Why and How to Choose a Dedicated Server

1. Why and How to Choose a Dedicated Server Picking a server can take a while – there are many different types out there, many different features being offered and so many providers to get through. Sometimes it seems easier to just pick the first, cheapest one that you come across but that isn’t always a wise decision for your company. You need to make sure you’ve completely considered all the demands and picked a server that’s right for you. Your dedicated server needs to be able to handle the stress you’ve put on it, and still be cost effective for your business. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself spending more and more each month to try and keep it running and working efficiently. What To Consider Bandwidth If your site is mainly made up of images, interactive areas or videos, then bandwidth is a very important aspect. You want to ensure that the dedicated server can handle the amount you’re hosting on it as well as traffic to the website. You also want to ensure you’re getting a good uplink speed. Without this, your website will be slow, won’t be able to show the images and you’ll suffer performance issues early on. You want people to be able to access your website without problems and you want your staff not to struggle under the demand being placed, as it reduces productivity. Data Centres It might be cheaper to get a server hosted somewhere miles and miles away, in a different continent, but you need to consider how quickly you’ll be able to connect to it and if it’s consistently active. If you’re only getting good speeds at 3am on a Sunday, it’s not really worth it as it will severely choke the traffic you’re trying to pull onto the site, or have your staff find it easy and quick to work. Try and find a good data centre near you and it’s worth checking out their up time and their traffic to see how much they can deal with without struggling. Budget Money is always important –when you’re trying to find a dedicated server, you want one that will get the job done without hurting the bank. Make sure you know what your maximum spend is, ensure the server doesn’t have hidden costs and that its money-effective. Don’t spend more than you can afford on the server. Some servers have costs hidden into their packages, too, so make sure you know exactly what you’re spending and why you’re spending it. Fully Managed Custom Servers 24x7 Live Support. Starting at $39/month. http://eliteservermanagement.com/managed-dedicated-server/

2. Ease Of Use Is it a simple management system or will your staff need extensive, expensive training in order to understand how to do the simplest of operations? You want to make sure that you’re not having additional costs thrown at you, and that it isn’t going to take all of your man power just to keep it running if you’re not sure that yourself, or your staff, can manage the server then it might be worth looking into a completely managed server –they’ll do all the maintenance and ensure that everything is working properly and takes the technical side away from you so that you can concentrate on the more important things. Physical hardware Do you want a server that allows you to actually own the server or do you want it to be a managed server? These are all things that you should know the answer to before you get involved with a dedicated server as it can really help narrow down your choices and rule out a lot of providers who only offer the opposite of what you’re after. You’ll find that you spend a lot of time searching for the dedicated server provider that’s right for you, so going into it already knowing what you need will help with time management and mean that you can concentrate purely on what your company needs. It might seem like a lot to think about, especially in the grand scheme of a company, but it’s actually one of the most important parts – without a server, your company is going to be facing a lot of down time and issues. Having a dedicated server can help reduce the amount of time you spend offline and let you concentrate on building your customer base to get your company taking off. Why Choosing the Right Server Is Important When you’re choosing a server, it’s something that will be the backbone to your company – it will hold client information, employee information and all the software you need to make sure everyone can work to their maximum capability. You want to make sure it’s right for you – choosing the first one that you come across won’t do you – or your customers – any favours. It’s important that you make the right choice so that you can manage your outgoing costs, you’re getting what you pay for, and it’s doing everything you need when you need it. If you make the wrong choice, you could find yourself in a contract that you can’t break for a year, or not getting the service that you need when you need it. You need a server that is compatible with what you do – with the right OS, and the right management tools. If you want to be hands on, you want to make sure that it’s possible to do that and you won’t find yourself being locked out of the controls, or being charged extra for any changes that you need to make. It’s a big decision to make and there’s a lot of information to take in –don’t rush the decision, because you’ll suffer for it later. Having a bad technical side to a company can really damage them – it can make your company seem unprofessional, unsecure, and like there isn’t much money behind it when this might not be the case. You want something that works just as well as you do and doesn’t run out of space in the first couple of weeks. Make the right decision and it’ll eventually start paying for itself when your company takes off and stays strong. Fully Managed Custom Servers 24x7 Live Support. Starting at $39/month. http://eliteservermanagement.com/managed-dedicated-server/