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It’s safe to say most people wonder what a dedicated server actually is. In all honesty, a dedicated server isn’t that complicated a product. A dedicated server in very simple words, is a computer, in a server case, hosted in a datacentre on a high powered internet connection. 99% of hosts that provide server hosting should tick all these boxes. Having the correct setup and environment is essential for dedicated server web. Let’s go over those descriptions for a dedicated server.

Dedicated servers are just like home computers

A computer is housed in a big case, that’s suitable to sit on a desk or dining room table (which is where I’m writing from on my Macbook at present!). A server on the other hand, will be hosted in a special case, that can be anywhere from 1U or 4U. ‘U’ is a measurement of space, and 1U is about 3″. Rackmounted servers are specialised to fit into racks in datacentres. Apart from allowing efficient air flow and cooling, racks allow for efficient cable management. One of the best know dedicated server manufacturers, is Dell. Who as you will know also provide laptops and home PC’s. So perhaps the main difference is the case a server or home computer uses. Granted dedicated servers are usually a lot more high powered and resilient.

Datacentres host dedicated servers

The average managed server will be in a 1U case. If you think of a pizza box, the height is about the same as 1U! Although, you won’t find pizza in a server case. A good example is the R200 server by Dell. Generally, these consume between 0.4 and 0.6 amps. In a 16 amp you could house around 26 servers. Using rackmount rails, these servers are stacked on top of each other, with air flow in between each server. Each dedicated server has a network and power port at the back. Each rack will have power supply units and at least one switch for the server to connect to. Datacentre racks are arranged into aisels. Rows of racks in aisels can be seen in datacentres. Some racks will host high powered routers, and switches, which jump off onto the main internet backbone. For this kind of environment, a company such as Melbourne who specialise in server hosting would be ideal.

Fast internet for dedicated servers

The majority of home connections run at around 10mbs. Dedicated servers need more. A 100mbit connection is expected for dedicated servers. Website such as video sites require this high connection. So in conclusion, the right hardware, a good datacentre and fast connection are needed for server hosting.