| If your website generates large volumes of traffic, a | | | | provide these services for you. |
| dedicated server is likely the best choice. Many web | | | | Be sure the hosting company has planned for |
| sites start by using a shared hosting plan but as they | | | | redundancy in case of system failures. If your server |
| grow they need to scale their site to meet the | | | | crashes, there needs to be a backup in place that |
| added requirements. A dedicated server is the most | | | | can take on the load with minimal downtime for your |
| effective way to do that. | | | | website. |
| Dedicated servers are used strictly for your website. | | | | If your hosting company is managing the server for |
| There are no other sites sharing the resources on | | | | you, make sure they have a maintenance schedule in |
| the machine. This lets you have ultimate control over | | | | place for things such as security upgrades and |
| the way the server is configured. | | | | operating system patches. |
| If you need more storage or more RAM, the hosting | | | | These kind of security updates are released on a |
| company can add that for you (at an added cost | | | | regular basis, and you need to be sure that your web |
| naturally). If you need to install a particular program | | | | server is updated so it isn't vulnerable to attack. |
| or operating system, you can do that. | | | | Web hosting companies are not all created equal. |
| When looking for dedicated hosting services, there | | | | When choosing your hosting provider, you need to |
| are a few things to keep in mind. | | | | be sure that they are going to be able to keep your |
| First, ensure that you have a technical support and | | | | site up and running consistently. |
| administration plan in place. This could be someone in | | | | If your website is large enough to justify a dedicated |
| your own company or the hosting company may | | | | server, you can't afford to have any downtime. |