns: You do not know the websites you are sharing space with. So, if one of these sites gets hacked or blacklisted, yours could also be affected.

Lack of Control: If one of the sites on your server uses more resources than usual, your performance will be impacted as you cannot scale at will.

Suitable for

Shared hosting is a great option for small websites with limited traffic e.g. blogs and personal sites.

VPS (Virtual Private Server) Hosting

This is similar to shared hosting in the sense that your website shares a physical server with many other websites. However, in this case, the server is partitioned into several virtualized environments, each of which hosts a separate site. Also, there are fewer websites sharing server space. So, each site gets a fair share of resources.

Pros 

Value-for-money: It is an affordable hosting option, far more economical than a dedicated server in India. You can buy a decent VPS Hosting plan for as low as $20-40.

Security: Your site is hosted on a virtualized server that operates in an isolated environment. So, it remains immune to what happens on the neighboring sites.

Root access: Since you have root access, you can tweak the server to your liking. In other words, you enjoy greater control over your hosting environment.

Speed and Performance: As you get a reserved set of resources to work with, your site enjoys reasonably good speed and performance.

Cons

Underused Resources: At times, companies happen to oversell hosting space to websites that may not need that much processing power or storage. As a result, you may end up with more than what you need.

Expensive than Shared Hosting: A VPS is at least 6-7 times costlier than a shared hosting option. If you overestimate your needs, you may pay a lot more than your actual needs.

Suitable for

If you have outgrown your shared hosting plan and need a plan that offers adequate resources without requiring you to spend a fortune, a VPS can be a good fit.

Cloud Hosting

In a cloud hosting model, your website is not hosted on a single server. Instead, physical servers in different locations combine to create a virtualized server that hosts your website. This virtual server may host other websites also, but because multiple servers are involved, ample resources are available for everyone.

Cloud hosting is also immensely reliable as it draws resources from different servers. So, if one of these servers goes down, others keep the site up and running. Also, if you need more resources, you can access them through the cloud.

Pros

Reliability: Unlike other hosting solutions that rely on a single server, the cloud combines the power of multiple servers that create redundancy and shield your site against downtime.

Scalability: Because your site is hosted on a cloud having access to resources from many different servers, you can scale up or down depending upon the demands of your business.

Flexibility: As you add or remove resources as required, cloud hosting is the most flexible hosting option out there.

Cons

Demand advanced know-how: Cloud services entail advanced knowledge. You cannot just set it up and start using it.

Security Issues: Though the cloud is touted to be a secure solution, it involves an array of security issues.

Suitable for

Businesses that seek a near-perfect uptime and the flexibility to scale up and down can choose cloud hosting.

How much does a dedicated server cost? 

Now let’s get to the question you were probably waiting for-what is the cost of dedicated server hosting in India?

Sadly, the answer isn’t straightforward. As in any other kind of computing service, there is a broad pricing range. The cost of your dedicated server hosting plan will depend primarily on your service provider, the kind of hosting you need (managed or unmanaged), and the duration of your contract.

A decent dedicated hosting plan may require you to shell out anywhere between $70-80 per month. For a top-tier plan, you may need to spend a minimum of $150 per month. When it comes to premium dedicated hosting, there is no upper limit. You tell your hosting provider what you need, and get a server accordingly.

Dedicated server prices vary depending on the amount of RAM, storage, bandwidth, etc. included in your plan. Then the level of management-unmanaged or managed also affects your dedicated server price.

In a managed dedicated hosting plan, your service provider takes care of the various aspects of server management. So, everything from installing, configuring, managing, and upgrading the server is their responsibility.

On the other hand, in an unmanaged plan, all the above tasks are handled by you. Needless to say, unmanaged solutions demand a high degree of technical know-how. They are cheaper than their managed counterparts.

When should you choose a dedicated server? 

Dedicated servers are not a budget-friendly option; hence, you need to research meticulously before leasing one.

Let’s consider the scenarios where a dedicated server can be a good fit.

• Your website traffic is growing quickly

If you expect your traffic to grow quickly in the days to come, choosing a dedicated server in India can be a great option. If you are still using a low-tier solution (e.g. shared or VPS hosting), your speed may be hampered when the number of visitors spikes.

Your pages may load more slowly than usual causing users to bounce off from your site. So, before any potential problems spring up, you should migrate to a dedicated server.

• Security is a concern for your website

Security is a vital aspect of website management for any business owner, particularly for those managing sensitive information. The latter can include credit card numbers, or any personally identifiable information-social security number, passport number, or driver’s license number.

With a dedicated server, you are in complete control of your site’s security as you can change the configuration to beef up your security features. You can install firewalls or anti-malware if needed. Plus, dedicated servers in India operate in a physically and virtually isolated environment.

• You demand complete control of your server

Dedicated server hosting lets you have full control of your hosting environment. You can choose the software you want, change hardware specifications, or install your operating system (OS). All this makes it an enticing option for advanced developers with unique and specific requirements.

What to consider when choosing a dedicated server for your business? 

By now, you must have evaluated if a dedicated server is an appropriate option for your business. If you have decided to go the dedicated way, you can have a hard time finalizing a hosting plan. This is understandable, considering the overwhelmingly large number of options available these days.

To ease the task, we’ve prepared a list of factors you must take into account when choosing a dedicated server in India.

These include:

• Performance Requirements

The requirements of businesses vary depending on the traffic they attract, the content they host, and the services they wish to provide. You should assess the needs of your business and, accordingly, create the right blend of processing power, storage, and bandwidth in your dedicated server hosting plan.

• Potential Downtime 

However good dedicated servers maybe, they do have a drawback-a single point of failure. So, when choosing a dedicated server in India, take into account the downtime you are willing to risk in case a glitch occurs.

• Security

Given the exponential increase in the number of cybersecurity breaches, choosing a plan with robust security becomes imperative. Make sure to question your hosting provider on the physical and virtual security measures they have in place. Firewalls, anti-malware, multi-factor authentication, and intrusion management are a few features you must insist your host include in your plan.

• Scalability

Every business aims to expand with time; if everything goes well, your website will grow over the next few years. Who would like to end up in a situation where they have to switch to a new hosting provider when scaling? Not you, right? Choose a trusted hosting provider to mitigate such issues.

• Hardware Specifications

Aspects such as RAM, RAID, or OS may seem technical but are important considerations. The operating system (OS) you choose should align with your business environment. Also, there should be adequate RAM to cover your existing (and future) needs. Ideally, your hosting provider should offer a range of hardware specs, so that you can pick and choose what best suits your needs.

• Back up

If your hard drive fails to store your critical data following a glitch, you will have to count on a backup server. So, you must assess the options available for backing your data.

Many hosting services provide automated server backups in real-time. Such an arrangement ensures that your data remains secure at all times. Some hosts offer backup on the cloud to guarantee protection against data loss. Choosing such service providers will stand you in good stead.

• Quality of Network

The quality of your network will be primarily determined by the location of your dedicated server in India. The closer your server is to your end-users, the better will be the quality of your network.

Some service providers let you test network quality and speed before signing up. If such an option is available, go for it to avoid disappointment in later stages.

• Technical Support

Robust technical support is the backbone of your growing business. Regardless of how technically proficient your team is, you will need assistance when navigating the day-to-day tasks or tackling emerging glitches.

Does your prospective service provider offer round-the-clock support? Is the support available through multiple channels? What is their average turn-around-time (TAT)? Your host must be able to answer such questions.

• Pricing  

Pricing becomes a key consideration when choosing a premium hosting solution like a dedicated server. To start with, estimate how much resources you are likely to consume and, accordingly, calculate your tentative monthly spending.

There are certain items for which may be charged at the time of server installation e.g. set-up fees and software licensing fees. Factor in these expenses when calculating the total cost of leasing a server. Also, if you want to upgrade in the future, what fee will you be required to pay?

We’ve summed up these factors in the graphic below:

Buy Dedicated Server to Ace your Online Game

So, that’s a wrap on our exhaustive dedicated server guide. The points covered above will come in handy when you buy a dedicated server service. As a veteran in the cloud and infrastructure space, Go4hosting offers the best-dedicated server hosting in India. We analyze the requirements of your business in utmost detail and, accordingly, devise a solution that caters to the most pressing needs of your business.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 

Which operating system can I run on my dedicated server?

Most hosting providers offer Linux-based distributions for dedicated servers. CentOS, Debian, Fedora, or Ubuntu are commonly sought-after options. If, however, you plan to use .net or asp-based applications, Windows server would be a better choice.

What software can I install on my dedicated server?

Because you have root access, you should, ideally,  be able to install any valid licensed software. If, however, your requirement is highly specific, feel free to discuss the same with us.

Will I get root access to my dedicated server?

Once your account is provisioned, you can request root access on your server; the same will be granted in the instant.

How many websites can I host on my dedicated server?

There is no limit as such on the number of websites you can host. Just make sure you have adequate resources to support these websites.

How much time do you take to set up a dedicated server?

At Go4hosting, we set up your dedicated server within 24 hours of receiving the payment. In case of a delay, we let you know in advance.

If you need to buy a dedicated server or have questions on your must conduct dedicated server price, please let us know. We will be glad to answer your queries.