When it comes to choosing where to host your website, you will have to decide among a ton of options. The two main things you’ll need to consider are which hosting company to use, and what kind of hosting package to choose.
There are two main ways to host a website – shared server hosting and dedicated server hosting. If you’re launching your very first website, chances are, shared hosting is what you would probably opt for. It is after all, a cheaper alternative to dedicated hosting.
Dedicated server hosting, on the other hand, is more suitable for growing websites that get more traffic and service more users. It gives you full access to the hardware you are paying for, ensuring better speed, security, and control. As such, though, it can also be more expensive.
In this article, we’re going to teach you everything you need to know about dedicated server hosting pricing, how much it costs, and whether it’s right for your business.
So, let’s dive right in!
What Is Dedicated Server Hosting?
Dedicated server hosting, or bare-metal server hosting, is a type of hosting which provides all the resources of a server to one single client. This means that you have exclusive access to the server’s RAM, storage, and bandwidth. What’s more, you have the option to control the configurations according to your requirements.
With dedicated server hosting, you have the advantage to quickly scale up or down, based on your needs at any given time. It is mainly used by websites that get a lot of traffic and hence need more server resources.
Shared hosting, on the other hand, allows several websites to use one single server, and as such, it’s a significantly cheaper option. The downsides are that it’s slower, and you are not aware of who you are sharing the resources of the server with.
Although shared hosting is the more economical option, it comes with some limitations such as low performance, lack of customization options, and slowed down site performance when the hosted website starts getting a lot more traffic.
How Much Do Dedicated Servers Cost?
We mentioned that dedicated servers are the more expensive option for hosting, but you might be wondering how much do they actually cost?
Generally, the starting price of renting a dedicated server is $100 per month. You can choose between managed and semi-managed servers, depending on the level of support and tools you need.
However the price of dedicated servers can vary drastically based on different factors, such as:
- The service provider you choose. Some providers can even charge north of $1,000 per month for basic dedicated server hosting packages. Do your research before choosing the right hosting provider for you.
- The duration of your hosting contract. If you pay on a monthly basis for your dedicated server hosting, you’ll likely pay a slightly higher price than if you were to pay annually, or once every two years.
- The type of dedicated server hosting you require. If you don’t have the technical know-how, or manpower to set up and maintain your dedicated servers, then you can simply pay your provider an extra monthly fee so that they can manage everything for you. This type of service is called managed dedicated server hosting.
- The level of storage and memory you need. It should be self-explanatory that if your website or application requires more resources, processing power, or memory, then you’ll need to pay extra for each upgrade.
At RedSwitches, you can pick up a cheap dedicated server hosting plan starting from only $100 per month.
If, however, you want to buy a physical dedicated server, then you have to be prepared to pay out a large up-front fee for purchasing the hardware (the cost can range between $2,000 – $10,000). The upside here, though, is that you will end up saving money in the long run, because you won’t pay monthly recurring fees.. However, you’ll still need to spend more money on upgrading hardware in the future, as hardware becomes obsolete real fast nowadays.
When buying a physical dedicated server however, you will have to set it up, maintain it, and secure it by yourself. That either means hiring a dedicated IT person, or doing it yourself (if you know how to).
Not convinced you should spend the extra money and get a dedicated server? Check out our in-depth guide to find out if you need a dedicated server!
5+ Dedicated Server Use-Cases
Dedicated servers are ideal for fast-growing websites with a lot of traffic. Some potential use-cases for dedicated servers include:
#1. Website Hosting
The most common use for dedicated servers is website hosting.
Whenever your website reaches a certain stage (i.e: you’re getting a ton of monthly traffic), you pretty much have to switch to dedicated server hosting. Otherwise, shared hosting simply won’t be able to keep up with the traffic, and your website’s performance will deteriorate.
In layman terms, this means that users or potential customers trying to navigate to your website will likely drop off either because the website takes too long to load, or because it simply doesn’t load at all. A slow loading website can be quite frustrating for users, which can have a negative impact on their user experience.
Paying the higher price for a dedicated server means that you won’t have to worry about 100,000+ users trying to utilize your app or website at the same time. You can rest assured your website will run smoothly, 24/7.
#2. Gaming Servers
Dedicated servers are also commonly used to host private video game servers.
For example, if you want to host a personal Minecraft server, you’d need to use dedicated server hosting, as other types of hosting simply wouldn’t be fast enough.
Gaming servers require high uptime, and handling multiple concurrent users with low lag. As such, gaming dedicated servers can cost upwards of $1,000 per month, depending on the game, the number of players you plan on hosting, and so on.
#3. (Massive) E-commerce Websites
E-commerce websites, especially those of a globally massive scale, are very resource-intensive and need flawless network connection without interruptions to guarantee a good customer experience. Premium dedicated servers are the best option for massive e-commerce websites to guarantee maximum uptime and reliability.
It’s not worth risking losing revenue when budgeting for your website hosting services. Premium dedicated servers will cost you more, but in the long run, the cost you pay for hosting will be close to zero in comparison to your revenue.
#4. Email Hosting
Dedicated servers are also used for email hosting, as you can host customized email servers and configure unique email addresses.
Using a dedicated server for email hosting also allows you to configure rules on how the emails are going to be used. For example, you could increase or lower the maximum size of the attachments allowed to be sent.
This can help reduce the use of unnecessary bandwidth and gives you more control over the type of content sent through your email server.
It doesn’t cost much to set up a simple dedicated server for email hosting. You will benefit a ton from the enhanced security of a dedicated server, which you cannot get from a shared server.
#5. Doing Data Backups
One of the most common use cases for dedicated servers is doing data backups. This can include things like backing up your entire internal database, any sensitive customer data you might have collected through the years, or even your entire CRM backlog.
Regardless of what you decide to backup, you can be sure that dedicated servers with HDDs installed will be the best choice for doing backups. It’s not recommended to use SSDs because despite being much faster than HDDs, they are not as stable and secure, and can lead to data loss.
Obviously, when doing backups, the server losing data is likely the last thing you’d want it to do. It is worth it paying a premium cost for an upgraded dedicated server to ensure your data is backed up securely.
#6. Hosting SaaS Applications
SaaS applications, especially very popular ones, usually serve and help hundreds of thousands of users at the same time. These are generally known as concurrent users.
Shared dedicated servers are unable to properly host large SaaS applications because they lack the necessary server resources, processing power, and bandwidth to serve large customer bases.
As a result, most SaaS applications are generally hosted on dedicated servers. The pricing of a dedicated server will be worth it when you start receiving positive feedback for the speed and stability of your SaaS app.
5 Dedicated Server Hosting Benefits
Dedicated hosting isn’t for everyone, but it can be very beneficial for particular kinds of websites or applications. Here are some of the top benefits that dedicated servers offer:
#1. Flexible Pricing
Dedicated server hosting comes with a big benefit: flexible pricing. Instead of buying a full-fledged physical dedicated server, you can rent one for a small monthly fee.
Let’s take a look at the different aspects of dedicated server pricing when comparing renting vs buying a dedicated server:
#2. High Uptime
One of the biggest advantages that a dedicated server offers is the high level of uptime.
If your website experiences downtime even for a few seconds, this could cost you a lot of money, especially if your website is a popular e-commerce store, SaaS business, or anything along those lines. You can ensure you’re not losing out on revenue simply by paying a small additional fee for a dedicated server.
Using a dedicated server also allows you to perform maintenance on the website whenever it is more convenient for your business (so you can pick a time when your losses would be minimal).
Not sharing the server with other companies or websites (as is the case with shared hosting) is also a big advantage, as you can be sure you are not sharing the same server space with a malicious website or a spammer.
#3. Flexibility and Unique Server Configuration
With a dedicated server, you have the option to customize your own server hardware and software according to your needs. You can quickly configure it to include the right mix of storage and processing power to meet your specific needs.
Since your computing needs will probably change over time, a dedicated server offers the flexibility to upgrade, adding more RAM or a larger hard drive.
This, in turn, makes scaling both easier and faster.
You can even get root access to your dedicated server for full control and customization!
#4. Enhanced Privacy & Security
When you choose dedicated server hosting, you get the full resources of a single server and the privacy to use them on your own.
Meaning, you will have your own unique IP address that’s not shared with anyone. When compared to shared hosting, this has 2 main benefits:
- Protecting you from DDOS attacks aimed at someone you’re sharing servers with.
- Preventing a loss in Google rankings if someone on your server is using blackhat SEO tactics.
Pro Tip: Getting a DDoS protected dedicated server is the best way to secure your website against denial of service attacks.
#5. Performance and Scalability
Choosing a dedicated server gives you the advantage of having the exclusive use of all the CPU, RAM, and bandwidth, so at peak business times you continue to get peak performance.
What’s more, with dedicated hosting, scaling your web service is easier – you just have to upgrade your hardware. You can easily add more services and applications whenever needed.
Want to read more? Here are 5 other reasons why you need a dedicated server!
How to Pick The Right Dedicated Server Provider?
Choosing a dedicated server for your business needs is not an easy task. Here are some of the most important factors to consider when selecting your dedicated server provider:
- Choice of operating system – the dedicated server provider allows you to choose an operating system as per your own choice. The applications for your business have to be specifically defined for an operating system, such as Windows Server OS or Linux distributions. You must pay attention that your service provider has enabled your dedicated server to operate on the correct OS, as per your business needs.
- Hardware Choice – the size and type of RAM, the hard disk capacity, the CPU or GPU, and RAID system are big factors in terms of hardware selection.
- Stable security features – in order to prevent potential cyberattacks or data breaches, you should pick a dedicated server provider that has stable security features.
- Technical support – dedicated server providers have different approaches across the customer support system. The support could be automated, or there might be a support specialist team dedicated for that. A reliable dedicated server hosting provider should have a 24/7 technical support to solve any potential problems the moment they arise.
- Backup services – they are crucial for dealing with disaster scenarios, so you should choose a provider that has backup/disaster recovery as a “service”.
Get Started With Dedicated Server Hosting
RedSwitches offers premium dedicated servers at competitive prices. Our bare-metal servers start from as low as $100 per month.
All our hosting packages come with free setup, generous amounts of bandwidth, and DDoS protection.
At RedSwitches, you can even pay securely for your dedicated server using Bitcoin!
And if you want to upgrade your dedicated server, we offer cheap upgrades for RAM and storage, data backup, unmetered bandwidth, and even more.
Get started today by contacting us for a personalized offer!
