When we want to host our website or web-app — meaning that we want to publish our web page so it could be accessed using the internet — we require a server. A server is a system that provides us with space and resources, so our web page or application could be linked with the internet, and people across the world could interact with what we have created.
On the internet, there are various web hosting servers, which can provide you with space and resources so that you can host any website. There are two types of web hosting servers: traditional and cloud. Traditional servers are not that much in use because the cloud has replaced them, but yet some of the big firms use a dedicated server, which is a part of traditional servers.
Since the day the internet has been introduced to the people, it has shown a significant development, and every year new technologies associated with it. It has also seen that if a business associate with the web, it extends the reach of business and gives profitable results so if you want to move your business online in 2020 and the terms like cloud and dedicated servers confuse you, so here we have provided a brief explanation and comparison of these two terms.
Before implementing or adopting cloud technology, you will want to have an understanding of what it is exactly and what options you have when thinking about your deployment. Check out Cloud Academy’s course, What is Cloud Computing? This course covers a wide range of cloud computing topics areas providing you with a solid foundation of understanding.
Dedicated server
A dedicated server is a part of a traditional server. The conventional server was often used when the concept of a cloud server was not there. In a conventional server, the customer can buy a shared or dedicated space on the server to host his or her website.
In a shared server, more than one customer shears the same server, suppose there is a server of 5TB, so according to the customer’s request, the service provider gives some space to the customer out of this 5TB.
In a dedicated server, the customer can buy the complete server for himself, where he or she does not need to share the server space and resources with other customers. Many big firms and enterprises use dedicated servers because they can give a high level of security. This option is not suitable for small firms because it requires experts’ knowledge and senior resources to manage and maintain a dedicated server.
Cloud server
The cloud server interchangeably uses as cloud computing; in this rather than hosting the webpage on physical hardware, a virtual environment is created, and multiple servers used to provide space and resources to your webpage.
In simple words, a cloud server uses multiple virtual servers and offers you high scalability and resources. Unlike a dedicated server, the cloud does not save your webpage at the specific location. It uses various systems to manage your website.
All the work in the cloud is done virtually, so here you only pay for that much resources and space; your website is using, which means no extra charges. The cloud server is ideal for both small as well as big business. There are various cloud hosting providers, such as AWS (Amazon Web Services), Google Cloud, Digital Ocean, etc. You can get the difference between Amazon web services and Google from this blog post.
Head-to-head comparison
Dedicated vs. Cloud Server
| Dedicated | Cloud |
| Cost Factor | |
| In the dedicated server, we have to pay for a specific range. Here we require expert knowledge and high-level resources to manage our server, which is very expensive, and the small firms can not afford to have a dedicated server. If you use a dedicated server for that you require a team especially to handle and manage the server. | This is the most cost-efficient service; here, you only pay for space and resources which you are using. All the expert knowledge of server working is handled by the provider itself. You do not require any special to manage the server. |
| Management: | |
| In the dedicated server, the owner has full control over the server and it can manage the server according to its need. Though for the maintenance and management of the dedicated server we need the complete knowledge of the server itself, here we have the full control of the server. | The cloud server is managed; the server provides the customer does not have any control over the Server. Managing a cloud server is way harder than managing a Dedicated server, unlike the single dedicated server, in the cloud server, we deal with hundreds of virtual servers. |
| Reliable: | |
| In a dedicated server, we deal with a single server, so if there is some failure in the system, it can collapse the complete server and data too, which can bring down the server. | In the cloud, multiple servers hold your webpage instances, so even if a server collapses or gets down, the instance of your web page is handled by another server. These multiple servers make cloud computing more reliable. |
| Security: | |
| The main reason for using the dedicated server is security, to attack a dedicated server could be a tough call for a hacker because it’s very hard to breach the security of this server. | Cloud server also provides security, but a head to head comparison with the dedicated server, its loss. It does not mean that anyone can attack the cloud server, cloud servers are highly secure too but not that much as dedicated. |
| Customization: | |
| As in a dedicated server, the customer has full control over his server, so here he or she can customize the server according to the need. | Cloud does not provide that much control to its customer, so a cloud user can not customize the server. |
| Integration of Tools | |
| In a dedicated server, if you want to integrate server with some utility-based tools, you can have to pay more as compared to the cloud server. | Cloud provided you with multiple utilities within less cost. |
| Scalability | |
| We cannot change the configuration in a dedicated server because we have dedicated hardware in use. | Cloud servers are highly scalable, according to your need, you can change anything such as resources and space. |
Conclusion
Both cloud and dedicated servers have their features. If your business is small or medium, you should choose a cloud server to host your website or web-app. Cloud provides you with high scalability, flexibility, and security. Unlike a dedicated server in the cloud, you do not have to pay extra. Even the big firms are moving their online business to cloud computing, because of its extraordinary features.
