Shared hosting is affordable and easy to start with, and has helped many startups grow. However, as the company and its online presence increase, servers get more incoming data, which can get overbearing quickly. Not only is the load handling capacity a downside of shared hosting, but so are limited control and resources.
At some point, businesses reach for reliability and more security, and then feel that they must rent a dedicated server as a way of overcoming limitations. But this is a drastic jump in characteristics and cost, so you need to make sure that not only do you need it, but also that you’re going to use that many resources.
In this article, we will explore the right time to update and rent a dedicated server.
Why Other Hosting Options May Not Be Enough
Dedicated hosting requires a considerable financial investment at the start, so not many people choose it as their first hosting solution. Usually, dedicated servers are seen as an upgrade option, which is very understandable, and here’s why.
Shared hosting fails to provide “boundaries” between users. This way, when somebody uses more server capacity, there’s less for others. If your ”neighbour” has a demanding website, there will likely be fewer resources for yours, and the problem is you won’t know if that’s the case until you join the server. Shared hosting also doesn’t give you configuration options: you can’t choose the version of the operating system, software, or internal settings. You are basically stuck with the provider’s standard setup.
VPS (virtual private server) hosting offers a much better performance, and, most importantly, an isolated environment, virtually though. You still share the physical server with other people, but you’re not limited in your performance or resource usage in any way. VPS hosting solutions are great, but they still have limitations in terms of no access to hardware, virtual partitioning, and a higher probability of dysfunction (compared to a dedicated server) due to other people using it, and lower performance stability.
When to Move to a Dedicated Server
Many instances make choosing a dedicated server smart. We will uncover some of them.
Need for Better Performance
The most common reason for upgrading to dedicated hosting is outgrowing the performance capabilities of your current server. If your application or website gets high traffic amounts that your current solution is incapable of handling, it is usually a sign that it’s time for an upgrade. When your pages load slowly, or there’s frequent downtime or crashes, especially during peak hours, then it means that you should migrate to a more capable hosting plan.
In some cases, arguably in most cases, good stable performance is non-negotiable. An e-commerce website is a good example of that: every time there’s a slowdown or a crash, the business loses revenue. The same goes for financial trading platforms, streaming services, and online gaming platforms. In these scenarios, performance dips are more than just inconveniences.
Dedicated hosting is capable of providing stable, robust performance due to hardware resources that are directed to power your projects.
Complete Control and Customization Options
Sometimes, your server performs just fine, but you lack customization options for your server: you can’t install the software you need, choose an operating system, etc.
A dedicated server offers full administrative access to the software and hardware parts, which allows you to configure every aspect of your server. It means that you can run software that you need, even if it isn’t standard. You may need a different operating system kernel, or an older version of a programming language, or to deploy a custom architecture, and only a dedicated server can provide an environment to accomplish tasks at hand.
Stronger Security
For businesses and organizations that handle sensitive data (including customer personal and financial information), strong security is mandatory. A dedicated server is a naturally more secure solution due to its exclusive use by one person or organization.
Moreover, certain collected data requires meeting regulatory standards, like medical records or financial information. This can make it mandatory to keep an isolated virtual and physical environment. With a dedicated server, it is much easier to be compliant with regulations such as HIPAA or PCI-DSS due to its clear control assignment and minimal external threat probability.
Cost-Effectiveness
In terms of cost and value ratio, a dedicated server is a worthy investment for the long term. It eliminates the need to rent multiple virtual servers to meet your resource needs and costs associated with managing them. A dedicated server is a simpler, more powerful, and cost-effective hosting option capable of meeting virtually any needs in the technical sense.
If your growth is restricted by the limitations of your current hosting plan, whether it’s insufficient performance, control, or isolation, a dedicated server would be your ideal choice.
Conclusion
Choosing a dedicated server is a smart business choice in favour of the company’s stability and growth. It gives its users full control over the server, offering infinite customization options. Along with reliable performance, high loading speed, and strong security, it’s a solid choice oriented to the future of your business.