When shopping for a dedicated hosting provider, how important is it to find the cheapest deal?

Sure, everybody likes saving money, and it is an important thing to find the lowest cost, especially these days.  However, you have to remember not to sell out when it comes to dedicated hosting features you might need.  Be sure to have a good estimate or checklist of:

• All the Services You Need
• All the Services You Want (but don’t really have to have)

This will give you a little more negotiating room when it comes to settle for a bottom dollar price.

When push comes to shove, you have to do your best to find the dedicated hosting plan that is the cheapest deal and best suits your web hosting needs.  If you find a dedicated host that doesn’t get meet your price you are willing to pay, be sure to contact them to see if there are any coupons or deal that could be applied to lower the price just a little ‘bit more.

When looking for the perfect place to call home in the dedicated hosting world, you might turn towards a dedicated hosting provider that is green.  What is green hosting all about?  Let me see if I can wrap your mind around the idea here.

The idea behind green hosting or eco-friendly hosting is a simple one.  They promise that their company in a whole (counting the servers they are hosting on) do not negatively impact the environment.

Now this can be done in a number of different ways.  Some will purchase carbon credits, to offset the carbon dioxide they are putting out into the atmosphere. Others might do it through virtualization, a type of web hosting that will share resources among customers, so you can more effectively use the servers hardware.  One more way would be to use more energy friendly servers.  Using severs that need less power is a great way to lower the cost of hosting, and help the environment at the same time.

Now I wouldn’t say that green hosting is the only aspect you should look into when it comes to dedicated hosting – but it is worth seeing how they do it, if they do it.  Never be afraid to ask that of your dedicated hosting provider.

Many people might want to know, when is it the right time to take that next step into high performance dedicated hosting. 

This type of web hosting setup is perfect for the enterprise level customer who needs a higher performing server. Heavy MySQL/MSSQL users, multi-user systems, and gaming sites are preferred for these servers, which utilize more CPU and disk space for better performance overall.

Don’t accept anything less than:

• Dual Dual Core Intel? 5130 Xeon? 2.0Ghz
• 4 GB Included (at least) for Backup Storage
• 4 x 1024 MB of RAM
• 4 x 146GB SCSI Hard Drives – Hardware Raid 5, 10

I hope that helps you decide if you need high performance dedicated hosting and what you might want to start looking for (or at least adding to your shopping list). 

SSL (secure socket layer) Certificates are designed to keep your website files protected, but a lot of ecommerce webmasters require something even more secure in order to accept monetary transactions via their websites.

So when is it time to get a pro SSL certificate and when is it okay to have just a basic shared SSL?

Shared SSLs

• These are good for personal or business websites that do not require an active ecommerce website. So if you are not planning to take credit card payments directly on your website through a merchant gateway, you can use a shared SSL just fine.
• Shared SSLs are just that – shared! So know that you are sharing a secure space with multiple users. The IP address for this certificate will be shared among most likely very different websites. Some customers fear being associated with an adult website or moneymaking scheme in this way, so they opt to upgrade. Most customers will never have to worry about this.
• If you are using PayPal to receive payments or referring your customers to a website outside of your own for payment, you do not need a pro SSL.
• If you purchase a dedicated server hosting plan, you only have the option of purchasing a pro SSL since your server isn’t ‘shared’ with anyone else.

Pro SSLs

• Pro SSL certificates are best for websites that require ecommerce payments to be made directly through their websites.
• If you are working with a payment gateway to take payments through your website, more than likely you will be required to purchase a pro SSL.
• Pro SSL certificates secure all transactions made on your website and ensure your customers feel safe about their purchases.
• On a dedicated web hosting account, you must purchase a pro SSL, as shared SSLs are not an option.

Need a good monitoring tool for your server?  There are several services online out there today that will give you the best in performance monitoring, availability monitoring, and traffic monitoring. 

• SiteUptime
• Host Tracker
• mon.itor.us
• FreeSiteStatus
• Site24?7

My personal favorite out of these selections would have to be mon.itor.us.  It has the most tools, and it is totally free to use. 

We have all done it.  We went out to see what reviews we could find on or about the dedicated web hosting we have now or the dedicated web hosting we are interested in picking up?  Then you see it.  A big, bad and nasty negative review.  As your palms get sweaty, you think to yourself, “Should I read it?”.  Well, I am here to tell you that you should, but take it with a grain of salt.  A healthy dose of skepticism never did any harm.

After reading a bad review, the first thing I want you to remember is that every coin has two sides.  Your only hearing from the ticked off customer in many of these cases, and you don’t know what they did to to the web host in question.  Something else I have learned over the years of working in the hosting world is that happy people usually don’t post reviews.  If you are happy, and you know it you usually don’t do squat.  Is it beyond belief?  Well, when was the last time you wrote Oscar Mayer to tell them you love their baloney?  I promise you though that the guy who found a human finger in his baloney wrote them a nasty letter.

Not to say there is anything wrong or bad with leaving good reviews.  Heck some of those are the ones that really make people excited, due to their lack of actually happening.  It is kind of like finding a duck dressed up like Abraham Lincoln.  You don’t know how he got there, he probably won’t come back again, but he did put a smile on your face.  So remember, not all bad reviews are as bad as they seem.  Sure, they may be rooted in some truth, however you should get a wide variety of opinions to see if this was just one guy out of the blue having problem, or if you can spot a trend.

Long Term Agreements or LTAs are a major part of making dedicated server hosting affordable for the long-term customer. Web hosts like LTAs because it assures them that the customer will be staying (and paying!) for a sure, documented period of time. Customers like LTAs because they can normally negotiate a cheaper price and pay per month, while reaping the benefits of the longer billing cycles.

While you should be sure to read the fine print for any web hosting LTA, LTAs can be an incredible resource for new server customers to receive advanced discounts and freebies.

For example, Lunarpages Dedicated Hosting offers LTA contracts that give you freebies like extra RAM, free months of hosting, and even price incentives depending on your commitment. This makes committing to a 12 or 24 month contract ideal for website developers, small businesses, and large corporations!

With the US economy the way it is, any chance of saving a couple bucks becomes a huge incentive to buy now. Buying a dedicated server is no different. So here are 5 tips to save you money on dedicated server hosting.

1. Shop Around.

You know how when you’re buying gas you search for the absolute lowest price, even if that means waiting until gas has gone down or until your tank is running near empty?

Buying a dedicated web hosting account should be no difference. Make a list of the providers you like and shop around for the best deal for the features you need. Keep in mind, any good web hosting provider should be able to cut you a deal if you give them specifics of must-have features and budget.

2. Evaluate Billing Cycles Vs Budget

Set an absolute top dollar you can afford and do not waver in your quest to meet this budget, because money is the key issue in today’s economy. Then, evaluate the possible payment options that your chosen dedicated host provides.

For example, let’s say you set a budget of $1000 every year for web hosting. Paying monthly for your dedicated server costs $99 each month – plus, there will likely be some kind of setup fee, so let’s add $100 to that. So yearly, with this monthly billing cycle, you will be over budget by $288 (99pm x 12m + 130setup)! So consider the longer billing cycles if they save you money or add extra features that are must haves for you, such as more RAM or free months hosting.

3. Negotiate

Call the dedicated hosting provider up and ask them questions! Tell them your budget and make them work around you. After all, they will want your business and will likely negotiate with you if your demands are reasonable.

4. Ask About Long-Term-Agreements

Also known as LTAs, long term agreements are contracts you sign with your dedicated web host, promising you will be a customer for X amount of months, usually 1 year or more. In exchange for your signature to their terms, the web host will only bill you monthly but offer discounts and benefits of longer contracts. Lunarpages Dedicated Hosting is especially famous for providing affordable LTAs for specific customer needs.

5. Dedicated Hosting Coupons!

Simply put, use a coupon! The easiest and most effective way to save money instantly.

This dedicated server hosting checklist is designed to help you understand what it takes to run a dedicated server. After all, it’s not just about purchasing a box – you need to know how to manage and work with it too. So here’s what it takes, your checklist for running a dedicated server:

• A powerful web hosting platform
• Managed Hosting
• 24/7 technical support – through email is best, so you can document errors and solutions
• State of the art data centers – the more data centers a provider runs, the better chances of redundant uptime for you and your server
• Guaranteed RAM
• Easy upgrades
• Great dedicated hosting deals – amazing coupons to help lower your monthly costs or incentives for staying longer
• Ability to perform website backups

Many webmasters who utilize dedicated server hosting use it for media servers or, more exactly, for streaming video servers. It might be helpful for those of you in the market to run the next YouTube.com to be aware of what you’ll need to accomplish this.

Firstly, you may be wondering what the heck streaming servers or streaming video is! A streaming video server is just a dedicated web server setup to stream videos on demand. Your dedicated server needs to be configured to stream media effectively, by offering a compressed file version that can be easily viewed and listened to by your customers, fans, or regular surfers at the same time that it’s being delivered and processed on the server.

Methods of Streaming Media

You can use a true streaming method, which means your video is almost constantly streamed exactly while it’s being downloaded. Think of YouTube.com for this example. In true media streaming, the dedicated server and streaming video software does all the work, which produces a great end result for the user but which can also be very costly for management! Oftentimes, adding streaming media software to an already existing dedicated server is the most affordable option.

The other option is downloading, which we’re all pretty familiar with. This is far cheaper because the entire video file is downloaded and saved as a temporary file on the computer. However, this method is not suitable for a YouTube.com type dedicated server.

There is a plethora of free streaming media software available on the internet for your perusal and use.

Why Stream Media Live?

If you are running any of the following server types on your dedicated server, your visitors will appreciate live streaming of video or audio for their convenience:

* A YouTube.com clone
* An adult website (make sure you choose an adult web host)
* A video-sharing website
* A podcasting server
* Silverlight media server

What kind of dedicated server do I need?

Go with something BIG because you will need it! I would recommend the following features:

* Dual or Quad Core Xeon Processor
* at least 2 x 1024 MB RAM
* at least 2 x 500 GB SATA Hard Drives
* Raid 4 or 5
* at least 3,000GB bandwidth

Please take a look at our dedicated hosting coupons for the best dedicated server deals you can find, which are sure to knock down the primarily steep price for you!