What is a dedicated server?

October 6th, 2009

A dedicated server is an entire server dedicated to just your account, or just your website. Servers are large-scale computers and are able to handle a lot of requests while hosting a lot of different websites – this is known as Shared Hosting.

However, if your website is large, busy, complex, or a combination of all three, then dedicated hosting maybe the way forward for you. Although dedicated hosting can be expensive, it can be a very worthwhile investment.

Another important thing to look out for when choosing a dedicated server hosting package is whether the server is managed, semi-managed or non-managed. Managed hosting means that the hosting company will take care of your server for you – for example, if there was a problem with it, then they are there 24/7/365 to sort it out for you no matter what.

On the other end of the scale, non-managed means that after it is setup, it will be your responsibility to maintain its uptime and on-going upgrades. This is for only highly experiences users only, however.