Imagine you are running an online business with a large number of users, and your current shared hosting plan or even VPS can’t provide sufficient support anymore. Now, you are considering to deploy a dedicated server to further grow your business.
Chances are you may have come across two choices when looking for a dedicated server solution, namely “Server Colocation” and “Dedicated Server Hosting”. Both look rather similar and often create confusion.
In fact, they are different in terms of ownership and other important factors.
Different tradeoffs come with each of these two hosting options. We’ll clarify each of them in this post, along with their pros and cons.
So if you have questions about which server solution is right for you, read on.
Server Colocation
A server colocation hosting is about renting a space from a data centre and placing your own purchased physical server in the data centre.
The data centre would most probably only provide the rack, electricity supply, Internet connection and other basic data centre security features.
Dedicated Server
A dedicated server hosting is about renting a server from a data centre, which gives you absolute control over the server hardware.
The web host provides all the services – from maintenance, security, temperature control, and many more.
Check out the table below to have a clearer picture.
| Dedicated Server Hosting | Server Colocation Hosting | |
| Server Hardware is provided by | Hosting Provider | Yourself |
| Server Hardware Maintenance is conducted by | Hosting Provider | Yourself |
| Server Software Maintenance is conducted by | Hosting Provider | Yourself |
| Backup and Restoration are done by | Hosting Provider | Hosting Provider |
| Access to Server Resources | Full | Full |
Pros of Server Colocation
- Fully Control On Server Hardware
As you can build your servers exactly the way you want, you can customize the configuration to fit your workload perfectly.
That can mean purchasing the very newest CPUs and disks or matching with a massive amount of RAM and a low-end processor.
Either way, to accommodate your budget and achieve performance targets, you can design to the exact requirements you need.
- Power Redundancy
You will enjoy a peace of mind with the web host’s professional technical support and constant server monitoring.
With high-powered cooling system that keeps your server in the best running condition, your server is safe even during a power outage, storms and other unexpected common issues.
Enjoy a total peace of mind in knowing that your server is in good hands 24/7.
- Security & Protect Your Data
Data centres provide full security that protects your server and data from internal and external sources.
Experienced technical persons with professional knowledge about security software like firewalls, spyware, data encryption help to keep your data secure and protect it from hackers.
For external threats, full-time security guards would monitor your hardware with surveillance cameras and effective entry scanning system.
Anyone accessing and leaving the data centre will be recorded.
- Network Reliability
Keeping your network connection stable is a main concern for your server other than its storage and bandwidth.
Data centres offer multiple networks to ensure constant server connectivity. The loss of network connections could mean losing viewers, conversion, or business for your website.
A fast and reliable connection to your website is a must to improve user experience when they visit your website.
Cons of Server Colocation
- You Are Responsible For Everything
As mentioned above, you own the physical server and you are just renting a space to place it.
Thus, you are responsible for setting up your server and keeping it running (from buying the server to downloading the program and configuring it).
And that entails the delivery of the server to the data center.
Also, when something crops up, you need to inspect and diagnose the issue on yourself. If you’re not able to troubleshoot the issue remotely, you will need to travel to the data centre.
Pros of Dedicated Server Hosting
- Full Server Resources
With Managed Dedicated Server hosting, you will not be sharing server resources with others like what happens in shared hosting.
This means you have complete control over how server resources are distributed based on your needs. You have the power to decide which application, script or program to run on the server.
No more worries about having a bad ‘neighbour’ in your hosting! In addition, data centres will still be fully responsible for your hardware and software.
This ensures that your server will always be monitored by professional and experienced personnel.
- Uptime and Security Assurance
A strong server performance is important in handling high website traffic. Dedicated hosting packages usually include redundancy options for hardware and software to minimize the risk of failure.
As you no longer share resources with others, it’s certain that you will enjoy better uptime and security.
- Scalability
Since data centers have already made a hardware commitment, you can simply install additional dedicated servers using their excess space.
If the demand for your company varies with the seasons, on-demand infrastructure lets you scale up as your business expands and minimize your IT footprint to decrease operating costs during quiet periods.
Cons of Dedicated Server Hosting
- Hardware is not customizable
The biggest downside of dedicated hosting is that you have little control over hardware and device choices, as most of the hosting providers have prefixed the specification in different price range.
But good news is, Exabytes allows you to configure a server hosting with your preferred specifications. Simply get in touch with our server specialists who will be pleased to help you out.
Still confused which is right for your business?
To find out, kindly contact our friendly and professional server specialist. We will customise a solution for you based on an analysis on your business requirements.
Contact us via live chat or send your inquiry to [email protected]
Related article: Tips on Choosing Dedicated Server Hosting
