If your company is starting or if you are thinking about taking an important step in terms of hosting structure, you have certainly already wondered what is the best type of environment and service for your business: which server offers the most advantage for your business? Investing in a dedicated or shared server?
With that in mind, we have prepared this content to help you choose the best server, explaining what it is and why website hosting is necessary, listing the main types of hosting, exemplifying how each modality works and indicating to the client what are the key points of each server.
In addition, the article informs what are the cons of the shared server and what requirements the business must fulfill when using the dedicated server, a task that can be optimized with the help of a specialized company. Continue reading and make the best choice after carefully evaluating each functionality of the types of hosting.
What is web hosting (servers) and why is it so important?
When choosing a server, it is normal to have several doubts about its benefits, about the need to customize each structure and also about the costs and disadvantages of each option.
But, first of all, it is necessary to understand what website hosting is and why this service should be implemented by customers.
Website hosting deals with computers, known as servers, that store information and files necessary for the availability of a website on the internet.
Primary for the company to have good results and offer a quality service to its customers, hosting can be used for various other purposes and applications such as emails, systems, virtual stores, blogs, game servers and much more.
What are the main types of hosting and their most outstanding features?
There are several ways to set up website hosting today up to date, all as you need server resources. The two most common types that are on the market are the dedicated server and the shared server. See the characteristics of each of these services!
Dedicated server
A more “powerful” option is, without a doubt, hosting dedicated. In it, you have an exclusive machine so that you can host your application peacefully. In addition, it is fully capable of supporting sites with high visitor traffic.
Unlike what happens on a shared server, on a dedicated server you have full control of all the resources it has. In addition, there is a high performance environment, completely prepared for the needs of your website.
Shared server
A hosting of sites on a shared server is essential for those who are starting to publicize the company on the internet, especially because of the management of outsourced resources and the reduced price.
It is quite common in this type of server to have a administrative account that manages all the resources that each of the other sites can use, as it can store data from several sites in addition to its domain.
Although it is shared, each site has the its own administrative area, its own consumption information and, depending on the company, its own domain. It is also worth remembering that none of the sites has access to the information and administration of the others.
How does the dedicated server and the shared server work?
Now that you know the main types of hosting, you must be wondering about how the dedicated and shared server works, right?
The dedicated server is a physical server and, during your configuration, various options can be adjusted, be it network resources, RAM, hard disks, processors and security. This type of hosting works as a company’s data center, which manages to configure the service according to its demands.
In turn, the shared server is used by a network of users, that is, , space and resources, including disk space, memory, CPU and internet bandwidth, are shared with many clients.
Therefore, the shared server is the most classic option and popular, hosting several companies on the same physical machine (hardware). These customers, in addition to sharing the hosting features, share the operation costs.
In which cases are dedicated and shared servers indicated?
Many people wonder who the dedicated server and shared server are for. However, to answer the question, it is necessary to include some factors in this calculation.
The dedicated server is ideal for companies that need large applications, such as SAP, e-commerce, ERP and mission environment criticism. The reason is that, in this modality, there is only one application or site on the server, increasing the autonomy and security of the operation, but generating, in contrast, more work and costs for the client.
When At the same time, having a dedicated server generally requires hiring a specialized company to manage the machine and ensure the installation of the operating system, software updates and firewall rule adjustments, for example.
The shared server is indicated, mainly, for those who have a website with few accesses or a service in the testing phase. This recommendation is justified because small sites and simpler applications are successfully served by shared hosting, reducing operating costs for the client.
What are the key points of each server?
By now, you already understand who the dedicated server is recommended for and who should invest in a shared server. But the question that remains is about the characteristics of each server, right? So, see below which are the main key points of the dedicated and shared servers.
Exclusivity
On the shared server, the hosting is divided among several sites, which can limit the functioning of the systems or access to the pages at times.
The dedicated server is exclusive to the client, and can be used by Web developers and for small, medium and large companies.
The biggest advantage of the dedicated server is to guarantee freedom to install apps, greater security, flexibility, autonomy and stability for the contractor. As a result, internal problems on this server are transformed into great solutions.
Variety of features
The dedicated server has more resources than processing and data storage, as it offers an exclusive service.
In shared, your company’s software or website will be hosted with other contractors, sharing and sharing the same resources.
Therefore, this option is suitable for small and medium businesses that have a website with a small number of visits or excellent programming — applications that will not require as many resources.
It’s It is important to keep in mind that the shared server offers the opportunity to choose only the resources that the company will need and in a personalized way.
Access conditions
If the company has a service that is starting or in the testing phase and a blog or website with few accesses, for example, the shared server is usually the most commanded. On the other hand, if the site demands high levels of availability and security and a high volume of simultaneous accesses, the dedicated server is certainly the best option.
Performance
Sharing resources can lead to security problems, performance drops or even server crashes.
In dedicated, it is different: by hosting only one website, the traffic is lower than that of shared environments, which is essential to improve navigation and minimize the loading time of systems and websites, which are important points to generate reliability.
Security
A dedicated service is much less worry for the business. This is due to the possibility of customizing the access limitation according to demand. In addition, it is possible to block IPs and practice other essential security actions.
Finally, it is important to make a comparison between the two options and choose the most appropriate server for your situation.
What are the disadvantages of the shared server?
It is true that the shared server has many advantages, such as updating and maintaining the server in charge of the hosting company, the need for simple configurations, the ease of administration of the service and the lowest cost of operation in the market.
But the bet on the shared server has some disadvantages. See what are the cons of this type of hosting!
Higher risks
The main disadvantage of the shared server is the greater risks and the lack of security for the domain. Therefore, e-commerce sites, which need high security requirements to store customer card data and personal information on their own basis, should not invest in this type of hosting.
No administrator access
Another disadvantage of the shared server is that, when choosing this type of hosting, the company loses administrative control of the site. In this sense, for those who have technical knowledge about how servers work, the shared solution is quite restrictive.
Shared resources
Also, shared hosting can present problems as the site grows and attracts more users, as the hosting resources are simpler and shared with several companies, which puts the server’s capacity at risk.
Server overload
The previous item brings us to this one, because, as the service in this type of hosting is shared with other companies, overloading is common from the server in a few moments. Due to the inconsistency of the digital environment, customers can go offline, possibly compromising the performance of the site and impacting the growth of your company on the internet.
What are the requirements to use a dedicated server?
You already know what are the advantages and disadvantages of the shared server. However, what requirements should a company that invests in a dedicated server have? Check it out!
Features and Specifications
Before investing in a dedicated server, you should think about which operating system is best suited to run it website applications. At that time, assess the need for basic items — amount of RAM memory, monthly traffic, storage space, among others —, checking with the specialized company what the limits of operations are and the cost of possible upgrades in the service.
Server stability
Another factor that you should consider when investing in a dedicated server is the stability of this system. Ask the specialized company about the structure needed to keep the system stable. Air conditioning, connection redundancy and energy monitoring are some points that contribute to the stabilization of the service.
Technical support
Finally , when choosing the ideal type of hosting, you need to assess whether your site requires support available 24 hours a day, for example. At this point, also reflect on the need to have attendants who speak Portuguese and analyze which are the communication channels through which you would get in touch.
So, before doing When choosing the type of hosting for your website, check to what extent the technical support of the specialized company can help in case of unforeseen events and the network becomes unstable, harming the operations and functioning of your domain.
How can a specialized company help?
There is no doubt that it is necessary to know the hosting company that your business intends to hire, choosing a company that offers quality solutions and has experience in the technology market.
- align your needs with the hosting provider ;
- understand how many hits your site supports;
- know the size of the site and analyze if it is optimized for a quick opening;
- optimize according to the development platform ;
