What is Dedicated Hosting?

Monday, 07 February 2011

Dedicated hosting is a specialized type of hosting service which makes it possible for the customer/client to have full or near full access to an entire server towards their use. This differs from a shared hosting plan by not having the server resources divided out between several clients. The customer is leasing the entire server and all of the resources associated with the server for use with their discretion. This may be an option to consider when the client's existing hosting is inadequate for their needs.

Dedicated Hosting Service

The reason why a client would wish to use this type of service can be understood by what the client needs from the server. If their website(s), service(s) or application(s) require complete access to the resources of the server to have full efficiency, then a dedicated hosting plan is the best option to be used. A client may also wish to have the security of not having their website, data or databases shared with other accounts which may be compromised by hackers or viruses on a shared server.

Companies may also wish to provide their consumers, visitors and users of their website with unobstructed access by providing all available resources as needed rather than being limited to what is available in a shared partition. With this option, users will also not have to worry about their information being leaked out via server configuration errors and other such possibilities.
The dedicated hosting option will also provide access to choosing the operating system which is most appropriate for the company to use for their specifications. Depending on the dedicated server host, the ability to have full control over which operating system can be used may be possible through their services.

Customers who choose a dedicated server may also wish to use the compatible software of their choice with the operating system which is chosen for the server. The ability to have control of what software, applications and various other options is one of the prominent reasons for clients to choose a dedicated hosting option for their websites.

Dedicated hosting options will have one of two options to choose from for clients to take advantage of. The most common option is through managed dedicated hosting which provides the client with a higher level of control over the server while still providing the necessary support, updates and otherwise background control through the hosting company. The alternative is unmanaged hosting which makes it possible for the client to have full control over the server in every aspect. They will have the full responsibility of managing the server and any support that is needed with it.

Clients will want to ensure that they understand everything about dedicated hosting before they decide to expand or transfer an existing website onto a dedicated server with the options that they have chosen. It is recommended that they compare more than a couple of hosting services before they make their choice and read reviews on the hosting provider to understand the experiences of past users.