Types of Dedicated Servers and Their Use Cases

In a corporate IT infrastructure, two things are important: reliability and narrow focus. This is the reason why it is common in the business environment to distribute tasks across different computing machines. Some server capacities are allocated for storing files, archives and backups, others for monitoring mail, others for organizing terminal access, and so on. If one node fails, the remaining components of the infrastructure continue to work.

In this case, the server acts as a hardware and software complex of hardware and specialized software that is responsible for a strictly defined function. In this article, we will consider what types of dedicated servers exist and what is the unique purpose of each.

Types of Dedicated Servers

HOSTKEY offers the following types of enterprise server hosting to solve different types of tasks.

Managed Dedicated Servers

Renting managed dedicated servers means full server management by the hosting provider. Specialists provide maintenance and technical support, promptly update software, monitor problems and perform backups.

Advantages:

• Comfort and simplicity. Managed servers are a good solution for those users who do not have sufficient training or the necessary amount of time to manage the server. Specialists are engaged in solving all technical problems
• 24/7 support. The server will always function properly.
• Optimal performance. A managed dedicated server is configured in such a way that its performance is at the optimal level for the client's business.
• Enhanced security. It implies constant updates, vulnerability checks and correction of problematic situations.
• Backup. Together with emergency recovery, it ensures maximum integrity of the data used.

Managed dedicated servers are the ideal solution for web developers or business owners who lack the technical knowledge or time to understand the technical nuances.

Unmanaged Dedicated Servers

Unmanaged Dedicated Servers give the user complete control over the server. The hosting provider provides the physical server and network connection, but all other management tasks are left to the user.

The benefits of Unmanaged Dedicated Servers include:

• Full control. The user can configure settings, install the necessary software and change security parameters.
• Low cost. Unmanaged servers are usually cheaper than managed ones. This allows you to save money.
• Flexibility. Users can configure the server themselves according to business needs.

Unmanaged Dedicated Servers are best for those who want more fine-grained control over all processes on the server. Yes, this will require more effort before starting work, but the server will ultimately be better adapted to your individual needs.

Dedicated Server with SSD

SSD Dedicated Server Hosting is a dedicated server equipped with an SSD drive.

SSD dedicated servers offer several significant advantages over older HDD technology. SSDs are known for the following benefits:

• First-class performance. SSDs are faster than HDDs due to their ability to use flash archives. This allows for faster file transfer speeds and minimal access times.
• Reliability. SSDs for dedicated hosting have fewer moving parts, so the risk of physical wear is very low. Such servers work more reliably.
• Minimal level of mechanical errors. This greatly simplifies the work of IT specialists.
• Energy efficiency. SSD drives for dedicated hosting consume less energy than traditional HDDs. This allows you to save money.
• Low noise level. Dedicated servers with SSD drives have no moving parts, so they operate silently.

Dual Processor (Dual Xeon) Dedicated Servers

A dual-processor server is a type of dedicated server with two processors installed. It has significant computing power, so it is suitable for virtualization, working with large amounts of data, and corporate software.

Dual-processor servers provide high performance due to the ability to process data in parallel. They are widely used in corporate IT infrastructure, data centers and scientific computing.

The advantages of dual-processor servers are as follows:

• Power. Two processors provide high performance for processing complex tasks.
• Scalability. The ability to increase RAM and disk space.
• Reliability. Modern technologies of fault tolerance and data backup.
• Flexibility. Suitable for working with virtual machines, cloud solutions and databases.
• Energy efficiency. Optimized energy consumption to save resources.

Dual-processor servers are best for cases where a large number of processor cores are required. A dual-processor server is most often used in one of three functions — the tasks of these three types fully reveal the full performance potential of multi-core servers:

Dual-processor terminal server. A terminal server is a server for a client-server architecture: the user gets access to an application on the server, works with this application and receives only the result, that is, the screen display. All calculations occur on the server — that is why a terminal server helps to significantly save on the performance of work computers for staff.

A dual-processor server with a large number of virtual machines. Several virtual machines can be placed on one server. On the one hand, this allows you to save on the number of servers, but on the other hand, it significantly increases the load on the server. Due to the large number of cores, dual-processor servers are well suited for this type of use.

A dual-processor server for working with databases. Such a server will bring maximum benefit where there are many active users — if your company of 10-20 users needs a server for 1C, it is more rational to purchase a server with one processor, but with a high clock rate.

Gaming Dedicated Servers

A dedicated gaming server is a physical machine that is required to host a specific game. When using a dedicated server for this purpose, the players' gaming experience becomes much more stable and reliable, and the game runs faster.

A dedicated server is a great option for a gaming experience for a number of reasons, the main ones being increased memory and storage. So online players will always have enough resources to play a full game.

It is a special machine that provides access to more memory and storage resources, so players can:

• Control access to the game. It is much easier to control who can join the game by organizing closed events or banning certain players for breaking the rules.
• Exclusive server features, including the necessary tools, OS, choice of desired game settings and much more.
• Customizable rules depending on the number of online players, winning parameters or rules depending on the hardware.

There are many other benefits that you get from using dedicated gaming servers:

• Excellent performance. With the availability of resources and the best hardware characteristics, gamers can forget about connection problems, lags, and other problems in games. Multiple gamers can play simultaneously, and the server will work stably. The risk of server overheating is minimal, since most data centers are equipped with high-quality cooling systems.
• Reliable infrastructure. When choosing a dedicated server, you do not have to worry about many things that will be controlled by the hosting provider. The main ones are related to server monitoring, regular backups, server maintenance, cooling, and much more.
• Increased security. Most hosting providers offer the best security features that users receive right away. For example, these are regular backups, firewalls, and protection from DDoS attacks.

High-Traffic Website Dedicated Servers

Projects that consume a large amount of traffic are recommended to be placed on a dedicated server. This will ensure optimal performance and storage capacity for its generation, while VPS and shared hosting will definitely have problems with this.

At the same time, a dedicated server is a more expensive solution, and to fully utilize all the above-mentioned advantages, you need a qualified system administrator who can properly configure everything and prepare it for work.

Advantages of a Dedicated Server for websites:

• full access to software and physical hardware management;
• absolute independence of resources;
• increased security;
• higher stability and fault tolerance compared to VPS;
• expanded capabilities for the webmaster.

Thus, a dedicated server is an ideal web hosting for a large website rich in dynamic content. If your project has high traffic (more than 400,000 views per month), then this option is optimal. A dedicated server is also good for those projects that require increased security — these are any websites providing banking, legal or government services.

Cloud-Dedicated Hybrid Servers

Cloud-Dedicated Hybrid Servers is an IT infrastructure in which some resources are used as a private cloud, and the other part as a public cloud:

• A public cloud is a virtual environment in which you can rent computing power. When using a public cloud service, companies share equipment with virtual neighbors and receive a certain amount of dedicated resources.
• A private cloud is an infrastructure that is used by only one customer. It can be built either on the customer's own hardware on the premises of the customer company, or in the provider's data center on rented servers.

With Cloud-Dedicated Hybrid Servers, companies receive a single management platform, expanding the capabilities of their corporate network. To do this, companies do not necessarily have to store all the data in the cloud — they can use their own hardware located in the office or in the provider's data center.

The advantages of Cloud-Dedicated Hybrid Servers include:

• Flexibility. Store sensitive data in a private cloud or on your own servers, and work with applications that do not require special security measures in a public environment.
• Scalability. It is difficult to quickly increase capacity in a local data center — you need to configure the equipment and applications. A hybrid cloud is easier to scale — additional resources can be added or disabled at any time. This allows enterprises to cope with peak loads more efficiently.
• Increased efficiency. This point follows from the previous one — when working with a hybrid cloud, additional resources can be deployed in a few minutes instead of several weeks that would be spent on ordering, delivering and configuring hardware. This simplifies the work of the company's IT department and increases efficiency.
• Cost-effectiveness. A hybrid cloud reduces the company's capital expenditures on new servers and their upgrades. In addition, when using a public cloud, the company only pays for the resources actually consumed.
• High fault tolerance. Hybrid solutions reduce downtime during failures and maintenance — if some capacity fails, work processes can be transferred to the cloud. In addition, data storage can be provided in the public cloud, which simplifies system recovery.

Dedicated Servers From The Price Range Perspective

HOSTKEY offers different types of dedicated servers depending on the cost. These include the following types of offers:

• Inexpensive. From 80 to 200 euros. They can have 36-48 cores, up to 384 GB of RAM and
• 4x1.92 TB SSD.
• Standard. From 200 to 350 euros. They can have up to 64 cores, 512 GB of RAM, 2x3.84TB SSD.
• Enterprise server hosting. From 400 to 500 euros. They have 128 cores, 512 GB of RAM, 2x3.84TB NVMe SSD.
• High-Performance. From 700 euros. They have 128 cores, 1024 GB of RAM, 2x3.84TB NVMe SSD.

Conclusion

Using a rented dedicated physical server, you can not worry about scaling the project. You can increase or decrease the server resources, adjusting its capacity to changes. The server will handle a sharp increase in traffic and most of the programs that you want to install. At the same time, you do not have neighbors on the server, which means that all the machine's resources are provided only to you.

We told you about different types of dedicated servers. Browse the HOSTKEY catalog and choose the right option.