Low-Cost Dedicated Servers
By Yvonne L. Lee
Although dedicated hosting was once available for $500-$700 per month, now companies can rent a server of their own for less than $300. This is due in part to competitively priced Cobalt Linux boxes, although reasonably priced NT and even Mac servers are available.
Some of the ISPs offering low-cost dedicated servers include Rackspace.com, Digital Nation (which was acquired by Verio last July), 1-800-Hosting.com, and NetNation. Interland also offers dedicated servers in this price range, although the company is better known for its low-cost shared virtual hosting service. You can find listings for ISP directories in "
Online."
Why Dedicated?
Are these new, low-cost servers right for your business? According to George Peabody, managing director of telecommunications research for Boston's Aberdeen Group, small Web design shops are some of the biggest customers. These shops build sites that would otherwise be hosted on a shared server. "Given the price point that they're at, a Web development company could get its own server, get its own clients, and host them," he explains. "Otherwise, that money would go to an ISP that would be putting that site on a shared server. It's a way for the small guys to make a little monthly revenue."
Another group that could benefit from a dedicated server is Fortune 500 companies that have the expertise to maintain a server in house, but want to get a particular application deployed quickly, says Peabody.
