Dedicated Server

Dedicated Server is a service where you have an entire private server to yourself.  Basically, you run the box, install the OS, add your own apps, and we deal with any hardware or network issues that come up. This is a great service for those in a location where physically dealing with a server is not possible. You simply work with our technicians should any issues come up that require physical proximity.

Monthly service fees start at $150 per month. 

Final pricing is based on the power of the processors, the disk space, what type of RAID system you are looking for, etc. In other words, you tell us what you want and we'll build it for you.

Why would someone get a dedicated server?

There are several reasons:

• You know how to run servers, but live on the beach where the margaritas prevent you from driving to Louisville to fix your server
• You don't have the time to run around building a server or dealing with it if it breaks
• You have to have your own maintenance schedule and can not be on a shared server, or on a server that your IT department reboots at will because they only do things on their schedule
• You need to have a place off-site to store data

The Benefits of having a Dedicated Server

Hosting multiple sites on the same server is common practice in the webpage hosting business.  Tens or hundreds of sites are typically hosted on one web server.  Economies of scale kick in to make shared hosting a cost-effective way to host smaller sites with lower bandwidth requirements for low monthly rates (sometimes under $10 per month).  However, shared hosting has some limitations, the main one being: oversharing.

The problem with sharing a server with other sites is just that, you are sharing your server's resources (CPU, bandwidth, processes, memory, etc).  As the number of sites on your server rises, the load on the server increases.  Also, some of the sites sharing your digital home may suddenly become popular or use insecure code.  Unless your hosting company limits the number of sites and server load you may find your site's performance gradually decreasing.

What options do you have?

Answer:  Getting your own server.  Having your own server gives you the peace of mind of not sharing your resources with others, not to mention unfettered root access.  Your site's performance will become more consistent and reliable, and you can install software (and in some cases hardware) that shared hosting providers often restrict in the name of security and cost, including:

• Compression software (mod_gzip, etc.)
• Apache modules (mod_perl, mod_rewrite, etc.)
• Configuration file changes (httpd.conf etc.)
• Cache settings
• XSSI (executable server-side includes)
• Multiple hard drives, with one for web logging
• Memory (the more the better)

These performance features are often not allowed in a shared hosting environment.

Summary:   The bottom line is that when a website becomes popular even optimistic capacity planning doesn't foresee the server loads that ensue.  Sites can bog down with the increased load due to any number of reasons:

• Disk swapping due to memory limitations
• CPU overloaded due to numerous calculations
• Too many processes, due to numerous spawned scripts
• Bandwidth bottlenecks
• Inefficient SQL queries

To speak with a Rep or Engineer regarding what type of server would be right for you,  please give us a call: 502-589-4638