Dedicated Server – How much should I expect to pay a hosting company?
Shared Vs Dedicated Hosting
Jon Murray asked:
When you first start thinking about building your first web site you are faced with a lot of choices. You need to choose a domain name, but also somebody to register that domain name. You need to decide on whether you’ll use a CMS tool like Joomla or a blog engine like WordPress, or maybe you’ll purchase a nice template and use that. One of the biggest choices you’ll need to make is your hosting service. The right hosting service can be the difference between spending time installing and configuring your site and spending time adding content.
Once you’ve chosen your hosting service you will be asking yourself one more important question. Do I choose shared hosting or dedicated hosting? There is not an easy one or the other answer to that question. In fact I’m having trouble even phrasing it generically so that you can size up your situation and decide, but I’ll lay down a few rules and gotcha’s and see where we end up.
On the surface shared hosting seems like a great deal. For instance from Go Daddy you can get shared hosting plan for just $3.99 a month. The plan will give you 5GB of disk space and 250GB bandwidth. For a little more, $6.99 you get 100GB disk and 1000 GB bandwidth. Now, I just used Go Daddy as an example, but Host Gator and others are similar, some with slightly higher prices and some with slightly lower, but all have the same rules.
Hidden somewhere in your shared hosting agreement there will be a clause about not hogging system resources. What that means is that even if your site is not busy 99% of the time, if you get a big spike they have the right to shut you down. You see, the factor to be concerned with is not bandwidth or disk storage, it’s CPU cycles. It’s not average CPU cycles over the month, if you spike even for a short time all hosting services will shut down your shared account.
How do I know about the shared host shutdown? It happened twice to me. I’m not complaining, that’s the price of having a successful web site while paying for bargain basement hosting. In my one case I got shut down because I had 8000 hits in about an hour. My daily average was about 500 hits. It seems that the blog engine I was using was using too much CPU time on my shared host, so they shut me down. Okay, so you’re thinking that you can go shared and when you get to around 7000 then you can switch over to dedicated. Maybe that’ll work, but in another case I was shut down with just 346 hits. Now for the 346 hit case my host sent me the log file and to my eyes it didn’t seem that I was using much CPU at all. It showed my account using 100% CPU for .2 seconds. It also showed (in another case) my process taking 29 seconds, but using 0% CPU. I believe this was a case of mistaken identity. They saw that their server was slow and looked for long running processes, but didn’t look at actual cycles taken. The long wait by the way was because of a YouTube vid running on my site.
So, after a full year on two shared hosting accounts, from two different companies, it was time to try my hand at dedicated hosting. One thing you must know about dedicated hosting is that you are running and responsible for all aspects of the box. That means that you are “root”. There is nobody else monitoring for hung processes, nobody else installing software for you, but the best part is nobody kicking you off for using too much CPU for 10 seconds of the month.
My shared hosting accounts were $6.99 and $10 (total of $17/month). My new dedicated hosting account started at $79/month, but I bumped up the memory and CPU on the box and the final price is $111/month. That’s a huge difference when you’re just starting out, and over the first year I’ve saved $1200 going that way, but now I feel to move forward with my web sites I need the freedom that dedicated hosting allows. Freedom to have a busy day, freedom to be successful.
I don’t want to make you shy away from shared hosting when you’re just starting out. It’s a great way to get your feet wet, establish a proof of concept and build your knowledge while keeping your budget low. Many small businesses or personal pages may never need more than a shared hosting account. For me, one year on shared hosting gave my little business enough time to grow enough for me to justify paying for dedicated hosting.
As a closing note, my ongoing move from my shared hosting accounts to my dedicated hosting account has taken about two weeks. The first couple of days was experimenting and learning, followed by a few days moving my best performing sites over and the last week has been spent moving the rest of my web sites over, cleaning up security and doing more learning. In the end, I chose Go Daddy as my dedicated host. I figured they deserved it, at least when they shut me down at 8000 hits it was conceivable that I was over stressing my shared account. As for the other company, the one who shut me down with the log file which proved nothing at 350 hits, sometimes you only get one mistake and in the web business when your site is having it’s best day ever and your host shuts you down without good reason, it’s time to move on.
When you first start thinking about building your first web site you are faced with a lot of choices. You need to choose a domain name, but also somebody to register that domain name. You need to decide on whether you’ll use a CMS tool like Joomla or a blog engine like WordPress, or maybe you’ll purchase a nice template and use that. One of the biggest choices you’ll need to make is your hosting service. The right hosting service can be the difference between spending time installing and configuring your site and spending time adding content.
Once you’ve chosen your hosting service you will be asking yourself one more important question. Do I choose shared hosting or dedicated hosting? There is not an easy one or the other answer to that question. In fact I’m having trouble even phrasing it generically so that you can size up your situation and decide, but I’ll lay down a few rules and gotcha’s and see where we end up.
On the surface shared hosting seems like a great deal. For instance from Go Daddy you can get shared hosting plan for just $3.99 a month. The plan will give you 5GB of disk space and 250GB bandwidth. For a little more, $6.99 you get 100GB disk and 1000 GB bandwidth. Now, I just used Go Daddy as an example, but Host Gator and others are similar, some with slightly higher prices and some with slightly lower, but all have the same rules.
Hidden somewhere in your shared hosting agreement there will be a clause about not hogging system resources. What that means is that even if your site is not busy 99% of the time, if you get a big spike they have the right to shut you down. You see, the factor to be concerned with is not bandwidth or disk storage, it’s CPU cycles. It’s not average CPU cycles over the month, if you spike even for a short time all hosting services will shut down your shared account.
How do I know about the shared host shutdown? It happened twice to me. I’m not complaining, that’s the price of having a successful web site while paying for bargain basement hosting. In my one case I got shut down because I had 8000 hits in about an hour. My daily average was about 500 hits. It seems that the blog engine I was using was using too much CPU time on my shared host, so they shut me down. Okay, so you’re thinking that you can go shared and when you get to around 7000 then you can switch over to dedicated. Maybe that’ll work, but in another case I was shut down with just 346 hits. Now for the 346 hit case my host sent me the log file and to my eyes it didn’t seem that I was using much CPU at all. It showed my account using 100% CPU for .2 seconds. It also showed (in another case) my process taking 29 seconds, but using 0% CPU. I believe this was a case of mistaken identity. They saw that their server was slow and looked for long running processes, but didn’t look at actual cycles taken. The long wait by the way was because of a YouTube vid running on my site.
So, after a full year on two shared hosting accounts, from two different companies, it was time to try my hand at dedicated hosting. One thing you must know about dedicated hosting is that you are running and responsible for all aspects of the box. That means that you are “root”. There is nobody else monitoring for hung processes, nobody else installing software for you, but the best part is nobody kicking you off for using too much CPU for 10 seconds of the month.
My shared hosting accounts were $6.99 and $10 (total of $17/month). My new dedicated hosting account started at $79/month, but I bumped up the memory and CPU on the box and the final price is $111/month. That’s a huge difference when you’re just starting out, and over the first year I’ve saved $1200 going that way, but now I feel to move forward with my web sites I need the freedom that dedicated hosting allows. Freedom to have a busy day, freedom to be successful.
I don’t want to make you shy away from shared hosting when you’re just starting out. It’s a great way to get your feet wet, establish a proof of concept and build your knowledge while keeping your budget low. Many small businesses or personal pages may never need more than a shared hosting account. For me, one year on shared hosting gave my little business enough time to grow enough for me to justify paying for dedicated hosting.
As a closing note, my ongoing move from my shared hosting accounts to my dedicated hosting account has taken about two weeks. The first couple of days was experimenting and learning, followed by a few days moving my best performing sites over and the last week has been spent moving the rest of my web sites over, cleaning up security and doing more learning. In the end, I chose Go Daddy as my dedicated host. I figured they deserved it, at least when they shut me down at 8000 hits it was conceivable that I was over stressing my shared account. As for the other company, the one who shut me down with the log file which proved nothing at 350 hits, sometimes you only get one mistake and in the web business when your site is having it’s best day ever and your host shuts you down without good reason, it’s time to move on.
Which Hosting Server to Use: Dedicated Hosting Managed or Unmanaged
Bluehost Hosting asked:
“Unmanaged dedicated servers” – probably quite an unpleasant term for many, especially the beginners, but in most cases is not as “non-servicing” as it seems. It is expected that soon a day will come when a new term will replace the term “unmanaged” in the same manner as the term “used cars” is now replaced by “pre-owned” or how “apartment complexes” are now “rental communities”. The truth is that unless the user has done mistake in choosing a right host or he is keeping unreasonable expectations, unmanaged hosting offers more service and support beyond than most use to think.
The Distinction
As everyone knows that precise meaning differ from provider to provider, commonly speaking one can say that, managed hosting means user’s provider takes complete or near complete care of his/her server. It may include whatever thing from basic system maintenance and patches to applications maintenance, protection, and monitoring. If the user desires dedicated hosting and wants to trust his/her host for any sort of thing and everything concerning their server requires piling up a bond with a managed service provider. Full blown managed services occupy plenty of skilled people hours. Not only that, as every managed customer has his/her own importance, it’s hard for a managed provider to be excessively systematic. Thus for this even it is expected to pay bit more if it is as per user’s requirement , and it is not at all money waste .
Unmanaged dedicated hosting means dedicated servers with less support, and skilled people support as compared to managed server. The services look so good that as soon as one signs up, pays his/her fees, within a few fractions of minutes or little late he/she will get a welcome email with IP address, login, FAQ’s, etc. Now beyond that one is pretty much on his/her own. But wait, don’t hurry its not so simple as it seems.
In fact, there is no scarcity of technical support in most unmanaged providers and they are very good as well. On choosing an unmanaged dedicated service one must possess someone on his/her team who knows the technical side a good bit, but specialization is not a prime requirement. While user may have to wait for a long period of time like 12 – 24 hours or he/she may even have to pay extra for it, nearly all the unmanaged providers generally possess a team of high level technicians available to tackle down serious issues. In addition to it majority of providers give some sort of immediate reboot service as well. Except the user has been suffering from some form of critical configuration files or contains a hardware failure, a reboot can be very effective with a range of issues. Finally, one can conclude that unmanaged providers may not support the user or whatever he/she put on his/her server after they move in, but they provide full assistance for the hardware and software which they sell to their user. If a hard drive crashes they will definitely replace it for the customer (although he/she had better be doing his/her backups) and if user’s system crashes most of the hosts will re-establish it for the customer.
Review
So one can conclude that, if one has got mission critical needs and don’t have the in-house staff to efficiently keep his/her servers performing the way they should, then they must prefer managed services. Yet it’s a more cost effective path that hiring one’s own staff and most likely the user will receive an advanced, steadier level of service. If one’s needs are more basic, and or user and his/her staff has the time and know-how to perform 75% – 80% of his/her server’s maintenance then a reasonable unmanaged service should be ideal.
“Unmanaged dedicated servers” – probably quite an unpleasant term for many, especially the beginners, but in most cases is not as “non-servicing” as it seems. It is expected that soon a day will come when a new term will replace the term “unmanaged” in the same manner as the term “used cars” is now replaced by “pre-owned” or how “apartment complexes” are now “rental communities”. The truth is that unless the user has done mistake in choosing a right host or he is keeping unreasonable expectations, unmanaged hosting offers more service and support beyond than most use to think.
The Distinction
As everyone knows that precise meaning differ from provider to provider, commonly speaking one can say that, managed hosting means user’s provider takes complete or near complete care of his/her server. It may include whatever thing from basic system maintenance and patches to applications maintenance, protection, and monitoring. If the user desires dedicated hosting and wants to trust his/her host for any sort of thing and everything concerning their server requires piling up a bond with a managed service provider. Full blown managed services occupy plenty of skilled people hours. Not only that, as every managed customer has his/her own importance, it’s hard for a managed provider to be excessively systematic. Thus for this even it is expected to pay bit more if it is as per user’s requirement , and it is not at all money waste .
Unmanaged dedicated hosting means dedicated servers with less support, and skilled people support as compared to managed server. The services look so good that as soon as one signs up, pays his/her fees, within a few fractions of minutes or little late he/she will get a welcome email with IP address, login, FAQ’s, etc. Now beyond that one is pretty much on his/her own. But wait, don’t hurry its not so simple as it seems.
In fact, there is no scarcity of technical support in most unmanaged providers and they are very good as well. On choosing an unmanaged dedicated service one must possess someone on his/her team who knows the technical side a good bit, but specialization is not a prime requirement. While user may have to wait for a long period of time like 12 – 24 hours or he/she may even have to pay extra for it, nearly all the unmanaged providers generally possess a team of high level technicians available to tackle down serious issues. In addition to it majority of providers give some sort of immediate reboot service as well. Except the user has been suffering from some form of critical configuration files or contains a hardware failure, a reboot can be very effective with a range of issues. Finally, one can conclude that unmanaged providers may not support the user or whatever he/she put on his/her server after they move in, but they provide full assistance for the hardware and software which they sell to their user. If a hard drive crashes they will definitely replace it for the customer (although he/she had better be doing his/her backups) and if user’s system crashes most of the hosts will re-establish it for the customer.
Review
So one can conclude that, if one has got mission critical needs and don’t have the in-house staff to efficiently keep his/her servers performing the way they should, then they must prefer managed services. Yet it’s a more cost effective path that hiring one’s own staff and most likely the user will receive an advanced, steadier level of service. If one’s needs are more basic, and or user and his/her staff has the time and know-how to perform 75% – 80% of his/her server’s maintenance then a reasonable unmanaged service should be ideal.
Which webhost(s) offer affordable, reliable, and easy to maintain dedicated hosting?
mskeke426 asked:
I need suggestions for good webhosts that offer affordable dedicated hosting and support for people who don’t know much about managing their own server. I currently operate several high traffic sites and am in need of affordable (cost not exceeding $150 per month) , reliable (offers great support), and easy to maintain dedicated hosting (I know nothing about managing a server myself). I’d prefer to hear from people who have had actual hosting experience with the webhost. Thank you for your time.
I need suggestions for good webhosts that offer affordable dedicated hosting and support for people who don’t know much about managing their own server. I currently operate several high traffic sites and am in need of affordable (cost not exceeding $150 per month) , reliable (offers great support), and easy to maintain dedicated hosting (I know nothing about managing a server myself). I’d prefer to hear from people who have had actual hosting experience with the webhost. Thank you for your time.
When to Shift From a Shared to a Dedicated Hosting Service ( Part 2 )
WebHostingGeek asked:
A dedicated hosting service will ultimately bring more business and more respect from visitors. This can be achieved by having a specific domain name. There are certain indicators that you should look out for, before you decide to change from a shared hosting to a dedicated hosting service.
A shared hosting service has its own limitations. You tend to have a limited control on the shared type of server. In a shared server type, you cannot control huge traffic. On the other hand, making your choice towards a dedicated server will benefit you in many ways. A dedicated server is useful for companies and individuals that run complicated applications that require good bandwidth. Also, the performance must be consistent and flexible too. In a dedicated server, the customer has exclusive rights to the bandwidth of the server, memory and storage space too. A dedicated server is indeed expensive. But it is worth it. It also allows you to configure the dedicated server as per your options. You can also avail facilities like 24*7 email and web based tech support.
In the first part of this article, you might have already checked on the various types of indicators that can help you to decide to move on from a shared hosting service to a dedicated hosting service. In this part of the article, you are going to see more indicators which are as follows:
1) Need for a managed server:
At one point of time, the company may start feeling the need of a managed server. At that time, a dedicated hosting service is recommended. Mostly, shared hosting services have un-managed servers. A business cannot afford frequent down time to happen. A dedicated web hosting service will reduce the down time.
2) Need for customer service:
At one point of time, the company may require efficient customer service. At that time, a dedicated hosting service will be the right choice in order to obtain good customer service. Mostly, a shared hosting service, do not have dedicated customer service. There might be shortage of persons to answer the phone or people who are responsible for answering the phone calls, may themselves not know much about the service. But if you choose dedicated hosting service, you will get reliable customer service. Dedicated web hosting services are provided with good customer service representatives who will be able to deal with all types of issues and inquiries raised by the customers.
3) Need for multiple domains:
Companies may feel the need of multiple domains. At that time, the company should opt for a dedicated host. A shared hosting may allow use of one domain. But a dedicated hosting service provides multiple domains facility on the same account.
4) Need for databases:
At a particular point of time, the company may require databases. At that time, the company should decide to move on towards a dedicated server. MYSQL databases are of great values to many businesses but shared hosting do not mostly offer databases. Even if they offer, they may just offer one. In the case of a dedicated hosting service, you get the opportunity to have several databases.
A dedicated hosting service will ultimately bring more business and more respect from visitors. This can be achieved by having a specific domain name. There are certain indicators that you should look out for, before you decide to change from a shared hosting to a dedicated hosting service.
A shared hosting service has its own limitations. You tend to have a limited control on the shared type of server. In a shared server type, you cannot control huge traffic. On the other hand, making your choice towards a dedicated server will benefit you in many ways. A dedicated server is useful for companies and individuals that run complicated applications that require good bandwidth. Also, the performance must be consistent and flexible too. In a dedicated server, the customer has exclusive rights to the bandwidth of the server, memory and storage space too. A dedicated server is indeed expensive. But it is worth it. It also allows you to configure the dedicated server as per your options. You can also avail facilities like 24*7 email and web based tech support.
In the first part of this article, you might have already checked on the various types of indicators that can help you to decide to move on from a shared hosting service to a dedicated hosting service. In this part of the article, you are going to see more indicators which are as follows:
1) Need for a managed server:
At one point of time, the company may start feeling the need of a managed server. At that time, a dedicated hosting service is recommended. Mostly, shared hosting services have un-managed servers. A business cannot afford frequent down time to happen. A dedicated web hosting service will reduce the down time.
2) Need for customer service:
At one point of time, the company may require efficient customer service. At that time, a dedicated hosting service will be the right choice in order to obtain good customer service. Mostly, a shared hosting service, do not have dedicated customer service. There might be shortage of persons to answer the phone or people who are responsible for answering the phone calls, may themselves not know much about the service. But if you choose dedicated hosting service, you will get reliable customer service. Dedicated web hosting services are provided with good customer service representatives who will be able to deal with all types of issues and inquiries raised by the customers.
3) Need for multiple domains:
Companies may feel the need of multiple domains. At that time, the company should opt for a dedicated host. A shared hosting may allow use of one domain. But a dedicated hosting service provides multiple domains facility on the same account.
4) Need for databases:
At a particular point of time, the company may require databases. At that time, the company should decide to move on towards a dedicated server. MYSQL databases are of great values to many businesses but shared hosting do not mostly offer databases. Even if they offer, they may just offer one. In the case of a dedicated hosting service, you get the opportunity to have several databases.
Dedicated Hosting Problem?
puneet g asked:
recently i took Dedicated hosting in iweb8.com .Commonly if we take dedicated hosting there must be no problem with members online but in my site if members comes more than 400 members
than the site is automatically going offline I want to know why.if i ask them they are telling that no like this type of complaint from last 1 year but i wanna know why this happening.
Friend Plz solve my problem
recently i took Dedicated hosting in iweb8.com .Commonly if we take dedicated hosting there must be no problem with members online but in my site if members comes more than 400 members
than the site is automatically going offline I want to know why.if i ask them they are telling that no like this type of complaint from last 1 year but i wanna know why this happening.
Friend Plz solve my problem
Shared Vs. Dedicated Hosting
Chris Narfundle asked:
The type of web hosting you choose is dependent upon exactly what you are wanting for your site. Both hosting options have their benefits and their downfalls and you must decide what is most important for you.
If you are planning on having a small website, whether business or personal, shared hosting might be a good choice, particularly if you are looking to save money. Shared hosting costs less because you are sharing a server with other websites and the cost for running the site is divided between the website owners. The prices for shared hosting can vary from just a few dollars a month or more. This is usually dependent upon how many others are sharing the site. There are some downsides however to using shared hosting. Most shared hosting sites offer you a limited amount of disk space and bandwidth for your website. Some will even charge more if you use more bandwidth than you are alloted. Additionally, you may have to deal with other websites on the server using too much bandwidth, which can cause your website to run slowly and even freeze up.
Dedicated servers on the other hand, mean that your website has it’s own dedicated server that is not shared with any other websites. This is the best choice of hosting service, particularly if you are planning on having a large website or will have a website that will have a high level of traffic. A dedicated host offers a higher level of service to it’s website owners. They generally have more features available to users and make the sites easier to build. Many people feel the downside to a dedicated server is that they are generally very expensive. They can range anywhere from several hundred to several thousand dollars a year. But, if you have a large website, whether business or personal, it is definitely worth the money. Dedicated hosting offers a much more reliable service to you and ensures that you will have a higher amount of uptime on your website.
Choosing the right web hosting services is one of the most important thing you can do when building your website. If you feel that you can’t afford a dedicated host right now, you can either attempt to use shared hosting or save up the money until you can afford dedicated hosting. If your website is small and you think you will not have any problems using a shared host, than you should start looking into companies that offer quality shared hosting. However, if you know you are going to have a large website, and fear shared hosting may not work for you, then you would be better off choosing a dedicated host. It’s best to with a host that can provide for your needs from the start, rather than having to switch hosts at a later date.
The type of web hosting you choose is dependent upon exactly what you are wanting for your site. Both hosting options have their benefits and their downfalls and you must decide what is most important for you.
If you are planning on having a small website, whether business or personal, shared hosting might be a good choice, particularly if you are looking to save money. Shared hosting costs less because you are sharing a server with other websites and the cost for running the site is divided between the website owners. The prices for shared hosting can vary from just a few dollars a month or more. This is usually dependent upon how many others are sharing the site. There are some downsides however to using shared hosting. Most shared hosting sites offer you a limited amount of disk space and bandwidth for your website. Some will even charge more if you use more bandwidth than you are alloted. Additionally, you may have to deal with other websites on the server using too much bandwidth, which can cause your website to run slowly and even freeze up.
Dedicated servers on the other hand, mean that your website has it’s own dedicated server that is not shared with any other websites. This is the best choice of hosting service, particularly if you are planning on having a large website or will have a website that will have a high level of traffic. A dedicated host offers a higher level of service to it’s website owners. They generally have more features available to users and make the sites easier to build. Many people feel the downside to a dedicated server is that they are generally very expensive. They can range anywhere from several hundred to several thousand dollars a year. But, if you have a large website, whether business or personal, it is definitely worth the money. Dedicated hosting offers a much more reliable service to you and ensures that you will have a higher amount of uptime on your website.
Choosing the right web hosting services is one of the most important thing you can do when building your website. If you feel that you can’t afford a dedicated host right now, you can either attempt to use shared hosting or save up the money until you can afford dedicated hosting. If your website is small and you think you will not have any problems using a shared host, than you should start looking into companies that offer quality shared hosting. However, if you know you are going to have a large website, and fear shared hosting may not work for you, then you would be better off choosing a dedicated host. It’s best to with a host that can provide for your needs from the start, rather than having to switch hosts at a later date.