With large and complex website that receives a lot of traffic you may find that shared hosting is not for you. It could be limiting your growth and the capacity to serve your customers. If you find yourself in this situation, it may be time to move on to dedicated hosting which offers many advantages over shared hosting.

Dedicated web hosting is much more expensive than shared hosting because the cost of operating the server is not divided between various accounts. Paying the higher price, however, lets you use all server resources as you please.

There are many different dedicated hosting packages available. Their prices depend on the physical setup of the server computer - faster processors, mome memory and bigger hard drives cost more.

Managed hosting

Another factor influencing the price is whether or not the server is managed. Keeping a server running in top condition can be a time consuming task requiring certain technical skills.

A managed hosting service offers the support and expertise to maintain your server and to perform routine maintenance without your involvement. This can be a viable alternative to hiring your own staff to maintain your servers.

The drawback of managed hosting is that it can be a lot more expensive than unmanaged hosting. Whether the price is justified depends on the complexity of your website and whether you already have people who can look after the server operations. Unmanaged hosting

Unmanaged hosting, despite its name, does not really leave you entirely to your own devices. Most hosting companies offer a certain level of support for all their dedicated hosting packages. This support includes hardware maintenance with extra technical support available if you need help with configuration or software installation.

You likely will have to pay for this extra support, but it may be cheaper than going with a full managed package.

Check to see how much control you can have over the server hardware with unmanaged hosting. You should be able to reboot your server when you need it or to expect someone to do it for you with a minimum of delay.

The value of a dedicated hosting package depends on the reliability and integrity of the hosting company. If your website needs dedicated hosting, you need to use a hosting provider that you can rely on to keep your site online.

The choice between managed or unmanaged hosting depends on the technical requirements of your website and your ability to manage a server and keep it running at peak efficiency. If you prefer to have highly trained professionals looking after the server, go with managed hosting. If you can handle most of the maintenance yourself, choose an unmanaged server.