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What is a Dedicated Server?

Wednesday, July 27th, 2011

What is a dedicated server? That’s a relatively easy question to answer but a short answer will only scratch the surface. A dedicated server is a physical server that is installed in a data center, connected to an IP network and used to host applications that are accessed via the web or to process database requests, email, DNS or any other number of tasks.

The thing that differentiates a dedicated server is typically that the full resources of the server are only used by one client, hence the word “dedicated”. This is also referred to as dedicated hosting. An example of how this would not apply would be for shared hosting because while you can have literally hundreds of shared hosting clients on a single dedicated server, those resources are not dedicated to any one particular client and are spread among many clients. The example of running hundreds of shared hosting websites on a single dedicated server goes back to the earlier comment about the short answer only scratching the surface.

Good examples of clients who would require dedicated servers would be clients whose websites have outgrown their shared hosting environment. That is typically a function of CPU and RAM requirements. If you are trying to run large database application on a shared hosting server while 200 other websites are competing for processing power, you will probably see a substantial degradation of service. It will likely still function, but it will also more than likely be very slow and at times even unresponsive. Not to mention that your provider will encourage you to migrate to a dedicated server or to managed hosting if you lack the technical expertise to manage the dedicated server.

What is a dedicated server vs. what is not. Dedicated servers typically imply that you have the technical expertise on staff to manage all of the technical aspects of that server, including security, routine maintenance, updates and many other things. If you do lack those resources, managed hosting would likely be a far better choice for you. While the cost for managed hosting is always more than dedicated, the peace of mind you will receive by knowing that your server is managed by a team of experts is always well worth the additional cost.

So there you have it. The next time someone asks you “What is a Dedicated Server?”, you can now give an answer that makes sense.

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Send Us Your Postcards!

Saturday, July 2nd, 2011

Dearest Reader,

We at 1-800-HOSTING would love to know more about you, your fabulous life & your digs. As such, we respectfully request from you: local, home made – from scratch, store bought, letterpress, inkjet printed, and other letters and postcards! Tell us anything about yourself, places you’ve been, your family, business, or school, your mother, brother, lover, your kick-ass band, favorite drinks, songs you sing in the shower, all-time favorite movies, your skateboarding bulldog, books that make you laugh, cry… anything you want to share with us!

Please send your letters & cards to us at:

1-800-HOSTING, Inc.
3535 Travis St, Suite 160
Dallas, TX 75204

OK – so maybe don’t send us photos of you at 5 months old and playing with your food – but anything else is welcome! :D

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Migrating to Cloud Computing

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

Imagine that you could click a few buttons and migrate your environment from a dedicated server to a cloud computing platform. You won’t have to imagine for very long because that’s something that we’re working on right now.

It seems that one of the biggest obstacles for entry into cloud computing is the migration from your old server. We are working hard to find the best way to migrate dedicated servers or managed servers with very little input (or risk) from the end user. That would include migration of your operating system, all installed applications and of course, your precious data.

Testing has gone very well and we are confident we can roll this out in the very near future. At a minimum this provides a mechanism to get you quickly and easily into cloud computing and enjoying all of the benefits while sidestepping the hassles of a typical server migration.

Another area that is of great interest for us is helping clients migrate from server co-location to cloud computing. It’s essentially the same thing as migrating a dedicated server but the benefits and cost savings would be off the charts. We are still in the testing phase but making excellent progress and we expect to push something out to the public very soon. We have already successfully migrated from various platforms and the response from our techs is always the same, jaw-dropping ease and mind numbing efficiency.

Stand by for more news on this exciting development as we continue working hard to bring you the best cloud computing platform available.

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Data Center Experiences

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

I’ve been in this industry for quite a while and have used many network providers, colocation providers, and hosting companies. We at 1-800-HOSTING even maintain presences at other providers for monitoring, custom projects, remote backups, etc… and sometimes the service at times has been less than stellar. Here are a few of the experiences I’ve had throughout the years and how we use this as motivation to make sure our customers don’t experience the pitfalls I’ve suffered through.

 

  • Answer the support telephone: When offering phone support it is important to make sure that someone is available to answer it. Nothing can be more frustrating than not being able to get someone on the phone quickly during an emergency.
  • Respond to emails promptly, even if it’s just a “Hey we’re looking into this and we’ll get back with you soon.” This lets me know that someone has looked at the issue and is aware. Setting a time of when I should expect a response is even better so I can plan out my already busy day.
  • Send maintenance notifications out with as much notice as possible. If it’s an emergency even an hour’s notice is much better than none at all.
  • When an outage occurs give as much information possible as to what caused it and what is being done to correct the issue. When I get brief and non-technical responses at times it makes me feel unsure if you know exactly what is happening.
  • If an outage is due to a human error just say so! I’d much rather hear that someone has made a mistake (it happens to everyone) than get a vague response about what caused the issue.

 

 

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Ben the Robot or: Destruct-O-Tron 9400

Friday, June 24th, 2011

Every day we are greeted at the data center by Ben the robot. He welcomed me on my first day, and while everybody seems to want him gone nobody ever really got around to disposing of him. Honestly I don’t mind having him around, but the poor guy doesn’t really have a place in our office any more, so now I say it’s time to do something with him.

So far my favorite idea is a tug-of-war between Sales and Support at the next company picnic, but we want to know – what do you think should become of Ben? Should we melt him down with water? Release him in to the atmosphere with balloons? Let us know in the comments and we’ll keep you in the loop (with video!)

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