Article  Dedicated Servers versus Shared Servers When it comes to web servers, businesses generally go with either shared hosting services or dedicated servers. A quick comparison should help a business professional decide which of the two will work best for his or her particular company. A shared hosting service means that a single server houses many different websites. Fortunately, the websites remain divided so that they have no apparent connection to anyone viewing the sites, other than having the same IP address. In fact, with responsible use, the different websites will generally not affect one another at all. Businesses choose shared hosting primarily for economic reasons, since each account on the server covers a portion of the cost, shared hosting can be pretty inexpensive. This makes it an especially attractive option for small businesses. Due to the nature of a shared web service, there are constraints on the usage of bandwidth for each server; therefore if one or two sites are hogging all the bandwidth, other sites on the same server could be adversely affected. Sometimes this is managed by attaching special fees to excessive bandwidth usage, but be advised to check this situation before choosing a supplier. Shared hosting is often based in large data centers that provide servers for thousands of websites. With so many profit sources in one place, it makes perfect sense that the owners of these data centers would go to great lengths to ensure their safety and dependability. As a result, these centers are frequently outfitted with multiple internet connections, massive generators, and backup energy sources. This is a nice bonus for customers because these benefits come without additional costs. If a business owner doesn’t plan on using a lot of bandwidth, then shared hosting may be the best choice for that company. Keep in mind that bandwidth constraints can limit not only the size of a website, but also the number of times it is visited and downloaded. In contrast, dedicated servers are given entirely to one account holder. The account holder has a greater degree of freedom when it comes to hardware choices and resource utilization and providers of dedicated servers allow businesses as much control as they want over their servers. There can still be limits on bandwidth, but it’s usually possible to pay for the amount of bandwidth you plan on using, and your website will not be slowed by another website’s traffic. A dedicated web server can also offer a great number of security and backup options, but they are likely to have additional fees. Customers can also choose managed hosting to get the maximum support from the server host, this often includes security updates, performance optimization, full tech support, and application management. Managed hosting comes with a monthly cost, but allows the business owner to focus on more important matters and leave the web server to the professionals. Top line dedicated servers can now offer 99-100% server uptime. This combination of factors means that the only real advantage to shared web hosting is a lower price tag. A dedicated server can be much more expensive, but when used by large businesses whose websites are critical to their operation these costs are extremely reasonable. Companies that appreciate nearly unlimited bandwidth and freedom for their websites should strongly consider dedicated servers. The costs are small compared with the profits of a large business the site will attract. Smaller companies with no need for major bandwidth may be better off with a shared hosting service. Those who are uncertain should take the time to investigate some different server hosts. Check out what each host has to offer, find the bandwidth limitations, look at the security measures, and find the package that best fits the needs of an up and coming business. Category Internet Author Anonymous Add To Favorites Print This Article Email Article To A Friend Post Comments   Rate This Article (0) 1 - Poor2345 - Good678910 - Excellent Added On Mon Nov 23rd,2009