If your company sees heavy traffic volumes, a dedicated server could be beneficial in terms of performance and customization of hardware configurations.
However, it comes with its own set of responsibilities; just as with condo ownership, maintenance must be performed regularly on this type of investment property.
Scalability
With dedicated virtual server hosting, you get an entire physical server all to yourself, giving you unmatched scalability and security. This option is great for large websites with high traffic that require isolation and performance – much like buying your own house compared with VPS and shared hosting models which more closely resemble apartment living.
Your website may need a dedicated server because its resources have outgrown those allocated by a VPS and you feel comfortable configuring and managing its hardware yourself. Or perhaps, for an application with specific needs that requires resilient hardware. Either way, both VPS and dedicated virtual server hosting can easily scale vertically or horizontally as needed; for example if traffic increases dramatically you can upgrade quickly to meet it; similarly if performance slows down you can expand RAM memory for improved speed and throughput.
Flexibility
Devoted virtual server hosting offers more control features than shared hosting plans, including root access and the ability to install software that’s not permitted under standard shared plans, as well as customized hardware configurations that meet individual website needs. It is therefore an ideal solution for websites requiring high performance with the flexibility to upgrade resources over time.
Consider this analogy: Shared hosting is similar to living in an apartment building; it offers affordable living conditions but lacks privacy or space of your own home. If you host an event with high traffic (event hosting), your neighbors could complain.
VPSs can be likened to townhouses; larger than apartments and with greater control than apartments. You still share certain facilities with neighbors on the same physical server (other accounts on that physical server). By contrast, dedicated servers offer maximum privacy and your own resources allowing you to tailor hardware and software systems specifically to meet your needs and ensure optimal performance.
Security
Dedicated server hosting offers optimal performance for websites with high traffic volumes, and allows customers to customize hardware configurations, software installations and resource allocation as needed. In addition, this type of service offers greater security as it doesn’t share resources among multiple users.
However, you should be mindful of the risks associated with hosting on cloud servers. Use a secure password to safeguard your servers and don’t allow anyone else access to your files or data via the Internet.
Dedicated virtual server hosting is an excellent solution for businesses that wish to reduce security breaches. By employing firewalls to protect against hackers and installing anti-malware systems to combat attacks, businesses can reduce their risks significantly. You can even set up SSL certificates so customer sensitive information remains safe from being misused by third parties. Furthermore, changing your SSH port number from 22 (the default value) to something random above 1024 could prevent brute force attacks.
Performance
Speed and performance directly impact customer satisfaction and business growth; dedicated servers offer optimal speed and security when hosting websites with significant traffic volumes or heavy user loads, such as handling customer transactions.
Dedicated hosting gives you full control of all the resources of a server – no sharing of space, RAM or bandwidth like there is with VPS or cloud hosting; plus there are both bare metal and virtual server options to select.
DigitalOcean’s dedicated servers boast up to 2GB RAM, 1vCPU, 25GB NVMe SSDs and unlimited bandwidth – our Premium CPU Droplets come equipped with Intel processors which provide increased power and enhanced performance over shared or VPS hosting options. This ensures your website operates at peak performance for optimal user experiences.