How to tell if You Need a Dedicated Server for Your Web Hosting

April 7, 2021 / Servers

Most websites begin their journey on a shared hosting plan. When they grow, the next natural step is to move to a VPS. There may come a time, however, when neither of these solutions provides all the computing resources that the website and its company need and you require an even more powerful solution, like a dedicated server. Here, we’ll look at the signs that indicate you need a dedicated server and explain the benefits it brings.

Poor performance

Presuming that you’ve already optimised your website to load and respond quickly, any deterioration in site speed is a clear indication that your current hosting solution doesn’t provide all the resources, i.e. CPU, RAM, bandwidth, etc., that you need.

Today, both internet users and search engines expect websites to load almost instantaneously on any device and via any form of connection. They also expect any interactions to happen quickly, such as your site responding to a clicked link or button or the inputting of information. Those sites that lack speed soon find visitors abandoning the site and see themselves sliding down the search engine rankings. If this is happening to you, it’s time to upgrade to a more powerful server.

Hosting more than a website

Businesses often start with just a single, basic website, then, as they grow, begin to use their hosting for other purposes, such as to run multiple websites. They may, for example, set up different sites for different countries or even set up separate businesses whose websites are all hosted on the same hosting account.

Additionally, they may begin to host other applications besides their website, such as a mobile app, chatbots, streaming services, forums and so forth. Each of these will require their own resources and, together, may make the existing hosting solution creak at the seams and begin to perform very sluggishly.

Again, this is a clear sign that a bigger server, with growing room, is required. When the signs begin to appear, it is important to act quickly before poor performance leads to some of these important services crashing – a situation that can have dire consequences for both the company and its customers.

Domain Name

Increasing traffic

One of the key aims of any website owner is to increase the amount of traffic visiting their site. The more popular your site becomes, the more likely you are to increase your revenue. However, every visitor you get and every action they take on your website will place demands on your server. Eventually, you may be in a position where you get so many visitors at the same time, that your server cannot handle all the requests it receives. This will initially affect the site’s performance and if not dealt with, could lead to the website crashing.

When considering an upgrade, website owners don’t just need to think of the traffic they currently receive; they need to look at the rate at which it is growing over time, so they can predict when their current hosting solution will become inadequate for their needs. They also need to factor in how their site will cope with unexpected spikes in demand. What would happen, for instance, if you suddenly found one of your products going viral and your visitor numbers went through the roof? The last thing a business needs at its moment of greatest popularity is for the website to collapse under the strain.    

Why choose a dedicated server?

If your shared hosting or VPS hosting solution is struggling to provide all the resources you need, it’s time to think about an even more powerful solution, like a dedicated server.

The benefits of a dedicated server are numerous. For a start, they offer far more resources than either shared or VPS hosting. This includes storage, RAM, CPU and bandwidth. This means you’ll have more space to install more websites and apps and collect more data and be assured that you’ll be able to keep them performing, without a hiccup, at blistering speeds. That’s great news for your visitors and your search engine rankings.

What’s more, dedicated servers provide greater freedom. A good web host will let you customise your server, you’ll get total control over the operating system and you’ll be able to install and run any applications you choose – something that can’t be done with a shared hosting solution. You can even customise the server’s configuration to suit your own needs, so your applications perform even better. And by not sharing a server with others, you increase both security and the potential impact of having a neighbour that hogs all the resources.

While dedicated servers can be more challenging to run than a shared hosting plan, you can always choose a managed hosting solution where the web host looks after the server management for you. As for running the website and managing the hosting, a dedicated server works with cPanel in the same way that shared and VPS hosting do. And if you choose a WHUK dedicated server solution, you’ll also have access to our 24/7 technical support to help you with any issues.

Conclusion

If you have outgrown shared hosting and think even a VPS solution might not provide all the resources that your growing business needs, then a managed dedicated server might be the best move. It will provide you with far more storage, processing power and bandwidth to run more applications and handle greater numbers of visitors.

For more information, visit our Dedicated Server page.

Author

  • Niraj Chhajed

    I'm a SEO and SMM Specialist with a passion for sharing insights on website hosting, development, and technology to help businesses thrive online.

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