Choosing a web hosting provider for your dedicated server can be tough, even if you’ve leased a server before. You may search on forums looking for advice, only to find that much of it is anecdotal. You may also look on Google, but many of the articles offering advice during this time just rehash what you already know.
That’s why we created a list of points that will (actually) aid you in choosing your next hosting provider:
1. Managed Services
If you’ve got extensive knowledge and the time, managing your server isn’t a big deal, but many will find that they don’t have the skills, time, or both to manage their own server. For this crowd, one of the most important things to consider about your potential host is whether or not they offer managed services. If they don’t you should immediately search for hosts that do. Once you’ve got a few hosts, compare their managed offerings. Do they have managed backup and security services? Are their services competitively priced?
2. Certifications and Awards
Another important point to consider is a host’s certifications and awards. Certifications can show that a company adheres to compliance standards, is secure, or even that its staff has the knowledge to manage your server. Awards typically speak more to the experience, price, and performance of a hosting provider. They’ll typically analyze customer service, server hardware, uptime, and other key factors.
3. Root Access
When choosing a dedicated server host, it’s crucial to ensure that they’ll be providing full root access to your server. This is one of the primary benefits of choosing a dedicated server as it allows you to configure your server any way you please.
4. Support
Customer support (or lack thereof) can make or break your hosting experience. When an issue occurs with your server, you typically need it resolved as soon as possible, and if a support team is hard to reach, unresponsive or unknowledgeable, you’ll be left frustrated and with the issue still on your hand. Before choosing your provider, check how many ways you can reach the team and whether they’re available 24/7.
5. Facilities
The facilities that a dedicated server are in play a key role in the performance, reliability, and security of your server. Many hosts aren’t too transparent when it comes to their server facilities, but this can pose an issue as their data center may be lacking crucial security features or important features to ensure your server’s reliability.
6. Experience
How long has the host you’re considering been in business? New hosts may have a limited track record which can make it difficult to assess them. Sticking with hosts who have 10+ years experience will almost always result in a great hosting experience as they are more likely to stay in business, will often have better hardware and even more knowledgeable support teams.
7. Price
Price will always remain an important point to consider, but rather than look at the price alone, look at the value the host provides. Some hosts may offer cheaper plans but lack important services and features. Your ideal host won’t be the cheapest, but it’ll be the one that provides the most value.
8. Hardware
Another crucial point to consider is the hardware which the hosts use. Are they running servers with the latest generation of Intel processors? (Remember server processor generations tend to lag behind consumer models by 1-2 generations. You can learn more about server CPUs here.)
It’s also important to ensure that they are using genuine enterprise grade hardware. Consumer hardware is typically cheaper, and some hosts attempt to cut their cost by using desktop grade hardware, but it lacks certain security and reliability features that server grade components have.
9. Security
Last, but certainly not least, is the security of the server host. In addition to the basics of DDoS protection, you’ll want to ensure the server has a high level of physical security. If you’re choosing to use a host’s managed security, you’ll want to ensure that they provide a firewall with robust capabilities and that they include monitoring/filtering in the plan.
Putting it all together
Even those who’ve leased servers can get burned by a bad host if they don’t take the necessary steps to ensure the host will provide the service they need. Ensure you’ll choose a top-notch host by taking into consideration the points above and you’ll be in a great place when you do choose your host.
In the interest of full disclosure, we do offer dedicated server hosting of our own but have created this article to be as unbiased as possible and help you choose the best host, whether that’s us or one of our competitors.
ServerPronto offers the best affordable and secure hosting service in all dedicated server packages.
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