How to Set Up an Affordable Dedicated Server to Start Your Own Online Business
The Internet has made it possible for anyone with a computer and an internet connection to start their own online business at little or no cost. Even individuals who have no experience in technology or computer programming can set up an affordable dedicated server to support their own online business. A dedicated server is a special type of computer that’s used only for one thing: running an online business’s website, blog, and other online properties. This makes them ideal for small businesses who want to supplement their income by operating their own websites rather than welcoming visitors to their company’s office. A Dedicated Server in the Right Place at the Right Time If you have access to the internet and a good idea of how to operate a computer, then setting up your own online business is easier than you think. There are actually a number of ways that you can set up an affordable dedicated server without even knowing it.
What is an Affordable Dedicated Server?
Dedicated servers are special computers that are exclusively used for one thing – running your own website. They are often dirt-cheap and can cost as little as $0.01 per gigabyte of traffic in some cases. Dedicated servers are ideal for small businesses who want to operate their own websites rather than welcome visitors at their company’s office.
How to Set Up an Affordable Dedicated Server
If you have access to the internet and a good idea of how to operate a computer, then setting up your own online business is easier than you think. There are actually a number of ways that you can set up an affordable dedicated server without even knowing it. The first thing that you’ll want to do is decide what type of server you want to use. There are many different types of servers that are efficient enough to handle large amounts of traffic. These might include the likes of the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, DigitalOcean, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and a whole lot more. Dedicated hosting providers like Hostgator, BlueHost, and ServerFelle will often have a variety of different server types available to choose from. Once you’ve chosen the right type of server for your needs, the next step is to decide where you’ll host your website. The most common location for dedicated servers is web hosting providers, like Bluehost and Hostgator. After you’ve selected the right type of server and host, it’s time to actually set up the server. To do this, you’ll want to choose the hosting plan that’s right for you. A lot of HostGator hosting plans are quite affordable compared to other hosting plans, so you may want to hold off and see if you can find a plan that works better with your budget.
Why Start with a Dedicated Server
Dedicated servers are perfect for small businesses who want to operate their own websites rather than welcome visitors at their company’s office. They are also known to be more reliable than a normal server and less likely to go out of control. Dedicated servers tend to be more expensive than a normal server, but they also tend to be more durable. Plus, if something goes wrong with the server, you won’t have to deal with support issues and the like when you’re running a dedicated server.
Best Practices for Setting Up an Affordable Dedicated Server
Set Up Your Server Right – Although it’s easy enough to set up a server without any instructions, you’ll want to make sure that everything is set up properly. The web hosting provider that you choose will likely have instructions specific to their hosting plan, but you should definitely check those out too.
Start Small – A small website that you set up on a dedicated server won’t have a ton of traffic, so it’s likely that you won’t need to upgrade your server too frequently. Dedicated servers are suitable for limited traffic sites so if you have ambitions to grow your business, consider switching to a shared server.
Shifting to a More Scalable Architecture
A lot of people make the mistake of thinking about their website’s architecture and only planning for it to grow. The reality is that your website isn’t going to be the one and only thing that’s running on your server. You’re almost certainly going to want to move your site to a more scalable architecture in the future, so you should plan for that. Having said that, an ambitious website will probably grow anyway so don’t worry about it getting out of hand.
The Final Piece of the puzzle: Optimizing your Website for a Dedicated Server
Even if you’ve chosen the right type of server for your needs and host, it’s important to actually optimize your website for a dedicated server. This is something that every website owner should do regardless of their experience with computers. Optimization includes things like restructuring your content so that it’s less liable to get cached by your visitors and having a plan for dealing with robots.txt. Robots.txt is what web hosting providers will typically put on your server and it’s a sure-fire way for your visitors to get frustrated with your site. You can learn more about how to set up a great website for an affordable dedicated server in our dedicated server guide.
Conclusion
A dedicated server is a special type of computer that’s used only for one thing: running an online business’s website, blog, and other online properties. This makes them ideal for small businesses who want to supplement their income by operating their own websites rather than welcoming visitors to their company’s office. A Dedicated Server in the Right Place at the Right Time can make all the difference in your online business, and you can set one up for as little as $0.01 per gigabyte of traffic in some cases.