Every company big or small has data. It might be customer records, product information, or just raw ideas and theories. More and more companies are realizing the importance of keeping their data secure and available, even when no one is working on that particular project. That is where dedicated hosting comes in.
What Is Dedicated Hosting?
Dedicated hosting is where you get a dedicated piece of equipment to run your web site. This could be a rack of servers, a VPS (virtual private server), or just a single computer. Whatever the case, you are paying for the physical space that the equipment takes up. This way the provider will ensure that your site stays up and that there are enough resources available to keep it that way. Some services offer different tiers of dedicated hosting, depending on how much you are willing to spend. But for a small business, the free option should be more than enough.
Why Is Dedicated Hosting Important?
You might wonder why you would need dedicated hosting when you could run a normal web site off of your regular hosting service. After all, the hardware and bandwidth are all free. True, but the point of having a dedicated piece of equipment is to ensure that your site stays up and that you can always access it when you need it. There is nothing worse than losing business because you were unable to provide the service your customers needed at the time they needed it.
What Are The Benefits Of Dedicated Hosting?
There are several benefits to having a dedicated hosting service. For one, you no longer have to worry about the hardware being down due to over or under use. This is especially important if you are running a site that provides a service that people will pay for (i.e., a content delivery network, or CDN). These are groups of servers that are positioned around the world and that speed up web sites because they are closer to the users. If your site is down for even a short period of time, you can lose a significant amount of business.
Dedicated Hosting Vs. Cloud Computing
Dedicated hosting and the cloud are often compared, but they are not totally the same thing. With the cloud, you are storing data on large servers somewhere that can be accessed from any computer with an internet connection. You do not need to worry about the physical space your data takes up because it will just appear when you need it. You can use a tool like Google Cloud Storage to get started with the cloud.
How Do You Send Data To The Cloud?
In order to send your data to the cloud, you will need to have a process in place. The way that you do this depends on how you want to use the data. Do you just need a quick copy for backup, or do you want to process the information and see the results? Cloud computing allows for all of this flexibility, so you will need to figure out what you need before you get started.
Final Takeaways
As you can see, there are many different ways that you can go about hosting your website. There is nothing wrong with using off-the-shelf hosting services, but you should always consider the options that are available to you. While the price may be right, it is often not the most cost-effective or efficient route. Only you can decide what is best for your situation – whether that is paying for dedicated hosting or using the cloud for storage.