A dedicated server is a good choice for those websites that have really high traffic, in case you are planning to design a tech platform or host a huge online game for private reasons. The purposes for the dedicated server purchase can be various.
Many users prefer a European dedicated server, to get access to an isolated resource with advanced customization. A server with specific location choice depends on the target audience geography. So if you have been planning to invest in the dedicated server for a long time, but don’t know where to start then this article will be really helpful.
Let’s determine the major things that you should pay attention to during the choice of the server.
Analyze your needs
The plans that are offered by the provider are various. Some companies have one dedicated hosting plan while others can have a couple of different options to choose from. As a rule, the variability is in the RAM, CPU, and number of cores.
Before searching for an ideal server, it is highly recommended to analyze your needs. For instance, if your aim is to get and send emails, then you should pay attention to the raw storage. For gaming purposes, RAM intensity is vital.
Bandwidth
More often than not providers offer unlimited, metered, and unmetered bandwidth. This characteristic measures the data transfer speed during a certain time frame. Users who want to get a dedicated server should not consider an unmetered variant, because data as well as speed have some limitations and we don’t need that.
Unmetered means that no limitations are according to the data amount, but speed is limited. This is a good choice for dedicated server users. As for the unlimited bandwidth, hosting providers still have limitations. So, you’d better discuss these limits before actually paying for the plan. In such a way, you will know what to expect in the long run.
The uptime guarantees
All hardware including servers are not perfect, they fail and you should be prepared for such risks. The higher the uptime guarantee from your hosting provider the better for you it will be. When you choose a dedicated server with the highest uptime, you are guaranteed that such failures will be not as frequent and shorter in the period.
Uptime characteristics are really important. If your website is down, then you can have a lower rating in the search engine or it will totally be excluded from the search. When you are using the server for emailing and it is not functioning then you are losing lots of time. So, you’d better orient on providers who offer 99.9 percent of uptime.
Scalability
There are different approaches when characterizing the scalability of the dedicated server. You can use vertical scalability or horizontal depending on your requirements. However, it is really important to figure out whether your provider offers this kind of service and the time during which these changes will be applied.
If talking about vertical scalability, it relates to the increase in storage, adding RAM, or processing power. Higher RAM is usually needed for the functioning of several apps simultaneously. By adding more RAM, users will definitely notice speed changes and improvement in performance.
After contacting the support team of the provider and finding out the scalability options, it is also important to understand the price range for all these additional changes.
Location
The choice of the proper server location is really important when purchasing a dedicated server. As a rule, there are no difficulties with the choice of the needed geography, because most providers offer lots of locations all over the globe. The trouble that can happen is that clients choose a random spot without any proper analysis of the situation.
It is really important to analyze your target audience and how it is changing or growing with time. If most of your users are in Europe then you’d better choose a city that is closer to the majority of your clients. Also, if you see any changes in the traffic increase from a certain geography, you may need to change your location for a better connection with the users. The closer a server is to the user, the faster it will work and the performance of the site or gaming app will be better.
So, don’t neglect this criterion when choosing a dedicated server in Europe or anywhere else around the world.
To conclude, there are lots of factors that will influence the choice of the dedicated server plan. The most important ones are uptime, bandwidth, scalability, location, and system requirements. This list is not strictly determined and you can adjust it according to your personal needs. Some features can be added while other additional criteria can be excluded. Just make a plan and stick to it, you will definitely find a good dedicated server.
