The Myth of the $99 "Dedicated Server"

With all of the hosting companies out there and the multitude of offerings promising 99.99% uptime guarantees or my personal favorite; "no downtime" how do you choose the best provider for you?

Well it's going to depend on what kind of service you expect and what you are willing to pay for it. This post is based on a reoccurring problem we've been running into recently. That problem is the $99/month or less "dedicated" server.

A $99/month dedicated server? You mean I can have a complete hosting solution providing me with privileged access to dedicated resources and bandwidth? It's going to be configured with only top notch, reliable and redundant equipment to ensure the least amount of downtime? I'll be all by myself on the server so no one else's activities such as spamming, video or photo hosting, or any other resource hogging application will have negative
effects my website or application? That sounds too good to be true doesn't it? You're absolutely correct; it IS too good to be true.

With the increase in popularity and use of virtualization in hosting environments many hosting companies are misleading customers into virtual dedicated servers under the guise of a "dedicated server." For those unfamiliar with virtualization, it can be loosely explained as the installation of software or hardware that makes one machine have the ability to have multiple operating systems or applications installed while using the same system resources and functioning completely independent of one another. In English, it's basically tricking one machine into thinking it is multiple machines; thus allowing for multiple websites, applications, etc. to run on it.

Now there is nothing wrong with virtual servers. In fact, they are a great low cost way to get a small website or application up and running. The problem that we have been facing is that many potential customers come to us for a dedicated server quote thinking that it will be around the same pricing as what they've paid for a virtual server. That is simply not the case as you are getting a far more powerful and superior piece of equipment when you are looking at a true dedicated server.

True dedicated servers are exactly what they say they are; a single server for a single customer. There is no sharing of resources such as processing power, RAM, Hard Drive space, network connection, etc. You are getting the most robust solution for your application, web site, or database.

Just remember that the age old philosophy of "You get what you pay for" always holds true.