After plenty of business development efforts, your business is rapidly expanding, and users are flooding your website. But because you’re still on a shared plan, your host is already warning you that you are about to hit resource caps or need to pay extra for more server resources.
So, now you have to upgrade to something better.
You may be considering a dedicated server, but you’re still wondering if it really has benefits over cloud hosting and shared hosting? Will it solve your traffic problems and provide sufficient resources?
The Good news? Yes, it will. But there are more advantages of dedicated servers than just that.
Read on to get all the details on the benefits of dedicated server hosting, when to upgrade, and what to look for when the time is right.
What is a dedicated server?
A dedicated server is a physical server set aside by a hosting provider for exclusive use by your organization or business. You do not share this server with any other user. That also means you have full control over the entire server and its functionality. Besides that, you can use custom configurations on the hardware and software of your server to meet any unique business case.
Regardless of your needs or purposes, you can select a dedicated server that has the resources and capabilities needed for your business. For instance, you can select a plan that has the power to run multiple websites and applications, performs complex computing work and store massive amounts of data.
Bluehost’s dedicated hosting plans offer advanced features such as AMD EPYC 9534 CPU chips, DDR5 memory, NVMe SSD storage, 10 Gbps network speed, and unmetered bandwidth. These specifications ensure that your server is equipped to handle high-traffic websites, large databases, and resource-intensive applications with ease.
Think of it like owning a car instead of using the subway. You enjoy all the benefits of having full access to the car, its comfort, power and convenience.
If you need enhanced web and app performance, privacy, reliability and data storage for your business, a dedicated server may be an ideal place to start.
Related: What is dedicated server hosting?
Reasons a business may need a dedicated server
As your business evolves, growth and expansion may cause your business to face unique challenges that drive you to opt for a dedicated server. Let’s explore some reasons you may need a dedicated server:
Security and privacy
Suppose you run an eCommerce business that accepts online payments via credit and debit cards. Collecting and storing such information on a shared server may expose that data to potential loss, DDoS attacks or data leaks.
With Bluehost’s dedicated hosting, you benefit from high-level security features, including DDoS protection, free SSL certificates, and guided server setup. Additionally, you can set custom configurations for server security protocols that prevent these security risks from occurring on private user data.
For example, a dedicated server can give you the ability to ensure the server settings comply with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards or HIPAA regulations for patient records if you are a medical provider.
Performance throttling
Using a shared server for your business often comes with challenges, including throttling. Throttling occurs when your hosting partner deliberately slows services in response to a spike in system demand, especially if you or other users on the server exceed a certain threshold.
Often, this leads to slower page load times, buffering content and website downtime. If your business depends on a website uptime to drive conversions, this can hurt your income.
Opting for a dedicated server with PCIe 5.0 technology and 1:1 mapping, as provided by Bluehost, can increase or remove any limits on your storage, memory, or processor, leading to better performance and reliability.
Reselling hosting
A dedicated server may be your best bet if you’re a business or agency that resells shared hosting services to clients.
To run a successful web hosting reseller business, you must first have access to dedicated servers. That ensures exclusive access to all the resources needed to ensure your customers’ websites work seamlessly in a shared space.
Moreover, it gives you full control over your server configurations and how you allocate resources to your clients. Using a control panel of your choice, such as cPanel, you can manage multiple client accounts and deliver exceptional services that keep your hosting company growing.
Content hosting
Investing in a dedicated server can increase your chances of success if you run a podcast or a small music and video streaming service. First, sufficient memory allows you to improve user experience by streaming live content seamlessly while storing your data in a secure and reliable location.
Bluehost’s dedicated hosting plans provide NVMe SSD storage and a 10 Gbps network, ensuring fast and reliable access to large files and multimedia content. That means you can store files of multiple types and sizes on your server and manage how you and other users can access them.
Advantages of dedicated server hosting
Switching to a dedicated server can benefit your business in multiple ways if you’re on a shared server. Here are some top reasons you may consider purchasing them:
Full control and customization
Right from the start, you have absolute control over the servers and their configurations. For the duration of your subscription, the dedicated servers are yours to manage. Unlike a shared or virtual private server (VPS), where one size fits all, you can configure your server to work uniquely with your website.
You have complete control over the operating system, content management system, control panel and other critical software. You may also have full root access to the server, making it possible to make core changes using the secure shell (SSH).
Improved performance and stability
One of the critical benefits of dedicated server hosting is that it boosts the performance and stability of your website or application, making it more reliable for your customer and other users.
Because your server memory and processor are at your disposal, you can configure your website for efficient performance. Bluehost’s dedicated hosting, powered by AMD EPYC 9534 CPU chips and DDR5 memory, ensures that your server runs at peak performance, even under heavy loads.
Unlike a shared server where multiple websites compete for use of limited resources, you get complete access to the full power of your server resources.
High-level security
When running your online business on a dedicated server, you enjoy full control over security settings, firewalls and applications. You can install a secure operating system and implement custom security measures to protect your data and applications from malicious actors and prying eyes.
Bluehost’s dedicated servers are housed in tier 3 data centers and come equipped with advanced DDoS protection and free SSL certificates, ensuring that your server is protected against physical and cyber threats.
Dedicated support
One of the most significant but often underrated advantages of dedicated server hosting plans is access to customer support. Your server provider should allocate a knowledgeable team of experts to offer hardware and software support as you manage your website and the server itself.
At Bluehost, this dedicated customer support service is available 24/7 to help troubleshoot and resolve any issues you may have. The team can help set up your server with a guided server setup and provide ongoing support to maintain and optimize website performance.
Besides that, they’ll deliver the support in record time. Doing so reduces potential downtime and revenue losses if your business relies on a website or apps to interact with customers.
Increased scalability
A dedicated server allows your business to grow alongside your computing changes. For instance, if your website or application grows from serving 10,000 to 100,000 users, you can easily increase your resources to meet their demand.
Bluehost’s dedicated hosting plans offer unmetered bandwidth and scalable resources, allowing you to upgrade your server’s RAM, CPU, and storage as your business expands. Or you can consider migrating to a more powerful server operated by the same server provider.
If your business faces a downturn and you must scale down your resources, you can sometimes opt for a plan that includes a dedicated server with fewer resources.
How to choose the best dedicated hosting plan for business
Given that all businesses have specific needs and requirements, what can you do to select the best dedicated hosting plan for your business? Let’s find out below:
Bandwidth
Ensure your hosting options offer enough bandwidth to handle high traffic and data transfer needs. Bluehost’s dedicated hosting plans offer unmetered bandwidth, ensuring that your website can handle large amounts of data without additional charges.
Server configuration
Server configurations should match your business needs. Here are some of the top issues to consider:
- Explore all the server processor options a web hosting service offers you. Bluehost offers AMD EPYC 9534 CPU chips with DDR5 memory for high-performance business purposes.
- Consider what types and sizes of hard drives your web host offers for dedicated servers. Bluehost provides NVMe SSD storage, which is faster and more reliable than traditional storage options.
- Most web hosts will give you Windows, Linux, and Unix operating system options. Bluehost’s dedicated servers are compatible with multiple operating systems, allowing you to choose the one that fits your software.
Access to data centers and security
When choosing a dedicated hosting plan, consider the location and accessibility of its data centers. The closer your primary server can be to your target audience, the better. Bluehost’s dedicated servers are housed in tier 3 data centers with 99% network uptime, ensuring that your server is both accessible and secure.
Customer support
You may experience challenges with your server at some point during your subscription. Ensure your service provider has an experienced support team ready 24/7 across multiple channels like phone, email and chat. Bluehost provides 24/7 support with guided server setup and an onboarding call to ensure your server runs smoothly from the start.
Reputation
How do other users rate the products and services of your prospective hosting partner? Always consider what other customers say about a provider. User reviews can be a useful way to distinguish a good host from an average or poor provider.
Final thoughts: Benefits of dedicated server hosting for business
As you can see above, dedicated hosting has plenty of benefits. It enhances the speed, performance and reliability of your website, ensuring you enjoy maximum uptime for your website. Plus, you don’t have to share resources with other companies.
The most outstanding benefit of dedicated server hosting plans is full control over your hardware and software configurations. You can scale these resources up or down, depending on the season and your use cases.
Looking for a solution that can scale at the speed of your business? Now may be the time to upgrade to a new Bluehost dedicated hosting plan. Not only will you enjoy all the benefits mentioned above, but you can also enjoy a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Frequently asked questions
Dedicated hosting is best when you need to handle high volumes of users and data. It’s also useful if you need high processing power for resource-heavy web applications, such as virtual fitting rooms and live-streaming podcasts.
Dedicated servers are designed to handle multiple active users at once, but exact numbers depend on your hosting partner, resources allocated and use case.
Most dedicated servers can handle 20,000 users per day without lags or downtime. As your RAM, storage and processing power increase, the number of users the server can handle can also climb into the millions.
You can host multiple websites on a single server. Since your hosting provider allocates a unique IP address to the server, you can configure it to serve multiple domains and subdomains with different content.
You can host hundreds of websites on a decent dedicated server. With a standard configuration, you can usually host anywhere between 150 and 500 websites.
Dedicated hosting costs more than shared hosting and VPS hosting. However, Bluehost’s dedicated hosting plans justify the investment with features like DDoS protection, a free SSL certificate, and 24/7 support. Additionally, the user-friendly dashboard and interface make managing your server easier, while the guided server setup and onboarding call help ensure a smooth transition.
