Dedicated web hosting is when you lease a server and you are given full control over that server as it pertains to your web hosting. This gives you more flexibility and assures that you are there only website hosted on the server if that is your desire, but is dedicated web hosting really necessary for your website? Just as with anything else there are advantages and disadvantages to dedicated web hosting so to answer the question it is necessary to dive into both so that you can make the best decision for your website.
There are two main advantages that come with having dedicated web hosting; reliability and control. Here is how the two break down:
•Reliability: Because your website is more than likely going to be the only website that will be hosted on the server, it is going to be less susceptible to hacks and attacks as it would be if you were to host it with a virtual web hosting company that has many sites on the same server. Because the system administrator will actually be installing your website on the server they will know exactly what is and isn’t put on the server because they will have full root access.
•Control: Having dedicated web hosting means a significant increase in control. Because you control how many websites go onto your server you therefore control the amount of bandwidth that can go around. If your website is the only website on the server, as is usually the case with dedicated web hosting, then it stands to reason that the load speeds will be faster as your site will be able to take full advantage of the bandwidth that is available.
With the good comes the bad and there are also disadvantages to having dedicated web hosting such as:
•Administrations Skills Needed: If you have your own server you are going to be the one who has to install and update new software, keep watch for hacks, and generally fix any problems that arise on an administration capacity. If you don’t have these skills as many of us do not, then you may find it difficult to keep your website running smoothly or find it necessary to hire someone to be the site administrator for you which will cost you more money.
•Cost: Because there are more and more dedicated web hosting services readily becoming available the price to lease servers is coming down significantly from the peak times when you could expect to pay hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars per month. However, the cost is still significantly more than the virtual web hosting services that are available today so it is necessary for you to weigh the price of the service into the equation.
So the answer to the underlying question is it all depends. If you have a small website and are not planning on doing much with it then you probably have no need to go out and spend the money on dedicated web hosting. If however your company is huge and your website needs to be just as big then you may find it in your best interest to have dedicated web hosting. Each case will vary and no matter what, you have to weigh the good and bad and then decide from there.
Author Resource:
Jason Kay recommends reading reviews of cheap hosting sites to find an affordable, reliable web hosting service that meets your needs at http://www.cheaphostingsites.org .