When Do You Need Dedicated Hosting?
Published on July 29th, 2008 by Matt Hedges in Web DesignA dedicated server is a must if you want more resources than what is offered by a shared hosting account, or even if you want to run an application which cannot be run on it. A dedicated server can also be upgraded to, if you need a good and a powerful solution for hosting many websites.
Most people who intend to start an online business are unaware about the web hosting packages available in the market. Though purchasing a package depends on the individual budget, most of them are unwilling to buy any package which costs more than $100 annually. In the initial period of their business, this strategy might be good for them since being new to the online business, they might not be aware of the many features of the web hosts, and they also learn new things about e-commerce and affiliate marketing. Besides, they gain the basic knowledge about the domain name server alterations, hosting control panel, FTP for file uploading, and many other things.
Prefer reputed web host companies over others.
Owing to the low cost, most of the small hosts are not foolproof and one can easily make a mistake on it. So remember that the company you select must have a very good customer support centre. A new business owner may require answers to his various queries which may relate to the server, among other things. He may want to know about how to build a website, or how much bandwidth is required for doing a particular job, etc. But a very important question which is often overlooked is how to register a URL in the personal name of the webmaster, to avoid cases of others claiming it to be illegal. Besides, read the fine print of the company carefully, and acquaint yourself with the terms and conditions. go through the domain registration bit very carefully since it will help you build goodwill in the market. Be on your toes if some companies offer attractive services at a throwaway price since they can illegally lock your domain without your knowledge. Also, be careful if the company terms appear vague and are capable of being understood in multiple manners. If this aspect is ignored, you will have to pay heavily (literally, since legal actions would be needed to be initiated) for it.
To avoid such complexities, go for dedicated servers from reputed companies. Remember that every small business service provider is not selling his business services cheap. In fact, if you select the recommended solution for your business then the cost to you might be even less than $1,000 annually. So you might wonder that given this amount, what benefits will accrue to you? Firstly, there will be no need for you to upgrade the host every single time when there is an increase in the traffic to your site. Most of the dedicated servers are pre-configured with sufficient bandwidth to handle an increase in traffic, and also customers from the PPC as campaigns. Besides, database backup options are also available with them, along with an option to have multiple email accounts for the webmaster and the opportunity to have multiple IP addresses.
Dedicated servers are also important because many sites have a huge number of hits everyday, like MSN, Google, etc. A dedicated server handles traffic to your site very well. Besides, they allow you to install add-on applications like server side scripts, pythons, PHP Scripting, RSS feeds, etc. A dedicated server enables you to have full control over your business. After setting up the website and ensuring that the programs you have installed are working properly, you just have to bother yourself about the annual maintenance of the site, like creating attractive content to gain popularity among the search engines, and paying the server bills in advance for avoiding the deadline of payment. It is generally recommended that you must pay the bill in advance for at least 2-3 years, since many companies offer attractive discounts if clients’ make the payment for a long period of time upfront. Some of the other schemes that are included for people who pay advance fees are having free PPC credits for running ads without incurring any cost on valuable networks like Google AdWords and MS-AdCenter. So if you want to avail of some unavoidable benefits from the web hosting company, then you can opt for paying your bill for 2-3 years in advance. It’s very much worth it since the benefits will far exceed your expectations.
The responsibility of the company is upgrading the server.
Many people think little about the available options for the purpose of upgrading their server, while buying the dedicated server. Don’t forget that the server will have to be surely upgraded sometime in the future. You have the right to do the upgrade from the host company as you are basically leasing the server. You may fight yourself fighting with the host company if you didn’t consider the upgrade before committing to the host company. So before buying the dedicate server form any company, remember to carefully go through the upgrade policies of the host. Besides being maintained properly, many parts of the server need to be upgraded over time. It is important to clarify whether the host company can provide you with regular upgrades as and when required. Mostly, the RAM and the hard drives have to be upgraded. Some of the host companies unnecessarily create harassment, though most of tem unhesitatingly provide this upgrade to the clients.
The companies are well aware of their duty of providing proper upgrades to the customers as and when required by them for their online business. For example, if an upgrade is needed, it’s the duty of the web host company to suggest you the best time to shut down the site and upgrade it, and the selection has to be shut that business operations are not unduly affected by the maintenance timings. Also, such things are foreseen, and not carried out suddenly when the traffic to the site increases. The web hosting companies must offer you their full co-operation for you to meet the demands of the customers, else those companies should not be considered at all. In short, communication is the keyword in such cases. You must shell out time to decide what would work for you and what wouldn’t, depending on your requirements. Failure to comply with this will result in the customers not being satisfied with you, and if they leave, you will deny yourself huge revenues. So prior to buying a dedicated server, some ground work from your part is essential as well.
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Tags: Web Design