So you've outgrown your shared host and it's time now to move on to the real stuff.
Yes we are talking about dedicated servers, those byte crunching beasts. Figuring out all of the options and services can be very confusing.
But No Worry!
I will try and give you some tips and hopefully guide to your perfect server.
So let's not waste any time and start with first segment.
What is a Dedicated Server?
Dedicated Server is a single computer connected to a network (internet). This computer and all of it's processing power is dedicated to a single person or organization. Meaning that the computer resources are not shared by anyone else. You have the full control of the machine and you are free to run any software you want on that computer.
Specific Service Hosting
Hosting of a single software or service on it's own dedicated machine. All of the resources on the machine are dedicated mainly for one type of service or functionality. For example, one might host only Database Software on the server so that all of the resources on that machine are only dedicated for processing of Database Queries. You are able to handle more queries, or deliver more pages.
Which setup do you choose?
This of course depends on the amount of requests and traffic that your web site will be receiving. So to be able to answer this question we need to first understand little bit about what services are needed in order for web site to be accessed by the user.
Number of CPU Cores / Processors:
Another no brainer. More cores or processors your server has, more taks it can do simultaneously. Since most of the actions on the server are based on requests and each request usually spawns a separate process, you can see how more CPU Cores enables the server to handle multiple requests at the same time.
Amount of RAM:
I think you see the pattern here "MORE". Needless to say that more RAM your server has, more requests it can handle at the same time. Reason for that is that each request requires certain amount of RAM so that it can be processed. This amount is dependent of various factors like: Software type, Operating System, Installed Modules...etc
Memory is probably best investment you can make in your dedicated server.
Hard Drive RPM speed
Again the faster the disk spins, quicker it can get to the data on disk. Some popular Har Disk speeds are: 7200RPM, 10000RPM and 15000RPM.
Biggest performance increase by faster Hard Drives will be seen by applications which access the Disk often. Some of those applications are: Database servers, File Servers and Video Streaming servers.
SATA vs SCSI vs SAS
If you were wondering what all of these acronyms are related to, they are the 3 most common Hard Drive interfaces used in dedicated servers.
To RAID or not to RAID
So yes we are still stuck with the hard drives. When you see a word "RAID" being used in a server setup, that means that server has 2 or more HD's joined in an array forming one logical unit. Raid usually provides increased storage reliability through redundancy. There are different RAID setups and you've probably seen some: RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10...etc
If you have a powerful machine then performance difference between Hardware and Software RAID could be negligible
Generally it is thought that if available Hardware RAID is a better choice.
Bandwidth
Bandwidth is the term used to describe the amount of data that server will deliver over period of time. Hosting companies can choose to offer various pricing structures for cost of bandwidth.
Operating System
Usually hosting companies offer several different types of Operating Systems, but most of them are grouped into Linux/Unix based and Windows Servers.OS X Server is a very rear breed to find on dedicated servers.
Choosing an operating system is mostly dependent on the requirements of software, libraries and applications you will be running on your server.
Certain software is available on both Linux, Unix and Windows, while others are only available for specific OS.
Linux based Operating Systems are very popular choice since most of them are free and usually require less resources to run then windows.
Control Panel
Control panels allow for easy management of dedicated servers. They allow you setup new virtual hosts, domains, emails accounts and various other tasks that can without a control panel be vary tedious and hard to setup.
If you are a novice with dedicated servers and your web server is unmanaged by the hosting company then I would strongly suggest having some kind of control panel installed. It will make your server management easy and you will be able to spend the nights actually sleeping instead of trying to figure out why your apache server is returning "500 Internal Server Error":)
Remote Reboot
Is referred to an option that enables you to instantly Hard Reboot your machine. This is usually done via web interface and it is useful since gives you the control to restart the server at your command. Once in a while something will happen with the OS or software on the server so that it crashes or freezes.
Technical Support
Things do go wrong and they usually happen when you least expect. Servers crash, Hard drives fail, Processors can burn out and what do you do then? You are possibly thousands of miles away from the server and there is nothing you can personally do. You are in the hands of technical support.
Conclusion
I hope that this article was able to give you some insight in the world of dedicated hosting and help you in your choosing of dedicated server.
Website: http://cccambox.com/
Yes we are talking about dedicated servers, those byte crunching beasts. Figuring out all of the options and services can be very confusing.
But No Worry!
I will try and give you some tips and hopefully guide to your perfect server.
So let's not waste any time and start with first segment.
What is a Dedicated Server?
Dedicated Server is a single computer connected to a network (internet). This computer and all of it's processing power is dedicated to a single person or organization. Meaning that the computer resources are not shared by anyone else. You have the full control of the machine and you are free to run any software you want on that computer.
Specific Service Hosting
Hosting of a single software or service on it's own dedicated machine. All of the resources on the machine are dedicated mainly for one type of service or functionality. For example, one might host only Database Software on the server so that all of the resources on that machine are only dedicated for processing of Database Queries. You are able to handle more queries, or deliver more pages.
Which setup do you choose?
This of course depends on the amount of requests and traffic that your web site will be receiving. So to be able to answer this question we need to first understand little bit about what services are needed in order for web site to be accessed by the user.
Number of CPU Cores / Processors:
Another no brainer. More cores or processors your server has, more taks it can do simultaneously. Since most of the actions on the server are based on requests and each request usually spawns a separate process, you can see how more CPU Cores enables the server to handle multiple requests at the same time.
Amount of RAM:
I think you see the pattern here "MORE". Needless to say that more RAM your server has, more requests it can handle at the same time. Reason for that is that each request requires certain amount of RAM so that it can be processed. This amount is dependent of various factors like: Software type, Operating System, Installed Modules...etc
Memory is probably best investment you can make in your dedicated server.
Hard Drive RPM speed
Again the faster the disk spins, quicker it can get to the data on disk. Some popular Har Disk speeds are: 7200RPM, 10000RPM and 15000RPM.
Biggest performance increase by faster Hard Drives will be seen by applications which access the Disk often. Some of those applications are: Database servers, File Servers and Video Streaming servers.
SATA vs SCSI vs SAS
If you were wondering what all of these acronyms are related to, they are the 3 most common Hard Drive interfaces used in dedicated servers.
To RAID or not to RAID
So yes we are still stuck with the hard drives. When you see a word "RAID" being used in a server setup, that means that server has 2 or more HD's joined in an array forming one logical unit. Raid usually provides increased storage reliability through redundancy. There are different RAID setups and you've probably seen some: RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10...etc
If you have a powerful machine then performance difference between Hardware and Software RAID could be negligible
Generally it is thought that if available Hardware RAID is a better choice.
Bandwidth
Bandwidth is the term used to describe the amount of data that server will deliver over period of time. Hosting companies can choose to offer various pricing structures for cost of bandwidth.
Operating System
Usually hosting companies offer several different types of Operating Systems, but most of them are grouped into Linux/Unix based and Windows Servers.OS X Server is a very rear breed to find on dedicated servers.
Choosing an operating system is mostly dependent on the requirements of software, libraries and applications you will be running on your server.
Certain software is available on both Linux, Unix and Windows, while others are only available for specific OS.
Linux based Operating Systems are very popular choice since most of them are free and usually require less resources to run then windows.
Control Panel
Control panels allow for easy management of dedicated servers. They allow you setup new virtual hosts, domains, emails accounts and various other tasks that can without a control panel be vary tedious and hard to setup.
If you are a novice with dedicated servers and your web server is unmanaged by the hosting company then I would strongly suggest having some kind of control panel installed. It will make your server management easy and you will be able to spend the nights actually sleeping instead of trying to figure out why your apache server is returning "500 Internal Server Error":)
Remote Reboot
Is referred to an option that enables you to instantly Hard Reboot your machine. This is usually done via web interface and it is useful since gives you the control to restart the server at your command. Once in a while something will happen with the OS or software on the server so that it crashes or freezes.
Technical Support
Things do go wrong and they usually happen when you least expect. Servers crash, Hard drives fail, Processors can burn out and what do you do then? You are possibly thousands of miles away from the server and there is nothing you can personally do. You are in the hands of technical support.
Conclusion
I hope that this article was able to give you some insight in the world of dedicated hosting and help you in your choosing of dedicated server.
Website: http://cccambox.com/
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