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Cheap Dedicated
Servers
by budget-web-hosting.net
(c) 2005
First, I would like to tell you - cheap
doesn't always mean bad quality, slow connectivity, or just low-end
server hardware. It's all about the company you chose as your dedicated
server provider. In this article we will review the general features
cons and pros of cheap dedicated servers from the dedicated server
companies that charge less than $100 per month for hardware and
internet connectivity. |
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Managed or Unmanaged dedicated server
One of the most important questions - do you need your server
fully managed or you will do the full administration stuff yourself. This
is really important as managed servers can go as high as $300 per server.
With un-managed server you will need to do configurations, system maintenance,
administration and security updates yourself or you may hire third party
server management company to do it for you.
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Uptime and reliability
For best uptime and reliability, choose only provider that offers Border
Gateway Protocol (BGP) with multiple upstream providers. BGP protocol
exchanges routing information with multiple Internet Service Providers
and thus, if one of the uplinks goes down, the traffic is routed over
different path. Find out if the provider has power backup (UPS + diesel
power generators), check any web forums you can find, ask company current
or prior customers about their uptime record and reliability.
Bandwidth and port speed
The more bandwidth you get the better it usually is. You will find out
that finding a server with around 1000GB (1TB) of data transfer per month
is easy. It's always good to check out the bandwidth policy and see if
it's only outgoing traffic, or all traffic summed up (incoming + outgoing
traffic). Usually 10Mbps port is a standard with all the cheap dedicated
servers and 100Mbps port is additional option with $15..$25 monthly price.
With 10Mbps port your server can transfer around 3000GB outgoing and 3000GB
incoming traffic if 10Mbps port is maxed out 100% all the time 24/7. With
100Mbps uplink port your server can transfer 10 times more than with 10Mbps
port. But that is a lot of traffic, even if you are on a 10Mbps port.
Really. But if you go over your monthly traffic quota, expect to pay up
to $1.5 for additional 1GB of data transfer. Ask your provider what is
the additional transfer charge. Also ask to give access to MRTG or any
other real-time statictic port/access so that you can monitor your server
traffic in real-time.
Operating System (OS)
So you need Windows or Linux Operating System (OS)? Windows is usually
more expensive and the price can be as high as $50 per month. People tend
to chose Linux based servers because of it's reliability, open-source
and low-cost running. I suggest you chose Linux in all cases, except if
you need to run Windows based applications - ASP, .NET or MS SQL database.
Control Panel
To automate web hosting there are many control panels out there in market.
Cpanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin, H-sphere, Ensim, Webmin and many others. If
you are just starting in web hosting market and are new to system administration
you will need to add control panel to your server. Otherwise it will be
really hard for you to configure and install all the services you will
need - POP3, IMAP, SMTP, HTTP and DNS without prior system administration
background. Control panel has it's own monthly fees - be sure to check
them out before you order and don't forget that control panel must be
already set-up when you order your system, because adding it later may
cost you.
Server monitoring
Almost all budget service providers offer server monitoring, some free
of charge, some charge a few dollars per month additional. We suggest
you start monitoring your server using any third party monitoring system
(reliable) as third-party monitoring system will be located on a different
network and will report any connectivity problems your server may experience.
Remote reboot switch
A good feature to remote reboot your server by power cycling it.
Hardware replacement
Some hosts offer 3 hour hardware replacement guarantee, some offer only
best-effort replacement guarantee. Check before you order.
Downtime credit
Ask if your cheap server provider will credit you for any downtime. What
SLA they offer for internet connectivity problems and power problems.
System backup
Usually included with managed dedicated servers, but can be ordered as
additional service for almost all unmanaged dedicated servers. A good
option for data safety in case of hackers, failed hardware or other problems.
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