Best Dedicated Server Hosting Providers Compared 2020
Best Dedicated Server Hosting Providers Compared 2020
There are a few things that you want to look for in a dedicated server. This guide looks at these features to determine what dedicated hosting providers are the best in the industry.
Customization
Does the hosting provider have both Linux and Windows options? Does it allow you to allocate space as you wish? Basically, is the hosting provider truly providing a dedicated server? In some cases, hosting providers sell “private servers” that still share space with other cohabitants. You want a dedicated server that is completely your own to customize and control.
Uptime
We rank websites by how stable they are through uptime. You can monitor a hosting provider’s uptime through website monitoring tools. Dedicated hosting servers should never go down if you are not using any bandwidth. If you have a ton of traffic and outgrow your bandwidth, you probably will have to upgrade. In no other situation should your hosting go down unless natural disaster. Each review has an uptime marker sho you know how well the hosting provider does with constant website traffic and bandwidth.
Congestion
You should not have any congestion on a dedicated server, since you are on a dedicated server. With shared hosting, you may have other websites taking up bandwidth on the server and even crashing it if something suddenly goes viral on their website. With your hosting provider and a dedicated server, the only congestion should be felt is if you have gone viral.
Security
Dedicated servers need security options so that you can protect your website against hackers, viruses, and breakage. Firewall configurations are important but time-consuming. Some hosting providers will provide extra built-in security features, so you do not have to worry about it and get started with your server without any security to install except for additional options that you may want.
Customer Support
Lastly, what kind of support does the hosting provider give to the customer? Customer support should be 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, especially if you are running an online business or a game that supports multiple users. You will want a hosting provider that makes it easy to get in touch should something go wrong or you want to upgrade before something does go wrong.
Features
If you are a Linux master, then you probably will not need that much additional help. However, it is nice to get started up as fast as possible using some of the customized features of certain hosting providers. For example, Media Temple provides a control panel so that it is easy to monitor your website’s performance. You can install web monitoring tools on your own as well.
1. Bluehost
Bluehost is one of the biggest names in the hosting market overall. It provides multiple types of plans, ranging from basic shared servers to dedicated options.
When it comes to dedicated plans, Bluehost offers three tiers, starting at $79.99 per month with a three-year commitment. Every package includes a free SSL certificate, a domain name, a custom cPanel dashboard, and multiple dedicated IP addresses.
Here’s what you get with the Standard dedicated server plan, in terms of hardware:
- CPU: 4-core CPU clocked at 2.3 GHz
- RAM: 4 GB
- Bandwidth: 5 TB
- Storage: 500 GB
- Dedicated IP addresses: 3
Bluehost was named as one of our best WordPress web hosts in 2020, due to its good price-to-performance ratio.
2. Hostgator
HostGator offers some good hosting options for those looking to buy a dedicated server package. This provider offers a fewa features including customization of SSD storage, RAM, and data transfers. HostGator provides unlimited data transfers, which is better than most of the dedicated server hosting providers.
You can find Linux and Windows dedicated hosting. This is important if you want to customize your server with different applications in a certain language. You can install all kinds of applications into your dedicated server including WordPress or other CMS platforms, as you will have plenty of space on your own server.
Uptime has been reliable for HostGator, remaining at 99.99%, and customer service reviews show HostGator is reliable and offers extensive customer support options.
Conclusion
HostGator provides a decent price for a good dedicated server with lots of features including custom setup from their customer service team. Security options may be extra. The lowest rate must also be purchased upfront instead of month-to-month pricing.
Hostgator Dedicated Hosting 40% Off
3. SiteGround
SiteGround consistently scores top marks in hosting comparisons and reviews. It offers excellent web hosting plans at relatively low prices. However, keep in mind that dedicated servers are seldom what we’d call “affordable.”
When it comes to dedicated hosting plans, SiteGround tiers start at $269 per month. All of them are fully managed, yet you still get root access. Unlike its other plans, however, you can pay for this type of service on a one, three, or six-month basis with prices holding roughly the same.
With SiteGround, you get the option of a managed WordPress service. This means you’ll have access to auto-updates, staging functionality, WP-CLI support, and integrated Git. Every plan also includes free Cloudflare integration, five dedicated IPs, multiple control panel options, and more.
On the topic of hardware, here’s what the Entry Server tier gets you:
- CPU: 4-core CPU clocked at 3.20 GHz (Intel Xeon E3–1230)
- RAM: 16 GB
- Bandwidth: 10 TB
- Storage: 480 GB (SSD)
- Dedicated IP addresses: 5
Right off the bat, SiteGround throws a lot more firepower your way than Bluehost does (at an extra cost). Beyond that, it also provides many more details about each server’s hardware, which is what you want if you’re going to be paying hundreds of dollars per month for hosting.
4. InMotion Hosting
Want to configure your server with 3TB of storage? Then InMotion has a good dedicated server for you. InMotion only offers Linux-based dedicated web servers. The servers come with 64GB of RAM, which is very impressive as the industry standard is 16GB.
However, one drawback would be the limitation on data transfers. Most hosting providers offer unlimited data transfers, but InMotion will set your limit to 15TB of monthly data. This is typically not an issue and may as well be unlimited.
InMotion does not have issues with uptime and remained 99.99% on average over the past six months. Their customer support is a little lacking, and you will not find technical support available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Conclusion
InMotion offers a good price for a dedicated server that provides all the space and RAM to build any Cloud engine you want. However, there are a lack of customization options and free features that are included with other servers. You will have to pay extra to have your server set up through InMotion.
5. DreamHost
Dedicated Server Plan: Starting from $169/month
There are lots of built-in security features to love about DreamHost. This provider really cares about its customers’ websites and offers firewall protection, as well as SSL certificates. Their dedicated hosting options start at $169/month and come with 1TB of storage. You can configure the servers with up to 16G of RAM as well.
DreamHost does not have Windows-based servers, which is a drawback. With Linux-based servers, you can build most applications with a variety of different languages. If you wanted to build a website using Microsoft’s operating system, you would not be able to.
Uptime has been relatively good for DreamHost in the past six months with an average of 99.96%, and their customer support is questionable. They do have an extensive knowledgebase, but it may difficult to get in touch when you have issues.
Conclusion
DreamHost provides a decent amount of storage for the price, but without Windows-based servers and customer support issues, you will be better off getting with a company that offers excellent customer service for the price.
6. Godaddy
Dedicated Server Plan: Starting from $79.99/month, discounts available
GoDaddy is the King of discounted web hosting. Their dedicated hosting comes with a rock-solid uptime, so you never have to worry about your website going down. They have also recently added 24/7 technical support with live chat so that you can get problems resolved quickly.
If you want to start a business with a dedicated server, GoDaddy is one of the better options. This is because you can build in Linux or Windows, and plans start at a pretty low rate but offer 32GB of RAM, 2TB of storage, and unlimited monthly data transfers.
While the 32GB of RAM is not the largest amount of memory available. For example, you can get servers up to 264GB of RAM. However, GoDaddy still has a superior product that is easy to set up and comes with a lot of security features. You can also add on some of the other features at a pretty cheap cost, such as firewall protection and SSL certificates.
