A successful online business is a bustling marketplace. But what if that market has long checkout lines, slow service, and questionable security? As your website thrives and attracts more customers, you’ll need to be sure it can handle the growing demands. This is where Dedicated Hosting comes in – offering the power and control to scale your website and provide a premium experience for your visitors. Here’s 8 reasons why Dedicated Hosting might be the perfect upgrade for your business. 

What is Website Hosting?

Web Hosting is all about the infrastructure that goes into getting your site online. It’s the digital space that houses your website, allowing visitors to access your content whenever they enter your domain name in their web browser.  

The vast majority of websites are hosted on servers located elsewhere. After you’ve closed your laptop, your website remains open on servers. Visitors can browse and interact with it anywhere, anytime. The data, files and code are continuously connected. 

So, unless your business has its own servers (or you’ve got one set up in your wardrobe) you’ll be looking towards some sort of hosting option. The beauty of it is that you can focus on your core activities — leaving the technical aspects in the hands of hosting providers.

What’s the difference between Shared Hosting and Dedicated Hosting? 

Shared Hosting is the most common type of hosting. It’s called ‘shared’ because multiple website owners are given a slice of the same server resources.  

Shared Hosting is ideal for beginners and most small-to-medium-sized websites with moderate traffic. As a way to offer products or services and reach a wider audience, it’s a cost-effective option for websites that require a decent amount of bandwidth and processing power.  

See also: What is Shared Hosting? A Beginner’s Guide 

Shared Hosting can however come with its own set of limitations. First and foremost, because those resources are divvied-up between multiple websites on a server, there’s the possibility that performance will take a hit if they all see a spike in traffic. Larger enterprises, with ever-expanding digital needs, may need more control and flexibility.  

Dedicated Hosting answers this question by providing the best possible performance and complete resource ownership. 

With Dedicated Hosting, a single website gets an entire server for itself. You’re essentially renting an entire physical server for your own exclusive use. That means exclusive access to all your own resources, including: 

✅ CPU usage – Handling all the calculations and tasks needed to run your website.
✅ RAM – Storing the temporary website files and data for a website to run smoothly.
✅ Disk Space – Holding all your website’s files, images, databases, and so on.
✅ Bandwidth – All the data that can be transferred between your website and visitors’ devices in a given time.

Taking disk space as just an example, in the case of Shared Hosting, the storage is divided among all the websites on the server. That means a specific amount is allocated to your website. With Dedicated Hosting, you get the entire server’s disk space to yourself. This provides much more flexibility and scalability; you can store as much website data as you need without worrying about limitations.

In a nutshell, Dedicated Hosting gives you the power to deliver larger amounts of traffic and sales, run more complex apps, and so on. So while Shared Hosting can be a great starting point, you might decide it’s time to upgrade as your business grows. 

8 Benefits of Dedicated Hosting

1. Unbeatable Performance  

Shared hosting resources are divided among multiple websites. With Dedicated Hosting, your website has its own server, granting exclusive access to processing power, memory, and storage.  

A dedicated server guarantees a predictable level of performance. You have exclusive access to CPU, RAM, and storage, eliminating the concern of neighbouring websites draining resources and impacting your website’s speed and functionality. This translates to: 

Faster Loading Times. Unleashed, unthrottled. No more waiting for shared resources to free up. Dedicated servers deliver lightning-fast loading speeds, crucial for keeping visitors engaged and improving your website’s user experience. 

Smoother Operation. Dedicated resources bring performance for your website to run smoothly even during peak traffic hours. This eliminates lags, glitches, and frustrating delays that can drive customers away. 

123 Reg Premium Hosting comes with unlimited bandwidth. That means lightning-fast loading speeds for your site no matter how heavy the traffic, boosting your conversions and search engine rankings. 

2. Customisation

Shared hosting plans often limit software installation and server configuration options. Dedicated hosting empowers you to tailor your server environment to your website’s specific needs.

Whether you require specialised software for e-commerce transactions, custom applications, or a unique content management system (CMS), a dedicated server offers the flexibility to make it happen. You can choose Managed or Unmanaged hosting. That means you can get your server provider to handle the maintenance or handle it yourself.

3. Reliability

Shared Hosting can be susceptible to downtime if other websites on the server experience traffic spikes or technical issues. Dedicated Hosting eliminates this risk. With your own server, you experience minimal disruptions and guarantee consistent uptime — keeping your website accessible to your customers — while minimising potential revenue loss.

4. Scalability

As your business grows, so will your website traffic and resource demands. Dedicated Hosting provides the flexibility to scale alongside your needs. You can upgrade your server’s processing power, memory, and storage — all off-site — to accommodate surges in traffic or to introduce new features that require added resources. Your website remains reliable and performs the best it can at every stage of your business growth.

5. Complete Server Control  

Dedicated Hosting grants you root or administrative access to your server. That is, you have complete control over server configuration, software installation, and more. You have the power to install custom software, manage server settings, and configure your environment exactly as needed. You have the freedom to make adjustments and optimisations to be sure your website performs at its peak potential. 123 Reg Premium Hosting uses the cPanel interface as our Shared Hosting platform, making it easy to access and manage your hosting settings at any time. 

6. Tightest Security  

Dedicated hosting grants complete control over your server’s security configuration. You can install firewalls, security software, and customise security settings to create a robust defence against cyber threats, protecting your valuable business data and customer information. 

All 123 Reg plans come with a free SSL Certificate that will cover all the domains within your hosting package for as long as you own it. 

See also: 7 Reasons Why SSL Certificates are essential for websites 

7. A Dedicated IP Address 

Unlike Shared Hosting where multiple websites share one IP address, dedicated servers come with their own unique IP address. This dedicated IP gives you more control and security, allowing you to host multiple websites on the server, configure specific security features, and avoid potential reputation issues associated with other sites sharing your IP. 

8. Top Customer Support

At 123 Reg, our friendly and tech-savvy support team are available by phone and live chat to assist you with any issue, no matter how small. You can expect fast response times and personalised assistance to address any technical challenges you encounter. (Having said that, this is true with Shared Hosting, too!)

How Do I Know If Shared or Dedicated Hosting is right for my business? 

There are a few common myths that can hold website owners back from choosing Dedicated Hosting. The main one is the idea that it’s only for big business. While dedicated servers can be expensive, there are many affordable plans available. These cater to a variety of budgets and provide the resources many small businesses need to thrive online.

It’s important to think about your specific needs before taking the plunge. An online shop with a large customer base and lots of transactions might benefit from a dedicated server. Then again, raw speed isn’t the only factor. Website optimisation plays a big role. Afterall — a well-optimised website on a Shared Hosting plan can outperform a poorly configured server. For businesses just starting out, a Shared Hosting plan might be perfectly sufficient.

Think about the following:

Budget: Shared Hosting is cheaper than dedicated servers. If cost is a major concern, you can always upgrade to a dedicated server later if your website experiences significant growth. Shared hosting plans are generally much more affordable. This allows you to balance your budget with your website’s performance needs, freeing up resources for other areas of your business.

Website Needs: If performance and customisation are priorities, the increased cost of a dedicated server might be worth it. Think about your website requirements. Is your website experiencing high traffic volumes or demanding a significant amount of processing power? Does it need a lot of storage space, processing power, or special software?

High traffic websites can overwhelm shared resources. Dedicated servers offer dedicated bandwidth, ensuring your website stays fast and responsive even during peak traffic periods.

Technical Expertise: Dedicated servers offer more control, but also require more technical knowledge for maintenance. If your team doesn’t have the expertise, you might consider the additional cost of managed server services or the ease of a Shared Hosting setup.

For a deeper dive into the factors that influence your choice, see our guide:
How to Decide Which Type of Hosting You Need For Your Website in 2024

Wrap Up

Dedicated Hosting gives you the power of a private server — top-end performance, ironclad security, total control to customise everything, and scaling as your business booms. Dedicated RAM and CPUs translates to high-performance websites with blazing-fast loading speeds. While the upfront cost may be higher, the long-term value make Dedicated Hosting the ideal solution for many growing and ambitious businesses.

Learn more about Premium Hosting from 123 Reg