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!

Do you want to keep yourself updated to know what you’re using on your dedicated server and when? This kind of information can be especially helpful if you are allotting a certain amount of disk space, bandwidth, or email accounts to specific clients on your dedicated server. Plus, knowing what you are using and how often will assist you in keeping your server up to date and if you need to upgrade, you will know before any issues arise.

In Plesk, via Windows or Linux hosting, you can find this information easily.

First, click on Limits

Limits displays the resource limits allocated to your account. For example, it shows you the maximum number of subdomains allowed, disk space, maximum traffic or bandwidth, maximum number of web users, maximum number of databases, maximum number of mailboxes, mailbox quota, maximum number of mail redirects, maximum number of mail groups, maximum number of mail autoresponders, maximum number of mailing lists, and a ton more.

To see account resources limits and usage, click on Report.

Report options will display all resource limits and usages, as well as users and a full list of all available scripts, utilities, and resources. For example, you’ll see Web Statistics, Web Stats, Web Stats SSL, FTP Stats, Traffic History, and can manage Report Delivery.

If you click on FTP Stats, this will show you a history of FTP activity in your website, both in upload as well as download.

If you click on Traffic History, this will display information on traffic usage by Months and Years.

To view detailed traffic statistics used by various services at the domain, click on the Traffic button.

If you’d like to keep yourself updated, you can also choose to send a copy of the report to any email you specify.

Or, you can setup a schedule for automatic delivery of reports by clicking on Report Delivery.

Accessing this information can assist you in self-managing your dedicated web hosting.

Even if you have hosted on a dedicated server before, you may not know all the dedicated server terminology out there. One of the downsides to technology is one of its best features as well – it is ever-changing. This means that what you knew yesterday won’t be the same as what you’ll need to learn tomorrow. So here are some helpful dedicated server terms you should know when choosing a reliable, affordable dedicated web host.

Access – Microsoft-based applicable that helps you create, edit, and maintain databases. If you’re a web developer running in the Windows environment, this is what you use to manage online MS SQL databases.

Apache – The most common Linux web server in the world. Okay, I’m being melodramatic but it’s incredibly popular and very powerful, secure, and best of all free!

Co-Location – If you want to own your own dedicated server but aren’t confident that you can host your site using your own internet connection or power supply, co-location assures you own the hardware (the server) and the web hosting provider supplies the rack to store the server and the internet connection to keep your website up and online.

IIS – IIS stands for Internet Information Server and is Microsoft’s branded server software. Just like Apache is the most popular web server for Linux, IIS is the #1 choice for Windows Dedicated Hosting.

Load-Balancing – If you are running a website like Myspace, Digg, or Facebook, odds are you already know what load balancing is. If you plan to create a website like this, you need load balancing 100%! Load balancing merely means distributing the traffic and resources evenly across two or more dedicated servers to increase and optimize performance.

Managed Hosting – The best idea for new dedicated hosters, managed hosting assures that your web host will take care of technical support, setup, maintenance, and monitoring of your dedicated server.

RAID – Also known as Redundant Array of Independent Disks, and if you say it that way, it sounds more like what it is. Basically, RAIDing your dedicated server will help you store data across a number of hard drives. If one disk fails, the other will restore the site or database so you don’t lose data.

Telnet – Just like SSH, a command line interface that allows you to communicate across your web server.

Upstream Provider – A large ISP (internet service provider) that provides dedicated web hosts with reliable internet access. However, the word ‘upstream’ actually can mean how fast or reliable the data connection is between two ISPs.

You may be wondering why we would be talking about “small business web hosting” on a dedicated server website. You may think to yourself, if you’re only a small business, why would you need such a big server, storage space, RAM, or bandwidth?

Well, our answer to you is that small businesses can be just as resource-intensive as fortune 100 corporations! It might surprise you to know that millions of small businesses are purchasing dedicated servers every day, because even if they appear to be a small business to some spheres, in their local or national markets, they play like the big boys.

Think, for example, about your local supermarket. Hundreds if not thousands of people shop there daily. Maybe the supermarket has a couple sister supermarkets placed around the county or nearby cities, or maybe it’s a chain supermarket but only for the Eastern, Western, or Midwestern United States. If they need a website, they are not going to be using shared web hosting – they are going to be sitting on a dedicated server, because those thousands of customers will be visiting their website to print directions, get contact information, request the newsletter, or search for deals and discounts.

Small businesses may be ‘small’ by nature, but they can eat up resources just like the big boys. Consider the following things as a small business owner:

* Do you have more than 100 employees?
* Do you require a custom Content Management System to be developed for your website management needs?
* Do you have more than 100 customers?
* Do you offer more than 50 products? Or if you offer services, do these services include web-based services like email, management, design, SEO, or logo creation?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you should consider dedicated server hosting.

You’re shopping for a dedicated server. You need not only the best price available but the best dedicated hosting discount, features, and billing cycles. And if you’re not sure where to begin, requesting a dedicated server quote from the provider of your choice is a great first step!

A dedicated server quote needs to contain specifics about what you are purchasing, the reliability of the web host you are choosing, and any terms and conditions that you are required to abide by in order to receive the pricing available. For example, you may only get the best pricing by purchasing a 1-year billing cycle.

So what exactly should be included in a dedicated server hosting quote?

1. Price & Discounts

Price is very, very important. If one provider can get you the server for $500 while another can only offer $1500, that’s a huge difference that needs to be addressed. Oftentimes, the difference will be due to equipment used (i.e. the more expensive company uses more expensive or better-performing servers).

Dedicated hosting discounts are also equally important. Many providers who use top-of-the-line equipment but might be slightly higher priced can get you discounts depending on contract term and length, features, and add-ons. Be sure to ask your dedicated host what discounts they can offer.

2. Technical Specs

How much bandwidth per month do you get? What about storage? Do you get a free domain name or free setup?

Some other features you’ll want to know about ahead of time:

* Type of Processor
* Amount of RAM included
* Managed or UnManaged Hosting
* Linux or Windows Web Hosting

3. Support Options

Does the dedicated webhost provide 24/7 support through telephone, email, and/or ticket help desks, forums, etc? More often than not, dedicated support should be handled via email so that everything is documented.

Overselling occurs when a webhost offers more storage per account than can actually fit on a single server. In shared web hosting, you host your website alongside 300-500 other websites on the same web server, housing all your content, pictures, files, music, as well as the contents of those 300-500 other websites. So if each person hosting on a shared server gets 2500GB, that’s 75,000GB of storage space necessary per server.

About 90% of the web hosts out there cannot support this. As mentioned previously, Lunarpages is one of the few exceptions, as their technology allows them to join servers and cluster them or move webmasters to new servers if they outgrow the space in shared hosting.

Above all, you should not only compare basic features like storage space but think about the technology backing up your choices. If you are really going to require 2500GB of storage space, you need dedicated server hosting.

Also remember that dedicated servers aren’t as expensive as they used to be and you can easily find dedicated hosting coupons everywhere, so if price is another reason you want to start out shared, give dedicated web hosting a try for a price you can afford.

One of the main things web hosting customers tend to compare from webhost to webhost is the amount of storage space the web hosting provider is offering. In a shared webhosting environment, it seems incredibly important, because most web hosts are similarly priced. For example, if one webhost offers 1500GB storage space and another offers Unlimited for the same price, you would tend to go with the one offering bigger storage allotments.

However, you need to know that webhosting storage space is limited. Unless you are hosting on a dedicated server (or several dedicated server clusters RAIDed together), there really is no such thing as unlimited storage space.

What these webhosts are offering is called overselling and most of the time it’s common practice. There are some web hosts who have been in the business for years and are actually technologically able to provide what they are preaching. For example, Lunarpages Web Hosting sells their Basic Hosting Plan with 1500GB Storage Space. This company has been in business since 1998, and they own thousands of web servers, so they are more than capable of backing up this kind of promise. However, most web hosting providers cannot support the amounts of storage space they offer, and they oversell their space.

I know it sounds like a joke, but dedicated hosting is much like a sandwich. When you take part a sandwich you are left with parts that are not good unless they are together as a whole. The same could be said for dedicated hosting.

Your bread would be the support you receive from the dedicated web host who will help you with any problems you might have. As the bread supports the sandwich and all the yummy insides, the support team at you web hosting company should do the same. They should take care of your hosting account to the best of their abilities.

The meat of the sandwich, would be the same as your disk space and bandwidth limits. This is the basic thing that makes a hosting account so delicious. It is what makes the sandwich what it is. You never hear people say they have a lettuce sandwich with turkey. It is called a turkey sandwich.

Your condiments for this tasty meal would be your extra features that come included or you need added to your dedicated account. Your control panels, your PHP, ASP and JSP support, your SSH access. All of these would fit in there like so. SSH and mustard go hand in hand. Just don’t try to put mustard in your hand, because it tends to get messy.

So if you are having trouble with your check list to make sure your dedicated host is delivering you the goods, think of it as a sandwich or some other multi-parted feast that you can relate it to to make sure you are getting your money’s worth.

There are 7 Standard RAID levels, which make up the basis of the RAID configurations, which you can use to get larger hard drive storage space for your dedicated server hosting plan. These RAID configurations employ the three main concepts of RAID: mirroring, striping, and error correcting. Just make sure the level of RAID you choose is the best one for your needs. Any reliable dedicated hosting provider can assist you in making the proper decision.

RAID 0 offers a completely even split of data across two or more hard drives. Though RAID 0 wasn’t one of the original levels of RAID integration and doesn’t provide any redundancy, it’s more or less used to help boost the servers’ performances across multiple platforms. RAID 0 is interesting because the hard drives do not have to be the exact same size.

RAID 1 works a bit differently, copying exactly one of the data disks and producing a mirrored copy. RAID 1 configuration is best where reliability of the servers in question is a major concern

RAID 2 synchronizes (through the controller) to offer incredible data transfer rates, though this level of RAID is not normally used as it utilizes a hammering code to assist with error correction.

RAID 3 is also an extremely rare RAID configuration on dedicated server hosting. A large downside and partial reason for this is because RAID 3 generally cannot assist in duplicate requests at the same time.

RAID 4 is quite a bit more popular and allows and compensates for what RAID 3 doesn’t – it allows multiple simultaneous requests and can read them as well.

RAID 5 is possibly the most popular RAID configuration, mostly due to the fact that doesn’t require many drives to achieve its greatest results in redundancy and reliability.

RAID 6 is more or less an extension of RAID 5 and allows for the most efficient use of space, though only when utilizing a smaller number of drives.

Although also a bug-killing insecticide, RAID in dedicated server hosting terms stands for Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks (also known as Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Drives or Redundant Arrays of Independent Disks/Drives) and is an important aspect of your dedicated server hosting plan.

Especially if you are running a large, data-driven website that requires a larger disk or hard drive storage space than normal, you can use RAID technology to combine multiple hard drives to increase the amount of available storage space for your pictures, videos, music, files, documents, and more. RAID is also said to increase the redundancy and reliability of your server, offering better general performance of your servers and bigger hard drive volume through collection.

There are Standard RAID Levels (from 0 to 6) which can accomplish the RAID in alternative methods, and there are also Nested and Non-Standard Levels. RAID can be software or hardware based and is normally split between three major concepts called mirroring, striping, and error correction.