Shared Hosting (commonly referred to as ‘Virtual hosting’ and ‘Budget Hosting’) is the most popular form of
hosting and refers to web hosting services where many websites reside on one web server and share the same
internet connection.
Dedicated Server Hosting refers to a single server offered to the customer for their information only. A
client leases a dedicated server that is solely for that client’s information. The server has its own
internet network connection.
Benefits of dedicated server vs. your current hosting plan
While shared servers are the most popular form of hosting and most cost-effective option for small
web-sites, they might not be a good option for large, "mission-critical" or high-traffic web-sites. For these
types of websites a dedicated server might be a necessity.
Dedicated servers do cost more to lease than shared servers, and often require a higher level of technical
skill to operate. However, if your company is making thousands of dollars a day from e-commerce and your
business could fail if the server went down for more than a few hours, then you should seriously consider
leasing a dedicated server. Here's why:
Dedicated servers offer t he ability to maintain your own server by allowing you to manage server traffic,
server response time, server security, data backups, and the applications you want to use on your server.
Server traffic and response time
The server’s response time on a shared hosting environment is solely dependent on the amount of traffic the
other sites on the server are receiving. For example, if a site on shared hosting environment suddenly
receives an influx in traffic, it will cause the other site on the server to slow down. Therefore, your
site’s response time will slow dramatically and you are without recourse.
On a dedicated server you can control the amount of traffic allowed in the server which, in turn, keeps your
site response time at its maximum performance.
Security
Shared hosting environments are more likely to have security issues because everyone does not implement the
full security that is offered. Therefore, your site is more likely to have security issues on a shared server
than on a dedicated server where you can control the level of firewall security.
Also, when purchasing a dedicated server, you have the choice to pay for a higher level of security than you
do on shared hosting. This can help with server load management and any security issues.
In a shared hosting environment, you are limited by the security provided by the hosting company and what
others on the server decide to implement. If you have a dedicated server, you can implement your own security
and pay for extra security.
Data retention and backups
Losing company data and the time it takes to restore it could create a great loss to your company. Using a
dedicated server provides the option of running RAID on your server or you can have the hosting company backup
the data to an offsite facility for an additional fee.
Platforms
A platform (commonly known as the control panel) is vital in making a decision to get a dedicated server.
The choice depends on the extent of the applications you are familiar with and what applications you want to
run.
A shared hosting environment limits the applications available on the server. Unlike a dedicated server you
can choose which platform you want and the choice determines the applications you can run. Some platforms
are customizable such as Parallels PLESK Platform.
If your company plans on major growth over the next year and has a little extra cash, consider moving to a
dedicated server. During this economic downturn, hosting companies are offering incentives for powerful
servers.

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