Pros and Cons of Dedicated Servers- Moving from shared servers or even virtual private servers to dedicated servers opens up a whole new range of optimization possibilities, but a higher cost. This article reviews the pros and cons of dedicated servers.

Dedicated Server Basics

A dedicated server is a server the disk space, bandwidth, memory, and all other resources of which are reserved for the use of only one customer. While most web hosting is shared, with two or more (sometimes many, many more) customers sharing a server and its resources, dedicated serving is a different model.

A customer renting a dedicated server may use it to host one or many websites. Dedicated servers can also be used by the customer to run gaming sites, manage large databases, host a high traffic website, or if you are a reseller provide subhosting.

There are two overarching models of dedicated servers, with plans ranging from one end of the spectrum to the other. At the one end is unmanaged hosting. At the other end is fully managed hosting. If you need to, however, you can find options that provide help in the areas in which you might need it, and leave you to your own devices in areas in which you are fully competent.

Some people may have inaccurate assumptions about dedicated servers. So let's start by defusing those.

First, dedicated servers are not necessarily huge. A dedicated server doesn't have to be have more space than you had on a shared server. So if you feel that your website would benefit from the added control offered by a dedicated server, you don't have to wait until you grow big enough for it.

Second, dedicated servers are not necessarily costly, and sometimes they're not more costly than virtual private servers. Especially when you bring the per month cost down by paying for a long term, you may even find that the low end of dedicated servers is as cheap or cheaper than the high end of virtual private servers (aka, virtual dedicated servers). Most web hosts don't print the costs side by side, so you have to do some research in order to compare.

One of the pros of dedicated servers is the increased number of choices over what you have control of for any kind of shared server, including virtual private servers. With a dedicated server, you can choose from a wider range of operating systems, usually including more choices of Linux distributions, including distributions with different strengths, such as reliability, community-based support and consistent release cycle, or advanced, cutting-edge features, for example. You can also make more choices about the CPU; including single, duo, or quad processors, RAM, 32-bit or 64-bit system, storage configuration, and bandwidth.

This added level of availability is also, from another standpoint, a con in the sense of the added complexity. With this many choices to make, the amount of knowledge and research required to choose the best set-up for your needs increases dramatically.

Another pro of a dedicated server is the increased level of control it brings. You gain control of server access, control of software installation, and administrative (root) access to the server. As with the added feature choice, this opens a world of opportunity, if you know what to do with it. It's not so attractive if it makes you feel like you're in over your head.

The third major pro of a dedicated server is the ability to have the server managed or to manage it yourself. Management of the server includes regular maintenance, system software updates and upgrades, reboots, applying software patches, and monitoring security. When the customer takes on server management, it is likely that the web host will continue to manage security on a rented server, and all other management aspects will past to the customer.

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