Having a website can benefit your small business in several different ways. Many businesses are completely virtual, conducting all of their business over the internet. If you have intentions of setting up a website for your business, you will have to choose between shared hosting and dedicated hosting. Dedicated servers have many advantages over shared servers, and can significantly enhance the functioning and profitability of your business. The main advantage of a dedicated server is security. A shared server is simply that, shared. Several users upload as well as run their websites on a single server, which can lead to compromise of your site.
Even though shared hosts are regarded as secure, you can maximize the security of your information as well as that of your clients by having a dedicated server. This is especially important if you plan to use your site for e-commerce, which involves clients keying in sensitive and personal information. A dedicated web server means that you alone will have access to your personal information, and that your customer’s information will be kept securely in your server. Another benefit of dedicated servers is speed. Accounts on a shared server must share resources with other users. If some websites have a great deal of traffic, or are extremely large, it can significantly slow down the functioning of the server. In very bad instances, the web server can actually break down. A break down will cause all the websites that are sharing the server to experience reduced activity or downtime.
Even a couple of minutes of downtime or network outage can lead to losing clients, reputability and sales. This is certainly not an alternative for small businesses desiring to increase their loyalty and reputation. Having a dedicated web server means that only your website or websites will be supported by that server. This way, you will have access to a large amount of operating space and memory; also you will have the peace of mind that your website can support whatever activity and traffic it receives. Selecting a dedicated web server over a shared hosting plan might cost more at the outset; however it could mean big differences in profits and success.