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What to look for When Choosing a Dedicated Server

What to look for When Choosing a Dedicated Server

Making the upgrade to a dedicated server is one of the biggest decisions you will ever make in regard to your business hosting needs. Before deciding on a host to supply the equipment, you should know what to look for in order to get the best possible service.

Resources

Similar to shared hosting plans provided by companies such as BlueHost or ThinkHost, your dedicated server will need an adequate amount of resources. This includes RAM, CPU, bandwidth and storage space. Most providers will offer a number of plans, each with a different amount of resources. You should carefully map out your marketing strategy to determine how much will be needed, keeping in mind that your business needs considerable room for expansion.

Platform

More than likely, a dedicated host will allow you to choose the operating system to run on your server. There are many options to choose from with Windows Server Edition and Linux Redhat being two of the most popular. Both platforms are reliable and offer excellent performance. The system for you is ultimately the one that supports your applications the best. It is also a good idea to have a level of familiarity with the software. For instance, the Windows server system is very easy to use as it brings a look and feel of the Windows desktop setting to the network server environment. Linux is regarded as one of the most stable operating systems on the market, but tends to be far more complex. However, those familiar with this system prefer it over the Microsoft product due to its scalability. This is a very critical decision that will have a significant impact on the entire operation.

Server Administration

Unlike the shared hosting environment where server administration is handled by the host, most dedicated server plans leave the server maintenance up to you. Similar to a shared server, this level of management is handled by control panel software. Two of the most popular applications on the market are Plesk and WHM (Web Host Manager), a version of cPanel designed for server administration. Both are pretty straightforward, will allow you to host multiple domains and basically control all the essential aspects of the server. However, there are a few differences you should take note of.

While development is in the works, WHM is currently only available for the Linux platform. Plesk is a multi-platform control panel that works with Linux and Windows. Aside from being available for both systems, Plesk offers the advantage of having the ability to use the same control panel interface in various environments. If you were using Plesk on a shared server, it would probably be a good idea to find a dedicated host that supplies the same control panel. While they are essentially the same program, the cPanel interface for the shared server environment is completely different than that of WHM for the dedicated server.

Price

Even though you have generated enough revenue to invest into dedicated hosting, finding a good price is still important. Keep in mind that the lowest price doesn’t always translate into the best service. It would be a good move to make out a workable budget and then narrow down the options with a server that meets your needs and can be afforded. With a sound strategy, you can find the perfect dedicated server plan such as LunarPages Dedicated Server and continue to expand your presence on the web.

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21st September 2008
Posted by Web Hosting Consultant in Best Web Hosting Tips
Tags: choosing dedicated hosting, choosing dedicated server, ,

One Response to “What to look for When Choosing a Dedicated Server”

  1. SGDNetworks says:
    November 22, 2008 at 9:58 am

    Thanks,

    I have gone through so many articles on this particular issue like what to look in to a dedicated server while you are going for it.

    Good information that describes. These days support also most important.

    So please update this article with latest updations which will useful for everybody who looks for a dedicated server

    Venkat

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