Welcome! I’m Xand, and I’m your new staff blogger here at The Dedicated Server Blog. I’m excited to be writing and informing about dedicated servers, and seeing as this is all our first time I thought I might kick off the blog with a series of starter topics. Over the course of the next few articles I will be defining different hosting services and weighing their pros and cons for different organizations and individuals. If all goes well, you’ll have a general idea of what each kind of service provides you and what the best next step would be for you to take!
So what is a dedicated server?
A dedicated server is a server that a client leases from a company as a server under the client’s control. The client has full access to the server and the server isn’t shared with anyone else, giving the client full access to the server’s computing and storage capabilities. The company (in most cases) maintains and upgrades the hardware for all the machines, eliminating the need for a hardware support team and simplifying headaches concerning bad machines, switches, or routers. Depending on the level of support and management the company provides, you may not even have to worry about software issues! Some companies like LiquidWeb (http://www.liquidweb.com) provide full managed solutions with their dedicated servers, meaning you don’t have to worry about configuring, installing, and maintaining your servers.
Is it for me?
Well- it depends. If you’re a small-time blogger or individual whose website doesn’t get many hits, you’re probably better off with shared hosting (never fear if you are unfamiliar with this term! We’ll discuss it in posts to come- Stay tuned!). If you’re a company that’s growing or expects moderate-to-significant traffic, or an eCommerce site that absolutely needs custom checkout options and tons of CPU usage, a dedicated hosting solution may be the right choice for you!
So what about those shared hosting souls? The lonely bloggers who can’t afford a dedicated server? Stay tuned for tomorrow, where I’ll talk about shared hosting and how it may be the most cost effective for you!