Dedicated hosting is a stable and reliable hosting solution that has grown increasingly popular with expanding businesses and eCommerce websites. With dedicated hosting plans, all of the server’s resources are dedicated solely to you without being shared amongst other users. This means that dedicated hosting can promise fast speeds, consistent uptime, and strong security, making it a great choice for high-traffic websites.
Dedicated hosting also grants root access, which means more experienced users will love the additional flexibility and control over the configurations of their servers. On the other hand, less experienced users may struggle with the extra responsibility and may have to pay to outsource admin and maintenance tasks.
If you’ve decided that dedicated hosting is the best hosting solution for your website, then you now need to select a suitable plan. There are heaps of web hosts to choose from and it can be tricky to narrow them all down to just one, so we’re here to help out. We’ve researched all the most popular web hosts to find the top three best dedicated hosting plans in 2023, so you can easily pick the right one for your website.
The pros and cons of dedicated hosting
Not sure if dedicated hosting is right for you? Here are some pros and cons of this hosting solution:
Pros
Enhanced security – Dedicated hosting ensures a high level of security and a lesser chance of cyberattacks compared to other hosting solutions. This is due to the server being both physical and isolated, meaning that there are minimal openings for security breaches. You don’t have to worry about outdated applications from other users that might affect your server’s security, which is an issue that can arise with shared hosting. Also, since your data is isolated from other customers, then it’s much easier to prevent DDoS attacks.
Most importantly, with dedicated hosting, you have the freedom to implement your own security protocols such as configuring firewalls and antivirus applications. You can also, for example, change the SHH listen port to something other than 22 to prevent automated brute-force attacks. With unmanaged dedicated hosting plans, it’s also up to you to keep all systems regularly updated and running scheduled backups to save you in the case of a ransomware attack or other hacking attempts.
More control – With dedicated hosting, you can configure your server however you want. Since you have root access control to the server, you can access server logs, manage users, alter settings, and install additional applications. A dedicated server can be tailored to meet your specific needs, so you can ensure that your website performs exactly how you want it to.
Additionally, with dedicated hosting, you’re guaranteed fantastic performance compared to other solutions such as shared hosting. This is due to you receiving the full resources of a single server rather than needing to share them with other websites. You can customize your server to accommodate however much RAM, CPU, or disk space you need, with the only limit being your budget. Also, unlike with shared hosting, you’ll never have to experience the ‘bad neighbour effect’, which is an issue that arises from other websites on a shared server abusing their resources and, in turn, depleting your own.
Cons
More expensive – Since an entire server is dedicated to you, you can expect a much high annual cost compared to shared hosting. This form of web hosting is definitely an investment and you should have a good idea of your site’s overall performance before committing to a dedicated hosting plan. If your website isn’t receiving much traffic then having dedicated resources is a waste of money. However, if you’re currently using shared hosting and your website has regular traffic that is steadily growing, then you should consider upgrading to a dedicated hosting plan.
Moreover, if you have no prior technical knowledge when it comes to running a server, then you’ll need to set aside additional money to spend on hiring an IT professional or outsourcing the work for someone to run your server for you.
Technical knowledge required – As mentioned above, if you don’t have any technical knowledge or previous experience of running a server, then you’ll need to pay someone to do it for you. Setting up, managing, and completing admin tasks requires a significant amount of technical knowledge that cannot be learned overnight. And, if you don’t take the necessary steps, then you could be seriously compromising the security and performance of your server. Some hosting providers have optional fully-managed servers, which means that they take care of updating and managing both the server’s software and hardware on your behalf. However, do bear in mind that managed dedicated servers cost considerably more than unmanaged dedicated servers.
Our top recommended best dedicated hosting plans in 2023
To help you decide on a dedicated hosting plan, we’ve put together a list of the top dedicated hosting providers. We’ve handpicked this selection based on their user experience, security, performance, and pricing, to ensure that you get the best dedicated hosting experience possible.
Hostgator
For cost-effective and beginner-friendly dedicated hosting plans, look no further than Hostgator. This web host provides a generous amount of resources in each of its plans and also guarantees super-fast speeds, robust security, and a reliable 99.9% uptime guarantee.
Hostgator’s value dedicated plan provides you with 4 CPU cores, 8 GB RAM, and 1TB HDD whilst the premium enterprise plan provides you with 8 CPU cores, 30 GB RAM, and 1 TB SSD. All dedicated hosting plans come with unmetered bandwidth, 3 dedicated IPs, cPanel control panel, and full root access control. With Hostgator, you also have the choice between fully-managed servers and semi-managed servers.
Hostgator takes care of basic security measures with advanced DDoS protection and the option for both scheduled and manual backups. Additionally, all dedicated servers are hosted in a US-based, tier 3 data center which has an expected uptime of 99.982% and employs systems that can update it without any disruption to the hosting service.
You can also make use of Hostgator’s AI website builder that can be purchased at an additional cost. This intelligent tool will create a fully customizable site based on your answers to specific questions and from there you can make any alterations. You can change anything from the font and text size to the colour scheme and layout using the simple drag-and-drop interface. You can even try out the included logo maker or choose between advanced eCommerce features such as integrated shipping, inventory management, coupon codes, and email marketing campaigns.
All of Hostgator’s plans include premium 24/7 support from experts who have extensive hosting experience. This means that you can have any problems quickly addressed and resolved without any inconvenience. Alternatively, you can head to Hostgator’s YouTube channel for step-by-step tutorials and guides, or the knowledge base for FAQs and other queries.
Bluehost
Bluehost is another reputable web host that has grown incredibly popular amongst both first-time users and experienced developers. With affordable plans and additional tools such as a website builder, security monitoring software, and automatic backup software, Bluehost is an ideal choice for anyone who wants to drive into dedicated hosting and have a smooth, trouble-free experience.
Bluehost has three dedicated plans to choose from, with the standard plan giving you 4 GB RAM, 4 CPU cores, 5 TB network bandwidth, 3 dedicated IPs, and 500 GB SSD storage. On the other hand, the more expensive premium plan gives you 16 GB RAM, 15 TB network bandwidth, 5 dedicated IPs, and 1TB SSD storage.
All dedicated hosting plans come with free one-year domain registration, SSL, and cPanel with optional root control access. With Bluehost, you’re able to upgrade your plan at any time and increase resources on the go to quickly manage major traffic influxes. There are also several add-ons available such as extra SSD storage, additional dedicated IP, premium SSL certificates, spam email filtering, domain privacy, and SEO tools.
With Bluehost, you can protect your website with Sitelock, an automatic monitoring tool that protects against spammers, hackers, and malicious cyberattacks. Additionally, CodeGuard is an available tool that can be purchased along with all Bluehost’s hosting plans. This tool performs automated daily backups and monitors for any changes to your website. With CodeGuard, you can easily restore a previous version of your website with just a single click and absolutely no hassle.
Bluehost has an experienced support team that’s available 24/7 and has been specifically trained to help with dedicated hosting issues. If you’d rather address issues yourself, then Bluehost has a range of support resources at hand. In their resource base, you’ll find educational guides and tutorials in addition to in-depth answers to frequently asked questions.
A2 Hosting
A2 Hosting is an esteemed web host that has a 99.9% uptime commitment and provides a reliable service, ultra-fast speeds, and developer-friendly solutions. This web host also has specialized turbo servers that are built with advanced caching software, optimized configurations, and various performance add-ons to ensure up to 40X faster CPU performance and 20X faster page loading speeds.
When it comes to dedicated hosting, with A2 Hosting, you have the choice between unmanaged and managed servers. The unmanaged plans are much cheaper and allow for much more control and flexibility. With A2 hosting’s managed dedicated plans, you get up to 64 GB RAM, 2 TB SSD storage, 10 CPU cores, free dedicated IP, and full root access control. You also have SSH access, 1-click software setup, and instant server activation, meaning that you can have access to your server within 30-minutes of purchasing a hosting plan.
The managed server plans, on the other hand, are much more expensive but in turn, come equipped with lots of additions. With A2 Hosting’s managed dedicated servers, you get the same resources (RAM, CPU, SSD) as well as two free dedicated IPs, cPanel control panel, a WordPress toolkit, unlimited websites, and SSL. As A2 Hosting will be taking care of your security too, their managed hosting plans also come with a selection of security features including 2FA, a virus scanner, reinforced DDoS protection, dual firewall, brute force defence, and 24/7 security monitoring.
A2 Hosting’s managed and unmanaged dedicated hosting plans are packed with features and provide you with more than enough resources to support your website. Choosing between these two options depends entirely on your own budget and your level of technical knowledge.
Whichever plan you choose, if you need any extra assistance or guidance then you can contact A2 Hosting’s handy support team who are available 24/7. Otherwise, you can check out the detailed knowledge base for helpful how-tos, guides, and articles which cover just about any hosting-related topic you can think of.
A final note
If you think that perhaps dedicated hosting isn’t suitable for your website, then have a read of our different types of web hosting solutions article to explore your other options!