Many business organizations and self-employed individuals require a significant online presence as one of their strategies to remain relevant in today’s competitive environment of attracting customers or sponsors. To host your game service e-commerce website, mobile applications, mail server, or other specialized services, there are several hosting options available to you such as cloud computing, hybrid servers, virtual private servers, and dedicated server hosting.

However, if you are expecting your website to grow or anticipating increased traffic in the near future, then dedicated servers are the best hosting option for you because of the advantages they provide in terms of flexibility, performance, and security.

In this guide, we will answer the most common questions regarding dedicated server hosting such as what is a dedicated server, what is a dedicated server hosting, what is a dedicated server in gaming, what is a dedicated IP server, what is Windows dedicated server, how much for a dedicated server and where to buy a dedicated server. Aside from the specific answers to these questions, you will also learn about other areas of topics related to dedicated servers.

What is a Dedicated Server

A dedicated server is a physical server that is completely allocated to a single user or organization. This means that all of the server’s computing operating resources are solely dedicated only for one customer and you do not have to split or share its resources with another client. Dedicated servers are housed in a datacenter that can be located anywhere in the world and operate 24/7, which means that even if your computer is not connected to the server, it continues to run and provide services for you.

What is Dedicated Server Hosting

Dedicated server hosting is a type of Internet hosting service in which a hosting service company or provider allocates exclusive access to a remote server that will host your website and applications. This type of hosting option provides you with exceptional customization, allows you full access to higher levels of your server’s resources, and complete control over its configuration and environment.

To avail of dedicated server hosting, you will have to hire the services of web hosting providers who offer various hosting plans applicable to the budget level and specific needs of customers. It is important for you to search for as many providers as you can, look at the particular details of their hosting plans, and compare the prices, features, and other important information about those plans. This way, you’ll be able to make an informed choice if you need managed or unmanaged types of dedicated servers and the best hosting plan for you.

Differences Between Managed and Unmanaged Servers

Dedicated server hosting falls into two types, which are managed and unmanaged.

1. Managed Dedicated Servers

In this setup, the service provider will retain management, operational, and maintenance responsibilities for your server such as backup, control panel operations and issues, hardware and software, network, operating system, and security patches. The hosting company will also provide you with full support for the processing and standard functionality of your server.

- Pros and Cons of Managed Dedicated Servers

There are several advantages and disadvantages of getting a managed dedicated server for hosting your websites and applications. Therefore, it’s important to consider these pros and cons before you make a decision.

- Pros

• Management and maintenance – The service provider takes care of all the management and maintenance tasks related to your server.
• Support – The hosting company provides full customer support via chat, call or email.
• Convenience – With the service provider fully responsible for the management and maintenance of your server, you can focus on other important tasks related to your business.
  

- Cons

• Cost – Managed servers are more expensive than unmanaged options.
• Limited control from you – You have little control over how crucial tasks like setting up backups and installing security measures are performed on the server since the hosting provider is in charge of these tasks. providers put restrictions on the applications or plugins you can deploy on the server and the changes for certain configuration options.
  
  

2. Unmanaged Dedicated Servers

In this setup, the service provider will only be responsible for taking care of your physical server’s storage and security. You as the client will primarily be responsible for handling the major operations of your server such as setting up and managing the server, monitoring the server’s consumption and performance, network maintenance, installing the security updates, patches, and upgrades, and doing other management tasks related to your server.

- Pros and Cons of Unmanaged Dedicated Servers

There are also several advantages and disadvantages of getting unmanaged dedicated servers. It's important to take them into account before deciding if unmanaged servers are best for you.

- Pros

• Cost – Less expensive than managed servers.
• Full management control – You are fully in charge of managing your server and you can decide about every aspect of your server without having to consult or coordinate with the service provider.
  

- Cons

• More management overhead – You are in charge of all aspects of managing and maintaining the server which will take a lot of time and effort on your part.
• Technical know-how – You will need considerable knowledge and experience in server management and maintenance.
  
  

- Deciding Which Type of Dedicated Server to Choose

Deciding the type of dedicated server that you need will depend on your abilities and skills. If you have comprehensive technical skills and are highly experienced in server operation, monitoring, and maintenance, then you can opt for unmanaged dedicated server hosting. But if you have minimal technical skills and experience or none at all, then a managed dedicated server is the best option for you.

What is a Dedicated Server in Gaming

A game server is a physical server that hosts multiplayer computers or video games over the Internet. Clients or players will pay membership fees to access the gaming server so they can participate in the games and other related events hosted on the server.

Amateur or novice players will often ask what is a dedicated server in gaming when they hear the term dedicated game servers for the first time. Many multiplayer gamers will usually experience lags, dropped games, and long wait times for the software to load if the host’s computer lacks enough memory and processing power to support the games. That’s why many game enthusiasts turn to dedicated servers in gaming or dedicated game servers to avoid those issues.

A dedicated game server exclusively hosts computer games for clients. It has enhanced processing, memory, and storage capabilities to handle the resources needed for the games to run smoothly so the clients will have a seamless gaming experience without any issues.

- Why Dedicated Servers for Gaming are Better

Compared to other game server hosting options, using a dedicated game server will provide you more processing power with its large CPU power and RAM, high level of security, various customization options, reliable infrastructure, fewer risks of file corruption and full customer support from the hosting provider.

What is Dedicated IP Server

An IP (Internet Protocol) is a unique address or unique string of characters that identifies devices on the Internet or local network. Multiple domains will use a shared IP address while a dedicated IP address is a static IP address that is used by a single user and not shared with other domains. If you subscribed to a dedicated server hosting service, it means you will automatically get an IP address for your dedicated server or also known as a dedicated IP server.

- Advantages of a Dedicated IP Server

Having a dedicated server with its own IP address will provide you the following benefits:

• Less risk from IP blacklisting – If you share an IP address with another user and this user is blacklisted, your IP address will also be banned. But with a dedicated IP, you have zero chance of getting blacklisted because you have sole control of your site.
• Improved file transfer – You will have a faster file transfer rate and better security If you set up your FTP server to share files within an organization that has a dedicated IP address.
• Remote access security – Companies with dedicated IP addresses are less prone to security breaches and they can swiftly identify any breaches if they came from employees.
• Faster connection – You get faster email deliverability and website speeds, less lag time, and fewer connection issues.
  
  

What is Windows Dedicated IP Server

A Windows dedicated server is a dedicated server hosting plan that runs only on the Windows operating system. Microsoft Windows is the dominant desktop operating system as of June 2022 with a market share of over 76 percent. It’s not surprising then that many users who avail of dedicated server hosting services would prefer Windows dedicated servers.

The advantages of Windows dedicated servers running on Windows OS include its user-friendly features and compatibility with other operating systems and languages, extensive security features, regular updates, and the full customer support provided by Microsoft.

How Much for a Dedicated Server

After opting for a dedicated server hosting service to host your website and applications, the first thing you would probably ask yourself is how much a dedicated server would you spend? Renting a dedicated server from a hosting provider can be more economical and cost-effective for you compared to buying your own business server. You might opt for lower-cost hosting providers, but they don’t necessarily equate to quality service in terms of the resources, facilities, hardware, software, and customer support that they provide.

It can cost you an average of $40 to $200 per month to rent a dedicated server. However, the subscription prices for dedicated servers will depend on several factors:

• Hosting company – Some hosting providers will cost more because they are well-known and have bigger operations compared to the small or medium providers. Before you choose a company, research its management, client reviews, resources for hardware, software, and security datacenter infrastructure, and customer support.
• Type of dedicated server – A managed server can offer more benefits such as extensive support for management, security, hardware, software, and customer service, but it will cost more than an unmanaged server.
• Duration of hosting contract – Payment terms can be on a monthly, quarterly, and yearly basis. Choose a term that is within your budget and beneficial for your business.
• Memory and storage – The more memory, resources, and processing power that your website or applications need, the more you will pay extra for each upgrade.
  
  

Renting or Buying a Server from a Hosting Provider

Buying a dedicated server from a server hosting company is usually the first option taken by many users who need dedicated servers for their applications or businesses. Many service providers offer high-quality servers at affordable subscription plans with hardware and software specifications that can be customized according to your requirements. A lot of these providers also offer the rental or sale of virtual private server hosting which is a type of server that could be applicable to your website or applications.

Instead of renting, you can buy a dedicated server from a hosting service company that will host your server in their data center. For this option, you can buy your server as a managed type from the hosting provider who can also offer a separate subscription plan for the management and maintenance of your server

It’s important that you should research online to look for service providers with a good track record of hosting dedicated servers and providing excellent support to their customers. You should also consider these factors when buying your own dedicated server from a hosting provider:

• Hardware requirements – The specific memory, network speed, processing, and storage requirements are the biggest factors that affect a server’s cost. The more you require from these features, the higher your server's final price.
• Contract terms – You will have to pay a regular fee to the service provider for hosting your server. Some payment durations are more expensive than others such as a monthly plan costing a little more than an annual plan.
• Type of server – A managed server means the hosting company will be in charge of managing and maintaining your server. In an unmanaged server, you will handle most of the management and maintenance of your server with the hosting provider providing you with little support. A managed type will definitely cost more than an unmanaged type.
  
  

Conclusion

You can use the information in this guide to help you decide if a dedicated server is the best option for your business’s websites and applications, and if you should rent a dedicated server or just buy your own. However, you should not completely rely on this guide alone. It’s important that you do your own extensive research about dedicated servers and dedicated server hosting providers as part of your comprehensive approach to making an informed decision.

Trust ServerHub for Reliable, Affordable Servers

ServerHub offers dedicated servers that are tailor-made to your budget and the specific needs of your websites and applications. Get our Single Processor servers at just $48 or $65 a month, both of which can be deployed in 24 hours. Other affordable Single Processor payment plans for deployment in 48 hours can be accessed here.

ServerHub also offers VPS hosting starting at just $5 a month with instant virtual deployment, a 10Gig network link, compatibility with various OS, and flexible scalability. Contact us to know how we can help you expand your business with our dedicated servers and VPS hosting services.

References:

1. Dedicated Servers: Definitions, Examples & How to Choose Best Service!
2. What is IaaS platform Beginner's guide to infrastructure as a service
3. The Ultimate Guide to Dedicated Servers
4. Why You May Need a Dedicated Server for Your Business Website
5. Managed vs. Unmanaged Dedicated Servers: Which is Right for You?
6. What Is a Dedicated Server for Gaming? And Why You Need It
7. What Is a Dedicated IP Server? | HostGator
8. What is a Windows Server?
9. 5 Reasons Why You Must Choose Windows Dedicated Server Hosting
10. How Much Does a Server Cost For a Small Business in 2023?
11. Dedicated Server Cost: The Only Guide That Will Clear All Your Confusion

The Internet has been around now for quite some time. In a nutshell, the internet is a group of autonomous and separate networks. Each of these networks operates with IP addresses and leverages BGP which is a Border Gateway Protocol. Through this system, any user on the internet is then able to connect with any other user even if they are not on the same network. However, to gain access to the greater network a user must either pay to connect through the traditional transit links or peer with other networks operating within the global framework. This brings us to the concept of network peering and why it is a vital part of our online platform.

Network Peering Explained

Through network peering one internet network can join to another directly without the need to access common carriers such as Telia, Level3, GTT and the likes. This enables a more rapid throughput and efficient information exchange between the two networks. As well as this, there are no added on charges and no issue with linking to a third party network.

In contrast, a transit connection does require either the network operator or the user to pay for a cross-connect and carry the network traffic on their behalf. This is one of the greatest disadvantages of the more traditional approach.

To use IP peering, you need to make sure that an agreement is formed with other networks and that the connection can be set up between the two. There are a variety of ways peering can work. Through IP peering, there is an exchange of data between two ISPs and usually, the amount exchanged will be close to equal. Since the agreement is mutually beneficial there’s no need to worry about changes or payments with this type of agreement, with the exception of cross-connects in such instances where the meeting point is an exchange for example. At ServerHub we've begun to invest heavily in IP peering. Why is this?

The Unseen Benefits of IP Peering

IP Peering provides a lot of benefits that you simply can not gain through the more typical option and we want to deliver the absolute best service possible to people who use our service. We believe that IP peering is the right step forward here.

One of the greatest benefits of IP peering is that it provides a higher level of control. The key factor to remember here is that through peering traffic remains at a local level. This is in direct contrast with a transit connection where instead data can travel through any path across the internet. This means it might not be the fastest or indeed the most efficient route and it can lead to a great variety of problems.

There could be latency or even packet loss and if this happens, then you, the client, will be left vulnerable to downtime of the transit provider. On the other hand, since we utilize peering, the route can quickly be adjusted. So, if there are individual segments experiencing problems with slowdown issues then these can be avoided completely. You get faster service and you won’t need to worry about any server issues.

We have direct peering relationships with Large CDN and enterprises such as StackPath CDN (High Winds), Verizon EdgeCast, Google Cloud, Amazon AWS, CloudFlare. At ServerHub we can thus give you the edge and make sure that connection times to these companies and many more are lightning fast. How fast? Well, using our peer network, connection times can be kept under 1ms.

The reason that these connections can be so fast is due to the local set up between two peered networks. Furthermore, problems with saturation and congestion can also be avoided.

Congestion along the destination and source for networks can lower the experience for network users leading to what is ultimately a poor quality connection. With direct connections between networks, we can provide a guarantee of enough bandwidth for the best, most consistent performance.

This type of setup is beneficial if there are problems with disasters or any other outages that might impact data. Business owners are always worried about the issue of a disaster and how long it will take to complete a full recovery. With peering, we can make sure that there is a massive level of support from various different resources if this becomes an issue. So, a full disaster recovery plan can be put into action immediately and downtime can be minimized.

Our peer network also ensures that we can handle higher levels of traffic. If your business is experiencing higher volumes of traffic or is expanding rapidly, you don’t want to run into any problems with performance. With our peering solution, even the highest amounts of traffic are distributed across a variety of different networks.

One of the biggest issues with transit links is the high level of dependence on more than one transit providers. With peer lending, this high rate of dependence can be greatly reduced. With IP peering we can strive for the most resilient and redundant network connectivity map as possible. This helps ensure that the network that our clients use is more reliable and is a greater transit service.

IP peering also provides a great level of cost savings when exploring ways to route traffic between individual networks. In one example an IP might be exchanging high levels of customer traffic with a second source. Sending traffic through a transit provider to another network is inefficient and expensive. Peering is a far more effective alternative where traffic can be handled at a shared facility and transit costs can be completely eliminated.

Beyond this IP peering will also improve the network ranking. It’s crucial that you can show that your network is providing a better service and reaching a higher tier than others online. This will improve the perception of your network online and ensure you have a competitive edge. Using our peering solution, we can help you guarantee that this is exactly what happens.

We hope this provides some insight as to why we have invested in IP peering over traditional transit links. We aim to provide the best, fastest and most reliable service to our users while continuing to reduce costs and achieve greater efficiency levels. Due to the benefits available, we believe IP Peering is the way forward on the ServerHub Platform and will continue to develop peering relationships.

Are you looking to find the best Dedicated Hosting Provider and considering using Bare Metal Dedicated Servers for your Application or Website?

Running an online business can be very challenging.

Choosing a Server Infrastructure Provider is one of the essential decisions you need to make for your online business.

It is important to invest in the right technology that suits your business.

Ultimately, users want to connect to your company and interact with your brand online in the fastest way possible.

If a website or application takes more than a few seconds to load, the likelihood is that users will lose interest and go to a competitor.

To avoid this, you need to ensure that your website operates at maximum efficiency, providing fast connectivity and a carefully optimized server.

This tends to come down to what hosting service or solution you choose.

There is a variety of hosting options available to you, even on the ServerHub Platform.

In addition, you can choose shared hosting. With shared hosting, you will be on the same server as various other businesses and websites.

That is more than enough for companies with low levels of traffic and low requirements. Great for small bloggers, fan sites, and hosting your own emails.

However, as your business grows, it is imperative to consider taking your hosting to the next level.

Naturally, for the best experience for your users and flexibility for yourself, we recommend ServerHub Bare Metal Servers.

Here are a few reasons why a Bare Metal Dedicated Server from ServerHub is the right choice for your business.

Low Load Times

We've already mentioned the issue that slow load times can cause your business. If it takes more than a couple seconds, they will click back.

In fact, that's not even the only issue you have to contend with here.

Google has made slow load times a large part of their SEO requirements. So, if your page takes longer to load, could mpactsing your ranking.

When you are part of a shared network, you will be sharing all the resources of other businesses. This can lead to points where the ram and the CPU are completely overloaded, bringing downtime and slow loading. That can be enough to damage your website rep for good.

Server Expandability

A dedicated server offers you the flexibility of customizing the server to your unique CPU, RAM, disk space, and software needs. A customer is limited to the applications, software, and operating environment already loaded on the server with shared hosting.

A dedicated server allows organizations a customizable server environment that fits their needs. They can choose the platform and software they really need, allowing more control over how their dedicated server is configured.

As your business continues to grow, so will your online server's requirements; since you are in control of the server, maintenance windows may be easily planned to make required upgrades that may not be permissible in shared environments.

Better Security

Security is another issue that you must consider as a business owner. This is always going to be at the top of your list of priorities. By 2020 it is expected that there will be a major hack on a company every 20 seconds. While other hosting platforms such as shared hosting or a virtual private server can offer a certain level of protection because they are shared, they will always be at risk and increase exposure to security issues. This includes hacks, viruses to name a few.

Furthermore, since multiple businesses operate on the same server, it's more difficult to determine the source or even recognize a hack. You can still do this, but it can take significantly longer, so you may not know your website is breached as soon as you'd like. This can stop you from protecting or at least informing customers.


In contrast, using a Bare Metal Dedicated Server, you will be able to gain access to a higher level of security for information on your website and any sensitive data that you might be storing for customers. You will also not be responsible for ensuring server security. We will do this for you and guarantee that measures are in place to protect your customers and clients.

Single Tenant Environment

One of the most significant advantages of a Dedicated Server, also commonly referred to in our industry as Bare Metal Servers, is the fact that you are a Single Tenant on your server infrastructure, which means you will never have to worry about another user or bad actor taking your site or application down because of issues that are caused by them, and ultimately beyond your control. Single-Tenant Environments are perfect for users such as Gaming Platforms, Application Providers, or users with Sensitive Data since limiting the number of users that access the server can minimize the risk of unintentional data breaches

Value for Private Cloud and VPS Resellers

A Dedicated Server can be a handy tool for hosting resellers who choose not to invest in colocation or dedicated network infrastructure. Depending on your business model, it may make much more financial sense to rent large dedicated servers from a company such as ServerHub who can provide you with a unified platform in multiple geographical locations, allowing you to be in a variety of different cities, such as Dallas, New York or even Amsterdam without the need to build out costly networks.

Although this article doesn't touch on all the positive points of choosing a Dedicated Server, choosing to use a dedicated server provides many benefits that shared server resources cannot provide. We hope this article has been helpful in your decision-making process for the right Managed Hosting Solution.

Suppose you are seeing a tremendous level of growth in your business model. In that case, the advantages of this type of setup will make it a worthwhile investment to continue to propel your business to the next level.