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10 Benefits of Dedicated Server Hosting

Hosting your website on its own server—called dedicated server hosting—can be the best option if you have particularly high traffic or especially demanding needs.
Dedicated server hosting has its own benefits and drawbacks, but here are ten of the most significant ones to help you decide if it’s right for you.

1) Faster Speed

If you’re used to working with a shared hosting provider, then you might be surprised by how much faster speed is with dedicated hosting.
Most web servers work at full capacity all day long, so there’s very little time for your content to actually load.
With dedicated server hosting, however, most sites have an entire server to themselves—meaning that there are fewer users on each server and less of a demand on CPU usage.
While shared servers also benefit from dedicated IP addresses, websites on dedicated servers tend to load more quickly than those that aren’t.
A lot of dedicated hosting providers offer free IP address reassignment so that you can choose how to connect to your server and benefit from faster speeds.
If you’re using a non-DNS name for your domain, however, it’s best to stick with one shared IP address over many because changing your name servers every time will reduce your search engine rankings.

2) Higher Security

A dedicated server can be hosted in a data center or colocation facility that provides strong physical security against both network and physical attacks.
The servers will be inside of a locked cage, have their own power sources separate from other customers, and are generally accessed by key card only.
With these safeguards, it is almost impossible for an outside intruder to access your web hosting account.
Further benefits include significantly higher bandwidth limits, faster processors and more storage space than cloud hosting options.
A dedicated server allows you to have more control over your files and how they are uploaded, backed up and stored.
With cloud hosting, all data is shared among many customers and can be accessed by anyone with access to that specific portion of data.
A dedicated server puts all files in a secure physical location. This means that if an attack takes place, your business will not suffer any consequences.

3) Better Uptime

Most dedicated server hosting companies offer 99.9% uptime guarantees; some go even further with a 100% guarantee.
The reason for these guarantees is to give you peace of mind about your website, which is invaluable for businesses that rely on their sites to generate sales or leads.
A few minutes without your site can mean lost revenue and lost customers, so dedicated servers are usually more reliable than shared hosting plans where downtime can affect thousands of users at once.

4) 100% Reliability

One of dedicating server hosting biggest benefits is that it’s always on. If a host goes down, there’s no risk to your business.
Even if a single host goes down, you can still serve traffic to your site using another server until it’s fixed (for redundancy).
With cloud hosting solutions such as AWS, if a single region is experiencing issues you may need to shift traffic to other regions in order to keep services up.
This added complexity is something most users never have to worry about with dedicated servers; they just work because they are on a 100% reliable network infrastructure.

5) No Risks of Shared Hosting

Whenever you buy a domain name and sign up for a shared hosting package, you have to share your server with other users.
This means that if one of your neighbors breaks into their site by mistake and starts distributing malware, your website could get infected as well.
This isn’t an issue with dedicated servers; they’re designed to be secure and self-contained, so they’re immune to attacks from outside sites.
You never have to worry about being responsible for anyone else’s broken site! Just think of all those times when your site was down due to a security breach on another customer’s account—that won’t happen with dedicated hosting!

6) Additional Services

Dedicated servers provide you with an all-inclusive package. When you buy a dedicated server, all hardware, software and maintenance costs are included in your monthly fee.
So, if your site needs additional upgrades, you won’t have to pay for them out of pocket (or go through a third party).
Some companies will also offer additional services like 24/7 monitoring and automated backups as well as customizations that can help improve user experience on your site.
And while they usually come at an extra cost, these types of added features are another reason why dedicated servers are worth it.

7) One Piece of Hardware Failing Doesn’t Mean the End of Your Website

One of the biggest benefits of using a dedicated server is that it’s not dependent on a single piece of hardware to function.
Cloud hosting systems don’t offer the same level of protection: Your website depends on multiple servers and services, which means that if any one service fails (or even just goes down for maintenance), your site will be unavailable.
This is why it’s important to have access to top-tier technical support 24/7 when you go with a dedicated server hosting solution:
You can get help from experts who know what they’re doing every time you need them, no matter what.

8) 24/7 Expert Support

Dedicated server hosting comes with 24/7 expert technical support. Many dedicated server providers offer remote access to their customers and even host panel-based help and live chat software.
Some providers offer email support as well. Even if you don’t use any of these, having knowledgeable staff at your fingertips is a huge benefit to dedicated server hosting.
Make sure you know what kind of support comes with your package before signing on with a provider.

9) Pricing Structure Is More Predictable

Since you’re only paying for hosting resources you use, there’s no surprise at your bill when your traffic spikes.
This can be a big benefit if most of your web traffic comes in short bursts—e.g., at Christmas or Black Friday—and you have less predictable demand over time.
It also means you aren’t sharing any server resources with other customers, so there won’t be unexpected latency issues or server problems caused by too many users hitting one server.

10) Enables You to Fully Customize and Optimize Your Site

Most people enjoy using a web host that offers more than one site management account. However, these accounts can lead to inefficiencies for some businesses.
With a dedicated server hosting plan, you’ll have an entire server that’s yours and yours alone—so you don’t have to worry about sharing bandwidth with other users or installing and uninstalling software on shared servers.
That said, there is no reason why someone who wants to use a shared hosting package couldn’t also purchase a dedicated IP address (which can be done with most providers).
The additional charge is usually minimal—typically between $2 and $5 per month.