{"id":23561,"date":"2021-09-15T09:47:45","date_gmt":"2021-09-15T09:47:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.heartinternet.uk\/blog\/?p=23561"},"modified":"2021-09-15T09:47:45","modified_gmt":"2021-09-15T09:47:45","slug":"how-to-get-a-cheap-dedicated-server","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.heartinternet.uk\/blog\/how-to-get-a-cheap-dedicated-server\/","title":{"rendered":"How to get a cheap dedicated server"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Dedicated servers are to hosting what designer labels are to fashion \u2013 they\u2019re top end \u2013 and just like \u00a0Prada and Gucci clothing, they can come at a cost.<\/p>\n<p>In this blog, we offer up a few top tips for finding the most <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heartinternet.uk\/dedicated-servers\">affordable dedicated servers<\/a> you can.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>What is a dedicated server? <\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>If you\u2019re reading this blog, you\u2019ll probably already know what a dedicated server is and you can skip to the tips.<\/p>\n<p>However, for readers who aren\u2019t entirely sure here\u2019s a simple explanation.<\/p>\n<p>Dedicated server hosting is a type of hosting that gives customers an entire server all to themselves.<\/p>\n<p>All the resources on that server belong to them and they can configure the server with the operating system, control panel and apps that they need.<\/p>\n<p>Dedicated server hosting can be contrasted to the following types of hosting:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Shared hosting:<\/strong> in this sort of hosting multiple customers share the resources on a server or cluster of servers (shared cloud hosting).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Virtual private server hosting:<\/strong> this type of hosting occupies the middle ground between shared and dedicated.<\/p>\n<p>In this sort of hosting, you get your own resources. However, these resources are made private through virtualisation \u2013 you still share a physical machine\/s with other customers.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Are dedicated servers worth the price?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>If you run a simple single page website or a low-traffic blog, you don\u2019t need a dedicated sever. Shared hosting will probably suit your needs.<\/p>\n<p>However, dedicated servers come into their own when:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You run resource intensive websites or applications<\/li>\n<li>You have high traffic sites<\/li>\n<li>You offer live media streaming<\/li>\n<li>You run a gaming server<\/li>\n<li>You build sites and apps that require you to install bespoke software<\/li>\n<li>You build multiple sites for clients<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>On top of this, dedicated servers have a reputation for being:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The most reliable form of hosting:<\/strong> because you don\u2019t share resources with anyone else<\/li>\n<li><strong>The most flexible form of hosting:<\/strong> because you can configure your server in almost any way you want<\/li>\n<li><strong>The most secure form of hosting:<\/strong> because you\u2019re in full control should the worst come to the worst and a security breach happens<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So how <em>do<\/em> you get your hands on a cheap dedicated server?<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Consider self-managed<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Self-managed dedicated servers tend to be less pricy than managed ones.<\/p>\n<p>With a self-managed server, the hosting company will be responsible for:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Server hardware<\/li>\n<li>Power and network availability<\/li>\n<li>Manual reboot availability<\/li>\n<li>Control panel availability<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The customer meanwhile will be responsible for:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Server software and performance<\/li>\n<li>Configuring hosting and email settings<\/li>\n<li>Securing the server<\/li>\n<li>Network configuration<\/li>\n<li>Installation of third-party modules and plug-ins<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Look for annual billing<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Often, if you pay for your server annually, you\u2019ll get a better price than if you pay for it monthly.<\/p>\n<p>So be sure to look at the cost of an annual plan as well as the monthly cost.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Look at the small print of sales<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>It\u2019s easy to be drawn in by sales that promise a dedicated server for prices like \u00a31 a month.<\/p>\n<p>However, if you see an offer like this, be sure to look at the small print.<\/p>\n<p>Ask yourself:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>How long does that price apply for?<\/li>\n<li>How much does the price rise to after the initial offer?<\/li>\n<li>How long are you tied in to a contract for after the initial price expires?<\/li>\n<li>What is the renewal cost for the contract in question? Is the company known for imposing price rises on existing customers?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Consider the quality of the tech<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>It\u2019s one thing to find a cheap deal on a dedicated server, it\u2019s quite another to get a quality server for an affordable price.<\/p>\n<p>Here are a few signs of quality in a server:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>NVMe SSDs not SATA SSDs:<\/strong> the former have been shown to perform up to four times faster than the latter<\/li>\n<li><strong>Uptime SLAs:<\/strong> for example, at Heart Internet we offer 99.9% uptime as part of our Service Level Agreement<\/li>\n<li><strong>Intel Xeon-D CPUs:<\/strong> Designed for demanding computing, these processors are fast and powerful<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Look at the add-ons<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Hosting companies tend to charge extra if you choose a Windows server over a Linux server and for extras like control panels.<\/p>\n<p>So be sure to factor the cost of these add-ons into your calculations when comparing the costs of dedicated servers.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Don\u2019t underestimate the value of support<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Quality support is worth its weight in gold. So, before you commit to a dedicated server plan, be sure to check out the TrustPilot reviews for the company in question.<\/p>\n<p>Look for words like:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fast<\/li>\n<li>Efficient<\/li>\n<li>Helpful<\/li>\n<li>Friendly<\/li>\n<li>Super stars<\/li>\n<li>Excellent<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You\u2019ll find all of the above in the <a href=\"https:\/\/uk.trustpilot.com\/review\/heartinternet.uk\">TrustPilot reviews for Heart Internet<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Plus, look for options like live chat and scrutinise the opening hours of phone support to be sure you\u2019ll get the best support should you need it.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Dedicated servers from Heart Internet<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>You can discover more about Heart Internet\u2019s range of self-managed Dedicated Servers on our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heartinternet.uk\/dedicated-servers\">product pages<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Plans come with up to 256GB RAM and up to 16 CPUs \u2013 that\u2019s 32 threads.<\/p>\n<p>Plus, they feature unlimited traffic with 1Gbps of bandwidth, a choice of NVMe SSDs or HDDs and performance monitoring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this blog, we offer up a few top tips for finding the most affordable dedicated server you can.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":23564,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,17,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dedicated-servers","category-power-up","category-web-hosting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heartinternet.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heartinternet.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heartinternet.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heartinternet.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heartinternet.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.heartinternet.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heartinternet.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heartinternet.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heartinternet.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heartinternet.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}