Why Cheap Dedicated Servers Are Not THAT Inexpensive

[mandy]

Why Cheap Dedicated Servers Are Not THAT Inexpensive
By Sabir Rizvi

Many web hosting businesses these days tend to use the cruel strategy of attracting customers to their dedicated servers by offering what appears to be a very low and virtually unbeatable price.

However many clients soon end up with a string of nasty surprises when they realize that there are many other necessities, obviously not included in the low price, that they require for the smooth and efficient running of their dedicated servers. The result is that a client who signs the dotted line quickly finds out that what they have done is to actually tie themselves down to a rather expensive dedicated server solution. Their total bill runs sky high when they finally finish paying for all the other stuff, without which the dedicated server service will not run.

So before you commit yourself to that low price dedicated server, here are a few things you should take a closer look at.

One of the most common tricks is to give you hardware configuration and specifications that are inadequate and will require an upgrade to run your dedicated server. For example you can get offered an Intel Pentium 4 server that only has 256 MB of RAM. When you realize this later, you will find that the web host has priced the necessary upgrades on the high side.

Then there is the control panel issue. One can hardly run a dedicated server without a control panel. You will definitely require it for yourself and for the clients whom you will resell hosting services to. In most cases you will find that the license fee for this control panel will not be included in your low priced dedicated server offer. Different hosts have their different prices for the same control panels. For instance the Cpanel license will cost you $15/m at one host and a staggering $50/m at another.

The backup solution is yet another nasty surprise that most folks purchasing cheap dedicated servers soon encounter. Cheap hosts will tend to do one of two things. Either tie you to a high cost per GB back up solution or alternatively offer backup in volume slabs that you will hardly require, especially as a start-up enterprise. You will need to know what your back-up options are before you go for the low cost dedicated server you have in mind.

It would also be prudent for you to find out, before committing yourself, what your web host charges per hour for emergency system administration tasks and other technical services. It is impossible to run a dedicated server without adequate technical support and services and this is therefore a very crucial issue to settle long before you make your move.

Then there are the many small but important details that will enable you to quickly understand what folks usually mean when they say that you will often get exactly what you pay for. Some of these factors can end up being very expensive to you in more ways than one.  For instance how will your web host react when there is hardware failure or serious network connection issues? This is a critical question because you can easily lose lots of potential clients gained at great cost, if your server goes down for more than a few hours.

In fact the key to your success revolves around the back-up technical service behind your dedicated server.

These are the issues you really need top look at closely before considering a low cost supplier for your dedicated server.

Sabir Rizvi is a seasoned IT professional who writes for Hosting Reviews, an informative guide for hosting buyers. Visit the website to read more of his expert articles and reviews at http://hosting.alwaiz-arts.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

[jezebel]

Then there is the control panel issue. One can hardly run a dedicated server without a control panel. You will definitely require it for yourself and for the clients whom you will resell hosting services to. In most cases you will find that the license fee for this control panel will not be included in your low priced dedicated server offer. .

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The backup solution is yet another nasty surprise

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[misteroriginal]

I understand the standard American way of doing business, i.e., low price up front, screw you later. But I don't see why the price of a Linux server can't be kept low with open-source software. All I need is a command-line interface, right? Anything more is frosting.