We aren’t going to lie. Of all the articles we write covering a broad range of colocation and hosting topics, the most asked question we get is always about price. How much does colocation cost? How much does the Cloud cost? How much does virtual private server (VPS) hosting cost? How much does dedicated server hosting cost? Is there such a thing as cheap dedicated server hosting? Well, we are here to tell you, before you invest your hard earned money in cheap dedicated server hosting, be warned – you get what you pay for.
1) Like Tattoo’s, Dedicated Servers Are Not Cheap
First things first, there is no such thing as good cheap dedicated server hosting. Sure, you can find free dedicated server solutions and very cheap dedicated server hosting companies, but like a cheap tattoo, you get what you pay for. If you want a full sleeve tattoo, you’re going to pay for the time and quality of the artist. The same goes for dedicated server hosting. Cheap dedicated server hosting while cheap deprives the consumer of rock solid hosting, managed support, high tiered datacenters, scalable solutions etc. Remember, you get what you pay for.
You want a terrible tattoo? Pay next to nothing for it. You want unreliable dedicated server solutions? Pay next to nothing for it.
2) What You Get With Cheap Virtual Dedicated Server Solutions
So, you’ve decided to throw best advice to the wind and invest in cheap, err, buy cheap Windows dedicated server hosting or Linux dedicated server solutions. Here is what you’ll typically get.
- Unmanaged Dedicated Server Hosting – Hey, you invested in, err, bought cheap dedicated server solutions. What did you expect? Top of the line IT/Tech management to fix all your dedicated server issues? Cheap equals unmanaged. You better know what you’re doing.
- Managed Dedicated Server Hosting – Now, some cheap dedicated server hosting solutions will offer IT support. However, as you might imagine, because you’re not paying top rate for it, the support you receive might be limited in both time of access and knowledge. Beware of the dedicated server hosting firm who supplies anything but 24/7/365 support.
- Everything As an Additional Cost – So you want Plesk or cPanel to help with the administration of your cheap, err, affordable dedicated server? That will be an additional monthly cost.
The simplest way to say it is a cheap dedicated server hosting account will, over the long term, end up being more expensive than you originally bargained for.
3) The Benefits of Cheap Dedicated Server Hosting
Now, although we have been taking this space to speak ill of most cheap dedicated server solutions, utilizing cheap dedicated hosting does have its benefits. The main one being a dedicated server, regardless of how cheap it is, is still better than a shared hosting environment. Why? Simple. When you utilize dedicated hosting solutions you are buying your own dedicated server resources. The RAM, Disk Space, Bandwidth and CPU cores associated with your server are yours and yours alone. Unlike shared hosting solutions where you share a piece of the hosting pie with other accounts on your server, a dedicated server offers true dedicated resources to meet your needs.
The other major benefit of cheap dedicated server hosting over shared or VPS hosting is security. By it’s standalone nature, dedicated servers are more stable and secure than they’re shared hosting brothers and sisters.
So the two main benefits to cheap dedicated servers – dedicated resources and security.
Affordable Dedicated Servers: A Warning
While cheap dedicated server hosting is available, we at QuoteColo.com believe you should avoid it for the simple reason of you get what you pay for. If you’re a million dollar company who depends on your hosting solutions to keep your website and online business running, the last thing you want to do is skimp in the area which you most depend on. All in all, if you are going to purchase dedicated server hosting, invest in a highly reliable, highly supportive, highly secure, highly scalable solution. Don’t buy a cheap solution which in the end, might come back to bite you in the you know what!