Dedicated Servers: Good Enough?
The advent of the $99 Linux server has made the hosting market see an upsurge of new web hosts, and become a recipe for failure for the new host.
The combination of an unmanaged untried low-end server and a new web host was almost unthinkable a few years ago. To give you an example less then two years ago a company named Alabanza™ was the hot spot for a new host to get started. They offered a Pentium™ III 550MHz, 18GB SCSI hard drive and 512MB RAM for $895/month with a setup fee from $500 to over $1000.
At the time, this was one of the best ways to get started because of the support and software they provided. It truly was a turnkey operation, with host control panel, user control panel, automatic signups, complete online billing and a full support staff behind you. Most of these new companies offer little in the way of support other then the forums and the control panel manual.
This article tries to explain what you are getting from these companies and what you need to be successful. Many people complaining on the forums about these companies almost daily since they really did not understand what they were buying and not because the company isn’t providing what was sold.
Hardware
First, let’s look at these low priced servers ($69 - $149), most all come with a 1 gigahertz or better Intel™ or AMD™ processors. There is a wide selection available AMD Duron™ 1GHz; Intel P-3, 1GHz; Intel Celeron™ 1.3GHz and even a P-4 1.6GHz. The servers range from a white box to IBM™ X-SERIES™ 300 Servers. The installed memory for these systems is usually 512MB; and on many of these systems, that is the maximum the system will handle. This is something you need to ask about; because if you get one of these servers, you will want to be able to upgrade to at least 1GB.
The hard drives varied as greatly as the processors, starting with a single 30GB to 60GB drive to duel 60 GB IDE Hard Drives and even one with a 9GB SCSI Hard Drive. Monthly bandwidth can vary greatly. While many places are offering these low priced systems, only a few can offer the high bandwidth. The low was 30GB and the high was 650GB/monthly. The control panel software offered is generally one of these three, Ensim™, Plesk™ or cPanel4™/ WHM™.
Support
The biggest issue about the support from these companies is the misunderstanding of what is included in the package. At most of the companies, you are on your own once the server is up and running and working properly. So, be sure you know what is included with your package before you buy.
Unless there is a hardware failure or a network outage, any other problems are yours to deal with as you see fit. You are the system administrator! This is not to say you will not get any help. It’s just they are not in anyway obligated to do so legally or morally.
There were some that offered basic system administration and server monitoring in these packages, including maintaining all hardware, and monitoring your server 24 hours a day. They will restart any failed services like Apache™, Bind or Exim™ for you and even reboot if needed.
Conclusion
The hardware is definitely not something you would want to run eBay™ or Amazon.com™ on. The processors are all adequate, but cooling on the AMD's™ should be more concerned about. The memory is non-registered SDRAM. The hard drives are fast but inexpensive IDE drives. Even the fastest Ultra ATA/100 - 133 drives are no match for SCSI in a server environment. The backup solutions are practically non-existent; a second hard drive is not an ideal solution. If your system is hacked all of your data and your clients data is at risk.
Almost all of the packages offered generous allotments of bandwidth 300 to 650GB monthly. The connectivity varied considerably, too. The control panels are all good at helping you do the day-to-day tasks. Opinions vary greatly on which one is best, but the main thing is that the latest versions of all of them get the job done and are stable.
If you are determined to get one of these servers for hosting, be sure to get at least 1GB of RAM and a second hard disk for rsync type backups. The extra RAM will go a long way in making up for the IDE drives. If possible, get an optional daily backup service that offered by some packages, and it should not be on the same server.
If you are not familiar with Linux, you should find a place that offers a managed or at least monitored package. Choose someone offering a brand name rack-mount server. Another thing to keep in mind is to look closely at service charges i.e. $15 reboot fee. This could add up quickly. See if it is possible to upgrade to a better server without another setup fee.
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