In the Web hosting world, a dedicated server refers to the exclusive rental use of a computer that includes a Web server, related software, and Internet connection, installed in the Web hosting company's premises. Web hosting companies claim that the use of a dedicated server on their premises saves the cost of router, Internet connection, security system, and network administration cost.
Some key features of dedicated server are-
Flexibility – It allows you to use your server as per your changing requirement as it remains within your apportioned bandwidth, memory and hard drive space.
Control – In dedicated server hosting website’s owner has a separate server which gives him full control over the server.
Featured Solutions – Each and every web host has variety of features that are included in the hosting packages offered by different service providers. Some may be offer discounts, while others may provide you some add-on services.
Stability Factor – Since your resources are not being shared, you don’t have to get weighed down about what others are practicing which might affect your website’s performance. You can stick to one particular dedicated solution in the long run without shifting to other hosting solutions.
Security- Since it is not shared, there is a less chance of data being hacked and data being lost. In dedicated server client can also enable SSL certification for more security.
Dedicated IP: With the facility of dedicated IP, a unique IP address is being provided to individual website and the problem of shared IP is resolved.
Dedicated server should be preferred over virtual Private Server (VPS) because in VPS, resources are shared among different clients so the hosting provider distributes the resources according to the traffic.
Each server in the system gets their part of resources based on custom requirements. Each part of this VPS has capabilities of performing independent operations with its own operating system and hardware resources dedicated to it.
Dedicated servers are more reliable because-
Maintenance problem: it is very difficult for web host to maintain all the operating system and ensuring maximum uptime.
Ignorance of host: Sometimes the hosting provider does not provide the allocated resources. This is because most of the time virtual server does not use its full resources.
Lack flexibility: It becomes difficult to manage virtual server during the large or unexpected traffic as most of the time resources are taken on the base of minimum requirements.
Security: Break of security or software failure can cause a larger issue by affecting one server’s activity to other.