Who is a Dedicated Server Right For?

Dedicated servers are servers that are meant only for one company, or one user. This is vastly different from a shared server, an option that many business owners opt for when they first start up their website. Shared servers though, have a limited number of resources that can be used and those must be divided between each website on that server. Users who have their website on that server are then relying on another website not using any of their resources, or their website will shut down. With a shared server, users are also bound to certain operating systems and hardware because that is what everyone else will be using, too.

The shared server environment is a good option for businesses that only have a very small website, and aren’t really all that active online. While all businesses should have some sort of Web presence, not each one will need to rely so heavily on it; and for these few businesses, a shared server might be enough for their needs.

However, just about every other type of business is going to need a dedicated server. When a business consists of a full e-commerce site that has many transactions and thousands of visitors a day, there’s no question that they will need a dedicated server. However, even a mortgage brokerage that is posting blog posts every day needs to have a dedicated server. It’s just as essential that these smaller sites are up and running at all times – a guarantee that you probably won’t find with a shared server.

But just having thousands of visitors to your site every day is just one symptom that shows you might need to move to a dedicated server. If your website is also weighed down by data and includes a huge amount of pictures, text, and other content, you’re also going to need a dedicated server. These websites take a huge amount of bandwidth every single time a person visits them; and if you’re using a shared server, all those visitors downloading all that data is likely going to shut down your own site, as well as maybe sites of others, as well. Having the huge amount of resources at your fingertips that only comes with a dedicated server will fix that problem, and is your only option when you have a data-heavy site.

E-commerce sites and online merchant sites also need a dedicated server without question. These sites have a huge amount of traffic, a huge amount of data, and the certificates and other software that’s needed also operate best from a dedicated server. These website are also the entire business in and of themselves, and owners can’t afford to have these sites shut down for even just a minute.

A dedicated server is right for just about anyone, in any kind of business. And while shared servers are a great option for those who are just venturing in the online world, or hardly venture into it at all, more consumers are online today than ever before, and that number is only going to grow. This is going to make the need for a dedicated server for every business even more necessary.