I’ve been there. At first – just like anybody else, I start small. I hosted Noobpreneur.com in my hosting reseller account – a shared hosting – along with tens of my other sites (and maybe hundreds of other users’.) For about $25 a month, I can host nearly 70 websites on the same account without any problems. It was all good – until Noobpreneur.com grows steadily over the years. Then the time is finally come.
My business website was inaccessible – a bit too often
About a year ago, everything was fine, until early this year, my Noobpreneur.com has been suspended for excessive usage of my web hosting provider’s resources. I tried anything I can – caching, reducing file sizes, etc. – but at certain moment, my efforts are no longer useful. It is time to move on for a better hosting plan.
After getting suspended a couple of times, I gave up and I finally decided to upgrade to a VPS hosting. With a virtual private server (VPS) I only share space with a couple of others, giving Noobpreneur.com more resources to handle thousands of visitors a day.
It seems that I have just done that a couple of months ago – these days, Noobpreneur.com starts experiencing regular outages, especially on busy days after I and our respected business bloggers publish useful blog posts. It’s not my web hosting provider’s fault. It’s probably time to upgrade. A dedicated hosting, maybe?
Dedicated hosting: Considering my options
Dedicated servers refer to web servers that website owners rent to host their online business websites. Unlike a VPS, a dedicated server is rented by one – and only one – client. So, your web server’s power is the only limitation you have.
Well, a VPS hosting is costly enough for me. The thought of upgrading the hosting plan makes me shiver and anxious… a dedicated server must be very expensive, I suppose…
However I shop around and found a couple of alternatives. I did found some dedicated hosting providers that offer affordable yet reliable dedicated servers, such as ServerClub.com. You can shop around and choose the most suitable server specifications to your need. With ServerClub.com, pricing starts from $109/month.
I honestly don’t really understand hardware and stuff – all I know that the more expensive a dedicated hosting, the more powerful it is. If you are in the same situation, I suggest you to ask your IT guy for advice (asking on webmaster forums can also help…) Google for the particular server configuration can also help you to make a well-informed decision.
Again, dedicated server is expensive – but depending on your situation, it is probably the best investment you can do to support your cash cows. One word of advice: Getting prepared is good, but be sure don’t overspend your hard-earned cash on web servers’ power your business site doesn’t actually need – unless you have all the resources to support your decision.
Ivan Widjaya
Considering dedicated hosting plans