Dedicated Web Hosting

Dedicated hosting is a special type of web hosting meant for big businesses and power-hungry users who want to have total control over all aspects of their web hosting environment. Dedicated hosting is not offered by all web hosting providers, on the contrary only specialized high-tech companies which own sophisticated equipment along with premium bandwidth connectivity are able to provide this type of service. Dedicated hosting enables the user to lease an entire preconfigured server from a dedicated hosting provider because of which there is no need to share the server space as well as resources as is the case with a VPS.

Dedicated hosting is still not the highest level of web hosting, managed hosting and colocation hosting being the next levels. This is because in case of dedicated hosting, the user still needs to have technical expertise and knowledge to manage different aspects of the dedicated server. As far as the hardware of the server is concerned, it is totally the responsibility of the hosting company to build the server and then host it in its state-of-the-art data center facility.

The level of flexibility that a user can have by owning a dedicated hosting server is immense. All aspects of the hosting server are managed by the user such as which software to install on the server, as well as what settings to use for e-commerce and multimedia applications. Some dedicated hosting companies also offer the user the option to install a preferred operating system on the server. Furthermore, the user has the ability to deploy customized applications related to database, dynamic content, high-end e-mail functionality, multimedia etc. As a result, all the advantages of an exclusive dedicated hosting server can be exploited by simply renting the server from the company, without the need to invest into purchasing one.

With a dedicated hosting server, one also gets a much higher bandwidth quota as compared with a shared web hosting solution. This is because the potential consumers of dedicated web hosting are either big businesses, entrepreneurs or other power-hungry individuals who are much more likely to own a website with plenty of traffic. Secondly, a dedicated server also offers the option of hosting multiple websites on the same machine. To fulfill the demanding resources that a dedicated hosting server has to offer, it also becomes necessary for the hosting company to power the server with a secure high-speed Internet connection along with monitoring it round the clock.

As far as the maintenance and administration of the dedicated server is concerned, it is totally the liability of the hosting company which literally frees the customer from the hardware point of view thereby allowing to focus entirely on the software administration side. Whether there is a hardware device failure or a need to replace the entire server, the company has to manage all of it without any costs to the customer. Secondly, with some advanced dedicated hosting providers, the customer also has the option of choosing customized hardware such as a particular CPU, hard drive or other components.

Dedicated hosting service can cost anywhere from $100 to several hundred dollars per month depending on what level of technical support is needed by the customer, as well as any customized hardware and software requirements. This type of web hosting is a viable option for small to medium-sized businesses. However, as already mentioned, since a dedicated hosting server offers a complete control over the hosting environment as well as the resources, the user needs to have a certain level of proficiency in dealing with any server administration issues which consequently translates into a higher time and manpower investment. The following companies offer dedicated web hosting services.