A dedicated server is a physical server rented by a data center or owned by a user or company. It provides maximum performance, reliability, security of the resources placed on it.
At the end of the article, find 12 burning questions to ask a provider to understand if this service provider is right for you.
When renting a dedicated server in Europe, you need to know configuration features and functionality, pitfalls that may occur during operation. It’s a common case when the services or functionality that are not provided by the provider become the most important. Not all information presented in a price list can be interpreted word for word.
For example, a company is looking for a six-core server. But six cores can be completely different if we talk about the two main manufacturers, AMD and Intel. Comparing them with each other is not useful: they will work differently even with the same clock frequency.
In addition, each brand provides a number of product lines that differ in technical characteristics. Each Xeon E5 has old and new processors inside with different core performance and cache memory size because of the architecture peculiarities. This is not mentioned in the price list and needs to be checked with the data center managers.
What needs to be taken into account to choose a high-performance server with the required range of services and an ideal configuration without trial and error? Our team has analysed offers on server rent in Europe and identified the hidden factors that affect the efficiency and stability of hosting services. Our analysis will help to choose and rent a server for applications, DBMS, mail, object storage, hosting of accounting databases, financial statements, gambling, etc.
Why a dedicated server
Renting a server for work in Europe is a must for complex or large projects that need high performance, numerous resources, quick response, a range of providers. This provides an uninterrupted Internet connection, high stability, quick access to alternative communication channels.
For example, all Internet channels converge in the largest European hub in Frankfurt (Germany), which has become a center of communication. Frankfurt has about 60 data centers.
With 500 million people living in Europe, servers need to be placed in huge communication hubs.
You can use one server or have multiple servers within a single cluster. This structure is suitable for large-scale projects that need complex calculations.
Unlike VPS/VDS, a dedicated server has isolated resources available only to the renting company, which significantly improves its operational stability. For the entire renting period, it becomes exclusively your company’s server to store your data or host others.
Physical isolation increases the level of security, which is important for sensitive information. A physical dedicated server is a relevant option for companies with a ban on SaaS and cloud environment, since it is managed by a service provider who in some cases has exclusive access to data.
Pavel Sabirjanov
When renting a physical dedicated server, the customer configures security and virtualisation systems, installs software packages, VPN. Physical access to the server for data center employees is always limited after the connection. Access can be granted at the request of the customer under a separate agreement. The server can be locked with an individual lock in the rack or with a dynamic pin code set up for a short time for work and then changed.
If a company buys a server, it makes a one-time purchase for thousands of euros and incurs capital expenditures. Renting a server is always more profitable: a company does not need to incur additional costs for organising the equipment operation, its use in the data center is written off as operating costs. At the same time, many issues such as uninterrupted power supply, maintaining the temperature in the server room, security are solved at the data center level while the customer can focus on its business processes.
Types of dedicated servers
Customers usually use four types of dedicated servers.
- Managed. The hosting provider takes care of maintenance and management services, is responsible for updates, security issues, creating backups. This option is suitable for companies that do not have the required level of experience and knowledge. In this case, root access is not granted to customers.
- Unmanaged. The customer company independently manages the rented software and gets full administrative access. For this option, you need to have IT specialists who are competent in server management, infrastructure configuration, database maintenance, etc. This is a custom server type, and you can customise hardware and software characteristics for the needs of the company. The hosting provider is not responsible for updates/administration/modifications of the server software and does not monitor the hardware operation. This work is taken over by the renting company. This renting option means high requirements for performance, memory for the applications used.
- Hybrid. Hybrid servers combine the capabilities of the first two types. The server provider upgrades the server and manages security issues. The renting company configures and manages the installed applications.
For better results for your business and development, you need to determine the required hardware and the project load, the possible traffic (minimum and maximum), the placement location (the more visitors will come from the area where the data center is located, the better) in advance. It is important to know the local legislation and the features of the network infrastructure in order to take into account the advantages and disadvantages of renting a server in specific European countries.
Benefits of a dedicated server
A dedicated server implies a rent with full access to software and hardware components. The customer has the full right to change the settings of the server operating system, determine the access levels and limits, and install its software. Maintenance of the server part and carrying out routine technical work is entrusted to the provider (as agreed by the parties).
What benefits does the renting company get?
- Renting a server reduces the company’s costs: you get a modern technical solution with minimal investment.
- Individual configuration under different requests, including for resource-intensive projects. Ability to change components, connect physical and external boxes, network equipment.
- Complete isolation, all server capacities belong to the renting company.
- Full control of the operating system and hardware through remote access to the KVM console and control panel. This allows you to change the operating system and software, make requests to change the configuration, install network drives, increase the channel width.
- Startup speed (ready-made configurations are launched on the same day, non-standard — within 2-3 days, customised servers — within a week).
- Custom equipment at the request of the customer, system assembly for your tasks.
- Basic protection against DDoS attacks with an advanced option (if requested).
- High-speed channels, unlimited traffic.
- Clustering for high availability of services, protection against hardware failures, levelling peak loads.
Customised server rental
Typically, the brand and capacity of a dedicated server is selected from the configurations offered by the service provider. Ready-made configurations are versatile and suitable for most projects.
However, this is not an option for customers who plan to add their equipment to the IT infrastructure or transfer it to the data center for maintenance. They need a flexible hosting option offering personalised settings for specific tasks and applications used by the company. In this case, the customer chooses the server model, the vendor, creates a unique configuration.
Most data centers do not maintain third-party equipment. However, many large video game developers need to rent dedicated servers for custom tasks. They have their own infrastructure under management but the load is enormous. In their case, 1,000 or 100,000 active users can visit the site at once. That is why they need a data center that provides ultra-modern, powerful, high-performance equipment with guaranteed availability and compatibility with their infrastructure, for example, Amazon servers.
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How to select a hosting provider to rent a dedicated server.
How and where to host/rent a server in Europe? Review of prices and services from the best providers.
Sometimes a company needs to deploy several roles on a server: install a database server, a file server and corporate storage. Their technician configures virtualisation, access to servers, grants access rights and limits, plans backup schedules.
In these cases, customers enter into a service contract and outline the service provider’s responsibility, specify options for equipment support (including off-the-market equipment and equipment removed from warranty support).
Before choosing a data center, we recommend exploring its capabilities to understand what its customers may face. Find our study of 20 cloud hosting companies in Europe linked below and choose wisely.
ARTICLE AUTHOR
Pavel Sabirjanov
network engineer and a consultant in network design, escalation support, network administration, and systems administration
