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!

So you’re looking for cheap dedicated servers, huh? Well, you’ve definitely come to the right place. We like to keep you informed with the best web hosting deals and discounts in the world, especially in the dedicated server hosting hemisphere. So without much ado, here’s a rundown of the top dedicated hosting coupons you can find online.

DSHRAM - 1 month FREE DEDICATED HOSTING plus an extra 1GB RAM. The value of this coupon depends upon what you buy, but could save you hundreds of dollars! Great deal!

DSH - $55 off your total purchase of any 3, 6, 12, or 24 month Dedicated Server plan. This’ll take off up to $18/month! Great savings for a game server, media server, or even Silverlight application

FREE WEB EXPRESSIONS SOFTWARE - No coupon necessary! Just hurry over to Lunarpages Dedicated Server Hosting and sign up for any Windows server and you’ll get a 100% free copy of Microsoft Web Expressions, plus a year’s worth of Total Training to help you get started with ASP and Microsoft

Take advantage of 2 deals at once and combine one of the coupon offers with the Free Web Expressions Software to save over $1100!

You really can’t find better dedicated hosting deals.

What are the costs involved in setting up my Dedicated Server?

This all depends on what you’re ordering. It’s like if you go to Subway and get a sandwich – if you’re just ordering turkey on wheat, you can get it for a base price. If you want turkey on wheat with extra cheese and extra meat, plus a second sub of similar value, there’s going to be an additional cost per extra cheese, extra meat, and for the second sub. It’s the same way for dedicated servers – if you want extra RAM, extra bandwidth, or a second server, charges will vary.

Remember, your dedicated web host should work with you to provide the best server experience possible, as well as the most minimal cost. Ask about dedicated hosting coupons and get a quote on the server before you buy. If you get a better offer elsewhere but would like to use the more expensive service, be upfront and tell them you found a better deal. More than likely, they will work with you.

Okay, but really – how much should I be expected to pay per month or year?

Let’s take a real-life example. You are a web designer and you want to host all your clients on a Linux dedicated server. So far, you have 50-100 clients and don’t expect to grow more than 5 clients per month. Each client requires 1GB of storage space and 1GB bandwidth/month. Your clients prefer cPanel as a control panel, so they (and you) can manage their services for them. Here’s your dedicated server quote:

• Dedicated Hosting Charge Per Month = $99
• Dedicated Hosting Setup Fee (including setup for cPanel) = $160**
• cPanel Control Panel Charge Per Month = $35

TOTAL CHARGES***:    $294.00

** This setup fee can be removed if you choose to pay for 3, 6, 12, or even 24 months upfront.
*** This is only the first month’s charge, so don’t let it scare you! Next month, you wouldn’t have to worry about setup fees, which means your monthly charge will only be $134.

How can I get the best discounts available on purchasing my first server?

1) Call the dedicated web host – ask for the best discount for your situation
2) Go with our recommendation for LPDedicated.com and use coupon code DSHRAM for 1 Free Month + 1 Free GB RAM or use coupon code DSH for $55 off
3) Go with a longer billing cycle – if you’re not paying month-to-month or if you commit to 12 or 24 months upfront, you can save quite a bit in the long haul

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.

Some might say you wouldn’t need a dedicated web hosting company to do your standard forum hosting, and they might be right.  Under some circumstances and depending on the scripts you are using to make your digital world go around, dedicated hosting might not be a bad way to go. 

Web sites that are overly popular could probably do with the power and performance a dedicated machine could deliver.  Look at limits like disk space and bandwidth, sure.   Don’t forget though about things such as CPU power and RAM.  The more of that you have the smoother your forums will run.

Some server side scripts to run your forums or message boards can be demanding too.  One of the most demanding is vBulletin.  Now you might be able to get away with running it on a shared machine but you would be much better off on a dedicated one.  I can be a big server hog at times, so be sure to feed your hog with the server resources it needs to survive.

It is the thing that any hosting guru dreads and something you too might need to become concerned with.  When it comes to load limits, we know a server can only take so much.  What are some of the major causes of server overloads?  Let us take a look and find out.

Too Much Traffic - This is almost a problem you would love to have.  When you have too much real traffic coming into a single web site, the server can start having problems delivering data back to those who are asking for it.  Those looking for a way to survive the Digg effect are often considered to be in the same category.

DDoS Attacks - These are attacks by hundreds or millions of machines all at one place to one place trying to take it down.  Multiple compromised PCs flood the bandwidth and resources of the targeted system bringing it to its knees.

Computer Worms or Viruses - Worms and viruses can also cause harm to and hosting server.  This, much like a DDoS attack is usually aimed at hitting a server as hard as you can with just visits from millions of infected computers around the world.

Now for things like web robots, Internet or network slowdowns there isn’t much you can do to stop them but they too can harm you as well.  These are definitely things you should bring up with your dedicated server host today to make sure they are ready to handle any and all challenges.  Finding a good dedicated server host can save you a lot of heart ache down the road.

The best place to host your YouTube-like projects and web sites would be a VPS or even better a dedicated hosting server.  Now some might ask, what separates these types of scripts (such as PHPmotion) from other scripts out there that don’t seem to be much different. 

The differences is the amount of work the server must do to process these videos from .avi, .wmv, .mov and more to .flv files.  The FLV format is the format used for most if not all Flash video players.  Often with shared hosting environments you are not given access to enough server resources (like CPU and RAM usage) to be able to convert these videos as quickly as you need to.

Here are a few more things that you would find much easier to get installed on a dedicated server:

• LAME MP3 Encoder
• Libogg + Libvorbis
• Mencoder
• Mplayer

If you plan on becoming popular (and who doesn’t these days) you will want to be able to support as many users as you can and with this type of script, shared hosting just does not cut the cake. 

So the next time you decide you want your web site or planned project needs a little more power behind it, a dedicated hosting plan might be the better way to go in the long run.

When upgrading to a dedicated server, chances are a lot of the time you are moving because you need more than what shared hosting can provide.  The most asked for feature when it comes to dedicated hosting is server resources.  When talking about such a vague phrase - it can be a ‘bit confusing.  Most of the time when you hear the phrase "server resources" used - the person in question is talking about RAM and CPU you have available to you.

Here is one of our past articles that does a good job in describing what RAM means to dedicated hosting.

What is Server RAM?

Having a large amount of RAM is important to any web hosting server but especially to any Dedicated Server Hosting plan.  RAM (or Random Access Memory) is basically computer data storage that allows a user to access any “memory” on the server.  The more RAM, the faster your server is going to run and the quicker your website will load.  [read more!]

Now with CPU, this is the processing power that the server has to push out the "work" you need the server to perform.  Some often used processors are:

• Intel Celeron
• Intel Pentium 4
• Dual Intel Xeon

Sometimes if you need a high performance dedicated hosting server, you might even look at more powerful processors such as the Dual Core Intel 5130 Xeon.  Now that is a powerful processor.