All websites need a host to run. Some rely on Dedicated Servers, while some- majority, to be precise- rely on Cloud Hosting Server.
People often confuse Cloud to be an ordinary server, but it is not so.
In this article we uncover the unexplored aspects of a Cloud server, and more appropriately what are its advantages over a conventional dedicated server hosting.
Dedicated servers- A quick glance
Dedicated server, as the name suggests, services a single client. That means a single physical server is entirely reserved for a client with all its resources available for use.
Dedicated servers are most commonly put to use by organizations that need humongous volumes of data storage capabilities without compromising security.
A quick look at Cloud Server
Cloud servers, unlike dedicated ones, does not rely on a particular physical storage. Cloud rather relies on an infinite number of bare-metal servers all pooled together to serve as an entity. Interestingly, data that appears on Cloud comes from a number of servers with no pre-defined location.
A Cloud is what most people call it a Virtualized storage. Many users, with the idea of being virtualized, have a misconception that Cloud requires no physical storage. No server, irrespective of type, can exist without having any physical hardware or storage to stock with data. Cloud, too, dumps its data to some physical drive.
Advantages of Cloud servers over dedicated servers
A lot of features come handy with Cloud server hosting. Cloud owes its ever-growing craze to the following benefits:
1. Faster & Easier Setup
For organizations what is sort in supply is time. And for businesses time is no less than money. Dedicated servers are difficult to setup. Setting up such servers require infrastructure, installing hardware, and configuring network settings. What makes it a challenging asset for business to acquire is that it takes tons of an organization’s valuable time to setup. Which is almost always accompanied by huge capital requirement.
Cloud, on the other hand, can be setup in a snap. There is practically no hardware to configure, no wires to connect and no sockets to be plugged. With the intense customization that Cloud has to offer it is possible to decide on a service that best fits your requirements. Cloud servers are like buying a ready-made suiting tailor-made just for you. Plus it comes at a cheaper cost. Even Dedicated Linux Server, which is considered to be an economical dedicated server, is not anywhere as cheap as Cloud.
Thus, Cloud is a viable option for businesses that have a scarcity of not just time but also funds.
2. Enhanced Security
Dedicated servers provide the highest level of security. It will not be an understatement to say that the security offered by the Cloud is also quite comparable.
The downside with a dedicated server is that it is a single-point storage -wherein all the data is stored in one location.
Cloud offers a secured technically-isolated disk space, so the data is safeguarded with numerous layers of security, and it comes with advanced firewall protection. Moreover, the files in a Cloud are stored not at one but many locations that altogether comprise one complete pool of data. This ensures that even if one of the servers serving the Cloud is compromised, the data still remains safe with other servers.
To further enhance the security some Clouds even encrypt the data before storing it.
3. Exceptional Performance
Resources in a Cloud are monitored frequently by the service providers, but dedicated servers still have an upper edge when it comes to performance. Performance-per-dollar is higher for Cloud than it for its dedicated counterpart.
Plainly speaking, the performance that Cloud brings is exceptional for its price.
4. Better Collaboration
It is not possible to share files with other users while on a dedicated server. The solution in such scenarios comes down to either mailing the files back and forth to individuals, or to deploy Cloud.
With Cloud, it is easy to collaborate with others on projects and easily share your work. Any modifications done to the files by any user reflects back to the Cloud which in turn can be viewed by other users in the same Cloud. This makes collaborating easy.
5. Eased- Accessibility
Since Cloud is a virtualized storage and data on Cloud is 24/7/365 available, it can be used from anywhere, anytime. With Cloud it is easy to turn any place with an internet connection into your workplace.
Dedicated servers tie-down users to a particular location as the same is not accessible from everywhere. Also, working anytime is not always the case. Dedicated servers, too, have a downtime period. While on maintenance the productivity of companies relying on dedicated serves can grind to a halt.
Cloud servers, on the other hand have negligible downtime. Even during maintenance the traffic on Cloud is efficiently routed to bare-metal servers- that power Cloud- at other locations. Besides, Cloud incorporates security patches and updates in real-time, thereby zeroing-down the possibility of any downtime.
6. Easier to Scale( when compared to dedicated hosting)
Scalability refers to a Cloud’s capability to adapt in the size according to the increase and decrease in workload.
Scaling (up and down) a dedicated servers is possible, too. But it is a costly and a time consuming affair, and to make it worse: a complicated process.
It is easy to shrink and scale your computing abilities on a Cloud in a matter of seconds. It comes with an option to pay for your services monthly. This is a key attribute of Cloud that has garnered attention worldwide as you only pay for what you use which is not the case with dedicated servers. As your Cloud grows with your business, you can scale up Cloud operations.
7. More Reliable
Dedicated servers are reliable, but they have a single point of failure. If the server crashes unexpectedly, the entire website, system, and the applications go down. Website outage can seriously hamper an organization’s business. Websites that go down frequently are less likely to be visited by customers. Besides, it is not easy to get a website back to function normally after an outage. It is therefore recommended to regularly back up your data to backup servers.
In contrast, Cloud stores data in more than one location. There is no specific directory to which files are stored. Every time a request is sent to a Cloud to fetch data, the same is retrieved from multiple locations. This makes Cloud even more reliable as the probability of all these servers failing simultaneously is next to none.
8. Op-Ex pricing as opposed to Cap-Ex Pricing
Dedicated servers have high upfront costs and requires huge Capital investment. This proves a huge setback for organizations reluctant to invest heavily into anything apart from bare essentials. Many a time Cloud subscribers are growing organizations that cannot afford to divert such big percentage of funds into something that has a cheaper and an equally reliable alternative.
The expenses linked to a Cloud occurs at regular fixed intervals and thus forms a part of an organization’s OpEx or the Operating Expenditure.
Thus, with Cloud you can convert your capital expenditure into operating expenditure.
9. Easier to Maintain and Administer
A dedicated server is difficult to maintain and requires the administrator to be technically proficient in order to be able to do so. Scaling up such servers is a big issue in itself as it involves specialized skill-set to install and configure additional hardware to the network. Since everything is maintained in-house, workforce is required to maintain the hardware in mint and running conditions.
In Cloud, the hardware is solely managed and maintained by the provider. Cloud is relatively very easy to maintain and particularly to setup, infact so easy that it can be setup in just a few clicks. Scaling Cloud isn’t a rocket science, either.
With Cloud, you can have your IT professionals to perform -a more important- business enhancing activity rather than divulging into server maintenance.
10. Migrate Without Downtime
Migrating from one dedicated server to another requires extensive planning and the organization has to work broadly into foretelling its future and current growth to accommodate any expected increase in the traffic. Also, the organization will face a complete server outage during the migration period.
With Cloud it is possible to migrate while running both new and current servers concurrently. Once all the data has been transferred to the new server, the organization can seamlessly switch to the new sever without facing any noticeable downtime or outage.
Takeaway Points
Enticed by the potential of Cloud, many businesses have already combined their existing dedicated servers to work concurrently with Cloud. This has given birth to a new server technology called the Hybrid Server- that combines one or more types of server.
Even at its infancy, dedicated servers face antagonism from Cloud based technology.
There should remain no doubts as to whether or not Cloud will emerge as a victor in this duel.
Author Bio – Nishant is a content writer by hobby and fortunately also by his profession. A state level tennis player, Nishant has written short stories, poems, and snippets for a number of blogs (including his own). Cloud Computing, dedicated server and Cyber Security are Nishant’s forte. When he is not writing he is either sleeping or playing tennis.