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  1. #1

    VPS or Dedicated - The Right Solution

    Hi,

    I'm looking for some advice on our current hosting solution as I'm trying to save a bit of money on what we currently do.

    The website is <<removed>> and currently we have a dedicated server with Heart with the following specs:

    Dual Core Xeon 2.33Ghz CPU
    2 x 160GB SATA Hard Drives
    4GB RAM
    Unlimited Bandwidth
    Linux CentOS 6
    cPanel

    This is currently costing us £96/month - I have a feeling that this is overkill in the meantime.

    As well as the site that is currently up, we also plan to run an ecommerce website and our emails come through the server as well.

    Our current site gets around 2,000 - 3,000 hits a month.

    So, I'm looking at other options to save us a bit of money.

    I've found a dedicated server from Rapid Switch which would cost us £51/month with the following specs:

    Dual Core 2.2 Ghz CPU
    1x 160 GB Hard Drive
    3GB RAM
    10,000GB Bandwidth/month (or 10MBit unmetered connection for an extra £10/month).
    Linux CentOS
    cPanel

    I'm guessing that this would be plenty for our needs?

    I've also thought about switching to a VPS instead - what are the pros and cons of a VPS compared to a Dedicated Server?

    I also have to think about scalability as we're a growing company so that needs to be big consideration as well.

    Are there any other options I'm missing or any further advice that you need?

    Thanks!
    Last edited by Mike V; 10-17-2013 at 11:35 AM.

  2. #2
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    I hope you are not just comparing based on the price but you should also consider the support, hardware quality and network when you are moving as it can turn into disaster.

    But yes, dedicated server is better as you have control all the resources of a dedicated server.

    Specially 4 U
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  3. #3
    No, it's not just a price issue. I like Heart and I'm a little reluctant to move away from them as I've always received good support from them. My boss is however asking questions, so I want to look in to alternatives.

    If nothing shows up as being better, than I don't think it'll be a problem. A quick Google seems to say Rapid Switch are decent (at least in recent years) so they interest me. I'd look in to this as much as possible before switching though.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by 0Neji View Post
    Dual Core Xeon 2.33Ghz CPU
    2 x 160GB SATA Hard Drives
    4GB RAM
    Unlimited Bandwidth
    Linux CentOS 6
    cPanel

    I've found a dedicated server from Rapid Switch which would cost us £51/month with the following specs:

    Dual Core 2.2 Ghz CPU
    1x 160 GB Hard Drive
    3GB RAM
    10,000GB Bandwidth/month (or 10MBit unmetered connection for an extra £10/month).
    Linux CentOS
    cPanel
    The first thing I noticed is the hard drive count. Are you currently on RAID-1 (mirrored)? Moving from two drives to one means you can't use RAID, which means that if the drive fails you have to rebuild the server. If you have recent backups, you wouldn't lose anything - but it would take a while to do.

    To answer your general question: Your CPUs are probably not the fastest. With a VPS, you can have a fair-share of the CPU on the parent node, which would be a very powerful one. It varies from provider to provider, but many let you burst to use much more than you get at present. So you may find you get more oomph out of a good VPS than you get at present.

    One issue is hard-disk use. That's something that is much harder to isolate on a VPS setup. Currently, those two disks are yours exclusively. Go onto a VPS, and you're using the same disks as your neighbours. You need a provider who clamps down on abusers so that you aren't slowed down when others are using lots of iops.

    You could have a look at Future Hosting - they have a UK location (Byfleet, IIRC). Their VPS are excellent and the support is very good indeed. One option would be to get them (or another provider) to move you over, but don't cancel the dedicated server just yet. If the site deteriorates for not being on a dedicated server, you can always move back.

    If you want to save money, I'd definitely look at VPS over a cheaper dedicated server. What you're paying is not a bad price, and pay too little for a dedi might mean you get what you pay for.
    Not as active on WHT as I used to be, but still drop in and receive email notifications from here.
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  5. #5
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    Based on the amount of hits you say you're getting, I would go with a Fully Managed cPanel VPS. Many reputable providers here on WHT could serve this request such as WiredTree, KnownHost, etc. You could make a significant financial saving by moving from a Dedicated Server > VPS -- as long as you choose a reputable provider who know what they're doing. Make sure to read reviews!
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  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by JamesOakley View Post
    The first thing I noticed is the hard drive count. Are you currently on RAID-1 (mirrored)? Moving from two drives to one means you can't use RAID, which means that if the drive fails you have to rebuild the server. If you have recent backups, you wouldn't lose anything - but it would take a while to do.
    I'm not sure if I'm on RAID-1 to be honest and I can't see any mention of it on Heart. With that and a second Hard Drive on Rapid Switch it'd bring the price to around £61.50.

    Quote Originally Posted by JamesOakley View Post
    To answer your general question: Your CPUs are probably not the fastest.
    Will this have a big effect? The one we currently have seems to be fine (without really looking more in to it).

    Quote Originally Posted by JamesOakley View Post
    If you want to save money, I'd definitely look at VPS over a cheaper dedicated server. What you're paying is not a bad price, and pay too little for a dedi might mean you get what you pay for.
    Yep, that's the worry. As I said, it's only worth saving money if it's the right decision for the company/website.

    I'll take a look at the providers mentioned so far.

  7. #7
    Sorry for the double post, just don't want this one to get lost.

    Having a further look - I've also spotted on Heart that they do 'Hybrid Servers'. As an example of what that offers:

    RAID 1 (1TB with 2-disk mirroring for speed and redundancy)
    6 vCPU cores
    20GB dedicated RAM
    Centos6 with Plesk (10 sites)
    Unlimited bandwidth

    Would this also be a good option? More expensive than a VPS but less than our dedicated.

  8. #8
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    Your website is is almost all static.

    You can server 10k unique visitors per month on a 64MB VPS.

    If you have mail server, antivirus, some other services you should really consider moving to a VPS and it will save you huge.

    Just go with iwstack and you'll be able to get as much resources as needed on the go with something as low as 7-8 eu/m.
    How can you factor in VAT when comparing since you are subject to VAT on everything? Obviously purchases made outside the EU are not going to be collected with VAT, but are you not still responsible to pay it on your own? - Tim Flavin from "Hostigation.com"

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by 0Neji View Post
    Will this have a big effect? The one we currently have seems to be fine (without really looking more in to it).
    So you wouldn't move to a VPS to improve things. Rather, the issue is that most people would fear things going downhill when moving to a VPS. My point was that this is unlikely to be the case, as you'll be on a server that has a more powerful CPU and faster disks.

    Quote Originally Posted by 0Neji View Post
    Having a further look - I've also spotted on Heart that they do 'Hybrid Servers'. As an example of what that offers:

    ...

    Would this also be a good option? More expensive than a VPS but less than our dedicated.
    Only experience can tell - and I've never used their services. If it's more expensive than a VPS, I can't see the benefits from paying more if you don't need to.

    I mentioned Future Hosting. Their VPS with 4 GB of RAM (the same as you currently have) is $70 per month ~ £47. That should be the most you'd need to pay; if you find you can get away with 3 GB of RAM (which you're considering) you'd end up saving even more.

    Quote Originally Posted by Kurikami View Post
    Just go with iwstack and you'll be able to get as much resources as needed on the go with something as low as 7-8 eu/m.
    Yes, there are big savings in the unmanaged VPS market, and some solid providers. But from what the OP is looking at, a fully managed setup seems a more appropriate recommendation.
    Not as active on WHT as I used to be, but still drop in and receive email notifications from here.
    My personal blog site: https://www.oakleys.org.uk/blog

  10. #10
    Future Hosting is looking like a good bet so far - seem to have some great feedback and the prices are better than Heart.

    So 'finding if I can get by with 3GB' - I guess this will just be an experience thing as well? Would you think 3GB would be enough based on the info I've given? Don't worry I won't hold you to it

    Also, I'm assuming even the lowest bandwidth would be enough for our needs? I've calculated an approx 10.5GB is what our views takes up which sounds like a big difference. I don't know if I'm missing anything with this, I guess that being a VPS - those resources are shared?

    I'm definitely leaning towards a VPS now - my boss will be very pleased with the savings

    EDIT:

    Regarding unmanaged servers - I really like the prices but I think I'd prefer the managed options - at least in the short run. I'm new to a lot of this (as if you can't tell) so managed is probably the way to go for now.
    Last edited by 0Neji; 10-17-2013 at 09:15 AM.

  11. #11
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    Regarding RAM: Don't hold me to it but I'd have thought you'd find 3 GB is ample. You may even get away with less, but my hunch would be to try 3. It's a cut from 4, but not a huge cut. You can always reduce again if it turns out you can. (Ask Future Hosting to install Munin on the server then you can keep tabs on how memory usage is working out).

    I always advise people to send the pre-sales people an e-mail before signing up. There's a question you could ask. Tell them what scripts you run and the kind of traffic you get (pageviews, as opposed to the more ambiguous "hits"), and ask what memory they'd recommend.

    Bandwidth: Yes, 10 GB sounds about right for a site like yours. Which, as you've seen, fits into even the smallest plan. So don't worry about the bandwidth side of things.

    I don't know what you mean when you query whether the resources are shared. The parent node will have one (or several) network cards that give a maximum number of Mbps throughput. You share that with the other VPS on the node. But the bandwidth specified in the plan is the amount of data you can transfer in or out each month, and is for your VPS alone.
    Not as active on WHT as I used to be, but still drop in and receive email notifications from here.
    My personal blog site: https://www.oakleys.org.uk/blog

  12. #12
    Yeah, I've fired an email off to them, just waiting to hear back.

    All being well with their response, I'll probably give the 3GB a try first out.

    Thanks for all the help. Expect more questions at some point

  13. #13
    Just out of curiosity, is a VPS even necessary? I truly think you would be fine with a semi-dedicated shared plan. It'd be cheaper than a VPS. Security would be easier, performance would be better.

    Too often, I see people go for VPS, when it's truly overkill for their site. I know of several large sites that can fit on shared if the customer and the host have a good partnership.

    Edit: Another thing, whether you go for a VPS or not, there may be some ways to improve it. Like a varnish cache, or something like that to cut those resources, and costs down. These are just some questions worth asking.
    Last edited by UH-Bobby; 10-17-2013 at 09:45 AM.
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  14. #14
    You tell me :p

    Hadn't read about semi-dedicated shared plans to be honest but after a quick Google - I've found these guys:

    http://www.siteground.com/semi_dedicated_hosting.htm

    The prices are great and the traffic suggestions are more than inline with what we get.

    Can you recommend any companies who do this? And in what way is performance better (out of interest more than anything else)?

    Thanks for the tips on Varnish Cache etc - I'll definitely look in to that if we go for a VPS!

  15. #15
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    I recommend HawkHost for Semi-Dedicated Hosting. Very good service. http://www.hawkhost.com/semi-dedicated-hosting

    They have a 25% recurring special on any plan using coupon code 'sdoctober2013' too.
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  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by 0Neji View Post
    You tell me :p

    Hadn't read about semi-dedicated shared plans to be honest but after a quick Google - I've found these guys:

    http://www.siteground.com/semi_dedicated_hosting.htm

    The prices are great and the traffic suggestions are more than inline with what we get.

    Can you recommend any companies who do this? And in what way is performance better (out of interest more than anything else)?

    Thanks for the tips on Varnish Cache etc - I'll definitely look in to that if we go for a VPS!

    Your site is mostly static in nature. You've got several good options available to you. There are a bunch of providers who do this, one off the top of my head is mddhosting.com. One thing I'd recommend, look for one who has a caching platform, like varnish.

    I think you could find a semi-dedicated plan with a host who's running varnish or something like it, and contact their sales for promotional discounts, and I think you'd have a very fast and flexible platform that could handle the load easily, and be more cost effective for you.

    There's a bunch of good companies out there. I mean, if you don't need a VPS for running custom software or settings, then why deal with the cost of that from both a money and time perspective. If you don't keep up with the security of the box, someone will have to. And you'll have to cover that cost, either with your money or with your time.

    All you need is a good technology partner. Someone that can work with you to craft a perfect solution.
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  17. #17
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    * Recommendation

    Hi, I would personally suggest that since its on a growing stage, go for a vps (select a little advanced plan), take on quaterly or 6 months basis. Once it grows and your forecast becomes true, switch over a dedicated server. By this you would save your cost also under your growing stage, which am sure any one would.
    Last edited by Mike V; 10-17-2013 at 11:36 AM. Reason: Removed QUOTE
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