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Shared vs Dedicated Servers- There are some differences that you should know about when comparing shared vs dedicated servers. In this shared vs dedicated servers review we will explain both types of servers to you. Shared vs Dedicated Servers!

Shared vs dedicated servers is often one of the important decisions a business makes as it creates an initial website or upgrades its webhosting plan. The choice is often usually a four-way choice, between a standard shared server in the first place, a dedicated server that may either be unmanaged or managed in the second place, and a virtual private server, which is a shared server made to act like a dedicated server. In addition, there may be other facts involved, such as differences in costs for Windows servers vs. Linux servers, or limitations on the available features, uptime guarantees, support, or other critical factors. This article on shared vs dedicated servers will address these points.

Shared Server Basics

A shared server is a server on which more than one person or organization has an account, whether the total number of accounts is 2 or 2000. On a basic shared server, the resources of the one server are shared by all the accounts using the server. This means that resource hogging of memory or bandwidth by one account can affect the resources available to other accounts, and "because a static IP is not available with shared hosting in most cases "misbehavior by one account, like spamming, can result in blocks that affect the emailing capabilities of other accounts.

Virtual Private Servers (VPS), though often discussed as a type of dedicate server, are actually a cross between the services associated with shared servers and those associated with dedicated servers. What it is, in fact, is a use of shared servers in such a way that each account has its own resources that are available only to it. In effect this protects the accounts on the shared server from being impacted by each other’s behavior. They are sometimes called Virtual Dedicated Servers (VDS), which emphasizes their similarities to dedicated servers.

Dedicated Server Basics

A dedicated server is one that is dedicated to the sole use of a single account. Unlike shared servers or virtual private server/virtual dedicated servers, it is dedicated in the real world and on all fronts. The two forms of dedicated hosting are the standard dedicated server package which is managed by the organization or individual who owns the account, and managed dedicated hosting, in which "in addition to pay for the use of the server" the holder of the account pays for the webhost to take responsibility for the server management. The difference between these two plans lies in who is responsible for server administration, server management, and troubleshooting when something goes wrong.

Comparing Shared vs Dedicated Servers

When comparing shared vs dedicated servers, make sure you are comparing the same type of server and similar services. This is important because at some webhosts, it is characteristic for hosting on Windows servers to be more expensive than hosting on Linux servers. In addition, it is frequently the case that webhosts do not make obvious which kind of server software they are running or (purposefully?) make it difficult to compare prices both between different server OS as well as between shared servers and dedicated servers. You can overcome this reluctance to allow you to compare options by using multiple browser windows or printing out material to be able to really compare.

Certain features available with dedicated hosting are unlikely to be available with shared hosting at least with most webhosts. This includes multi-core processors, multiple processors, very fast processors, a 24/7 security team, a static IP address, and an SSL certificate, which requires a static IP address. Other options that may be available with a dedicated server, but not with a shared server include memory and hard drive upgrades from listed options, a hardware firewall, and a RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) card. So, while shared hosting is generally cheaper than dedicated hosting, if you absolutely need one or more of these features due to the nature of your website, it is likely in your best interest to look into hosting with a dedicated server, despite increased cost, as the most appropriate option for your situation.

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