Guide To Dedicated Server Options

Choosing the hardware and software options for a new dedicated server can be very confusing. This guide will help explain the software and hardware choices you will face with simple real world explanations. We will give some recommendations on what a basic server should come with. We also recommend emailing the hosting company you are looking at with your traffic statistics and other needs and see what they recommend.

Operating System - Windows Or Linux?

The choice over which operating system can be very confusing. 99% of the time just go with a Linux server. The only reason you would need a Windows server is if you are going to need something specific to Windows such as ASP.Net and that is very unlikely. Windows servers usually cost more and require more management so be sure the company you are buying the dedicated server from has experience. Just because your home computer runs Windows doesn't mean you need Windows for your websites or even to interact with programs you run. Frontpage, FTP, and everything work just as well on a Linux server and probably better.

CPU / Processor - How Fast?

The speed of the CPU is not as big a factor on a dedicated server as it is when you are buying a home PC for gaming. The more important aspects are how many cores it has and cache. These are things that help the CPU handle multiple executions and how fast it can process them. I wouldn't worry about the CPU option as long as it is above 1.6Ghz unless you are running some very intensive scripts on the server. At UK2 for example our servers start at 1.6hz and scale up to 2.4Ghz. Don't get dual CPU unless you need them as well, generally that is overkill unless your site is very busy.

Memory - How much?

Memory is very important for a server, especially one that is using a lot of MySQL databases. For a basic no frills server try to get 1GB and the more database you plan to have the more memory. Most servers come with at least 1GB now so you should be just fine. Servers can scale up to 8GB in some instances and you can always upgrade the memory down the road.

Hard Drive - How Big Should It Be?

This depends largely on the type of sites you will be running and how much room you need. It is a good backup solution to get two hard drives and run nightly backups to the other drive or get a RAID 1 setup where the drives mirror the data. Just in case one drive goes down you still have all your data. IDE should be fine 90% of the time but if you are running a large forum or want the best go with SCSI drives.

Bandwidth Traffic - How Much Do I need?

Most providers give you more bandwidth then you can ever use so this shouldn't be a problem. Aim to get at least 500GB a month and it is pretty easy to figure out how much you are going to use. If you had 10 people on your site and they each download a 100MB file (huge) that is 1GB a day of usage, which would be 30GB a month. Web pages are so small they don't really impact and you should only work out the math if you have a lot of music, video, or similar to distribute.

Server Management - Managed Versus Unmanaged?

This is vital and depends on how comfortable you feel running your own server. An unmanaged servers means the dedicated server hosting company is responsible for the hardware and reboots. A managed server is what most of us needs and this means they take care of everything on the server. I recommend getting a managed dedicated server so that you don't have to worry about keeping all the software up to date.

Control Panel - Which One?

Control panels make managing the server easier through a web interface. From there you can add domains, check the servers performance, add emails, and lots more. Some of the most common are Plesk, cPanel, and DirectAdmin. Any are good and all are easy to use.

Other Common Terms

Here are a number of other dedicated server related terms: KVM Switch - Is a switch that allows you to access the server as if your keyboard and mouse was attached to it. Very handy if you are managing it yourself. IP Addresses - Key to the structure of the entire internet, try to make sure you get at least 3 to start with and that they don't charge too much for more. Hundreds of sites can share one IP address and you really only need more if you are planning on doing a SSL or want to split them up. Remote Reboot - Very handy if you don't have time to call your hosting company, just login and click a button on the web interface to reboot your server. Firewall - Most servers have these now and sometimes they might charge extra if you want a hardware version. A firewall protects your server from types of attacks and plays defense against DDOS attacks.

I hope this helps you when it comes time to choose a dedicated server. I work for UK2 and a lot of these answers are based on sales questions we get. UK2 provides dedicated servers in the UK and USA as well as Windows/Linux and Managed/Unmanaged. Just send me an email at if you need any advice or help.

Server Racks

Look for the following options from your dedicated hosting provider:

Central Processor Unit:

 

RAM:

 

Hard Drive:

 

Data transfer levels:

 

Firewall:

 

IP Addresses:

 

Other hosting services:

 

 

 

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