In the hosting business, a dedicated server refers to the exclusive use of a computer that includes an operating system, application or web software, and a connection to the Internet, housed in the hosting company’s premises. A dedicated server is usually needed for a Web site or application that may need to support a considerable amount of traffic – for example, a web site that must handle up to 35 million hits a day. The server can usually be configured and operated remotely by the customer or can be managed for you by Xogenous. Use of a dedicated server can save router, Internet connection, security system, and network administration costs.

Typically, a leased dedicated server provides a stated amount of memory, hard disk space, and bandwidth or dedicated Internet speed. A dedicated server means you will receive an entire server which is not shared with any other users. This can be a more flexible option than a shared server, as organizations have full control over the server, including choice of operating system, hardware, etc. Server administration can either be provided by Xogenous as an add-on service or directly by the customer. In most cases, a dedicated server can offer less overhead and a larger return on investment.

Virtual Servers

Virtualization is a combination of software and hardware engineering that creates Virtual Machines (VMs) – an abstraction of the computer hardware that allows a single machine to act as if it where many machines.

It is not unusual to achieve a 10:1 virtual machine to physical machine consolidation. This means that ten server applications can be run on a single machine that had required as many physical computers to provide the unique operating system and technical specification environments in order to operate. Server utilization is optimized and legacy software can maintain old OS configurations while new applications are running in VMs with updated platforms.

Although a server supporting many VMs will probably have more memory, CPUs, and other hardware it will use little or no more power and occupy the same physical space reducing utilities costs and real estate expenditures.

Some of the advantages of virtual machines over dedicated servers are:

• Use computer processing power more efficiently
• Reduced energy consumption (a) One physical server instead of several (b) Air conditioning usage is reduced (c) Power is reduced and lower backup power resources are necessary
• Eliminate continual hardware purchases and upgrades
  1. All the hardware is virtualized
  2. Hardware upgrades are on  software level (memory, processor, or any controller)
  3. No need to  physically install hardware
• Safer, faster backups and restore
  1. Ability to take live snapshots  while OS is running
  2. You can schedule snapshots of OS
  3. Less time to  recover the whole OS
• Reduced IT overhead.
• Simplified IT Management from a remote location (from anywhere in the  world using an Internet connection).
• Ability to use Thin Clients (low-cost centrally managed computers that require almost no  hardware maintenance).
• Ability to use existing computers for remote desktop connection to virtual  machines located on the main server.
• Faster server/client connection speed through a virtual switch.

Using a virtual server can save you considerable dollars because you will be effectively renting space on a larger host computer rather than having a computer dedicated to running your server. In a virtual server environment, as many as 10 servers can co-exist on the same physical hardware. This hardware can have access to enormous amounts of hard drive and memory that can be allocated on-demand to any of the virtual servers housed in the computer. With a dedicated server, these changes will require powering down the computer, adding memory chips or hard drives, initializing the drive once installed, and moving your data and applications from the old drive to the new.

There is no compromise on performance, features, or access between the two methods. Cost savings can be readily seen by comparing the pricing structure between a virtual server and a dedicated server.