Weblog Bucks

Having a popular website is a great thing, especially if that website is related to your business. However, you’ve probably never thought popularity could cost you money. If you use a shared web service, you’re allotted a certain amount of bandwidth every month. Each host has a different way of dealing with the situation if you go over that amount of traffic.

Some will suddenly shut your site down, which means your visitors will see only a page telling them you’ve exceeded your allotment. Others will allow your page to keep running, and will charge you for the extra bandwidth. If your site gets popular quickly, you could find yourself facing hundreds or thousands of dollars of extra charges for that usage.

This is why it’s vital to keep an eye on your bandwidth usage and the traffic that goes through your site every day. If it begins to look like you’ll exceed your bandwidth allotment, it might be time to look into getting a dedicated server. It might be tempting to use one of the shared hosting servers that claims to offer “unlimited” bandwidth. However, in the end, you’ll probably find that there are limits written into the fine print.

A server that is running only your applicaitons will function with fewer break downs than a shared host. By upgrading, you will increase the percentage of the time that your site is available, which should eventually result in an increase in visitors. You can take total control of your site and have better performance and reliability when you have your own server.

A dedicated server will afford a greater degree of control over the applications that you want to run and will not leave you wondering why the host is down. You can also run more sites on one server - as much as a few hundred. However, it’s important to budget for extra fees. The initial cost will be high but having a dedicated server is worth the expense.

There’s a setup fee, and a dedicated server can cost as much as $200/month. However, if you stop and think about it, you’ll realize that that amount per month in exchange for reliability is a good deal, versus poor reliability and occasionally being charged several hundred dollars for bandwidth overage.

Find out what you can do with a dedicated server and your shared hosting troubles may be over. You won’t have to deal with problems from scripts other users are running, downtime, or extra charges just because you’ve become popular. If your current provider is one that you are satisfied with, inquire about their options for dedicated servers. On the other hand, if you’ve had poor customer service experiences and other problems, you might have better luck elsewhere.

If your site is growing in popularity, keep an eye on the bandwidth your visitors are using. If you don’t pay very close attention, your site’s popularity could end up costing you a lot of money. Instead of having to worry every month whether or not you’ll exceed your allotment, try switching to a dedicated server that will put an end to unexpected fees and extra downtime.

Overall, a dedicated server will be well worth the investment, despite the increased cost. A reliable server for a low price can obtained by having control, reliability and all the bandwidth you need to take care of your website’s visitors.