Webmaster Knows all

Once you have decided that shared hosting service is not what you need for your business, it’s time to start looking for a dedicated server.

You will find a lot of options, offers and dedicated hosting server plans out there, but (as with most things) the one that seems to be perfect at first turns out to be not so perfect when you realize that it lacks many hosting features that you need.

This article will help you find the right dedicated server for you by telling you what to look for when it comes to dedicated server features.

Hardware

System board, processors and memory

mainboardBeing the basis of any system, the system board (also called “mainboard” or “motherboard”) is a key piece of hardware and certainly one of the most important dedicated server features. However, many web hosting providers focus only on processors and memory and don’t give too much importance to the mainboard.
The truth is that the performance and quality of the chosen motherboard is very important for a server to work properly. If the system board’s quality is not high enough, you will have bottlenecks that will result in a degraded overall performance, no matter how fast or good your processors or your memory modules are. The best option is to choose one of the leading brands on the market, such as Gigabyte or Asus.

processor dual coreProcessors are “the brain” of a computer, in the sense that they are in charge of performing operations on the data they receive and returning a certain result for each of those operations. Unlike humans, servers may have many processors working together in parallel (i.e. performing operations at the same time). The higher the number of processors your dedicated server has, the better its performance will be, and the lowest the response times. Keep in mind, however, that multi-processor configurations require special mainboards that may be very expensive. Also be aware that multiple processor configurantions require all processors installed to be the same brand and model. It all depends on your business needs. Reputable processor manufacturers include Intel and AMD.

memory chipMemory determines the number of data that may be accessed by processors at the same time. The more memory your dedicated server has, the more tasks it can do without having to access hard disks, which are much, much slower. Today it is common to see hosting servers with 512 megabytes or more of memory installed. If you need your server to manage large databases, you should probably go with 1 gigabyte or more. Additionally, try to choose ECC memory modules. These modules are able to detect and correct invalid bits of data on the fly, without re-reading that data from source. ECC stands for “Error Checking and Correction”.

Hard disks

hard diskStorage is a critical part of your dedicated server, as it will keep all your and your customers’ data. The chosen hard disks must be fast, in order to be able to access and use this data without spending precious time. Look for those hard disks that have the higher RPM (revolutions per minute), as they will positively affect your dedicated server performance.

As opposed to home computers or computers in a small office, servers use more reliable technology for their storage system. Typically, servers make use of SCSI hard disks, which are storage devices that are faster and less likely to fail on a high load scenario than personal computers’ disks that use IDE technology (less expensive and not designed for intensive tasks).

It is essential that your storage system provides stability and recovery in case of failure. A RAID disk configuration is a great way to achieve this. In a RAID configuration, several hard disks are set up in a way that one or more of them are basically mirrored images of the primary disk. In this configuration, if a failure occurs to the main hard disk a mirror (secondary disk) takes its place and prevents data loss. RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks.

Software

Operating system

The operating system that will be installed on your dedicated server must be chosen according to the hosting features you will need to get your website working correctly. The decision on what operating system to use must be taken by your company’s team of developers and web programmers, since it must support the components, technologies and applications they may be building for your site.

MS Windows logoFor instance, if your site uses ASP or .NET programming, or a MS-SQL database, you should choose Windows as an operating system. On the other hand, if your team of experts developed the site using PHP scripts or MySQL databases, you should choose a Unix-based operating system.
Keep in mind that OS has its goods and its bads, and the choice must be made according to your business’ needs.

Linux logoThe most widely used OS for servers is UNIX (and its many variants). The reason for this is that during a very long period of time Microsoft (the creator of Windows) and Apple (the creator of Macintosh) have focused their efforts into capturing the home computing market, while UNIX was specifically designed for servers. Recently, this trend has changed and today very good server OSes are being manufactured by Microsoft.

Additionally, UNIX-based systems are less expensive than Windows OSes, because Microsoft charges license fees for every installation, while UNIX OSes use a free, open source software model with no fees. If you choose a UNIX dedicated server, the savings in license costs should be passed on to you.

Other dedicated server features

Bandwidth

bandwidth analyzerThe bandwidth is the amount of data that can be transferred over the network per second, measured in Mb/sec (megabytes per second).
This will be determined mainly by your business’ needs and the amount of traffic your dedicated server will have to handle.
If you are renting a dedicated server for your own personal use or don’t expect a huge amount of traffic, then a regular 1.544Mb/sec T1 line should be fine. If, on the other hand, you are offering web hosting to others or are setting up a website that will be frequently visited by a huge amount of people, you should choose a bigger bandwidth.

No matter what is your choice, there is a chance that traffic and demands will increase as your business grows up, so you should always look for a hosting provider that offers scalable bandwidth in order to increase it if your site needs it.

Support

technical support personThis is a determinant factor when choosing a dedicated server. Trust me, there are a lot of questions that will need answer, and they must be there to answer them for you. Optimal support service includes not only e-mail or online instant messaging assistance, but also phone support.

You can find out about the level and quality of support a certain web hosting company provides by visiting forums or communities that talk about servers and hosting, and asking other users about this particular web hosting company.

As you can see, finding the right dedicated server requires a little research, but your business will benefit from the effort you put on this on the long term.

I hope this article helped you. See you soon!