A dedicated hosting service, dedicated server, or managed hosting service is a type of Internet hosting where the client leases an entire server not shared with anyone. This is more flexible than shared hosting, as organizations have full control over the server(s), including choice of operating system, hardware, etc. Server administration can usually be provided by the hosting company as an add-on service. In some cases a dedicated server can offer less overhead and a larger return on investment. Dedicated servers are most often housed in data centers, similar to colocation facilities, providing redundant power sources and HVAC systems. In contrast to colocation, the server hardware is owned by the provider and in some cases they will provide support for your operating system or applications. An Internet hosting service is a service that runs Internet servers, allowing organizations and individuals to serve content on the Internet. ... A virtual private server (also referred to as virtual dedicated server or virtual server, and abbreviated VPS or VDS) is a method of partitioning one physical server computer into multiple servers that each has the appearance and capabilities of running on its own dedicated machine. ... For collocation methods for the solution of differential equations, see collocation method. ... An example of rack mounted servers. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A shared web hosting service or virtual hosting service is a form of web hosting service where more than one instance of the same web server is hosted on a single physical server. ... Clustered hosting technology is designed to eliminate the problems inherent with typical shared hosting infrastructures. ... Reseller hosting is a form of web hosting wherein the account owner may split up their allotted hard drive space and bandwidth and resell web hosting. ... A blog hosting service is a service that hosts blogs. ... A guild hosting or clan hosting service is a specialized type of web hosting service designed to support online gaming communities, generally referred to as guilds or clans. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A video hosting service allows individuals to upload video clips to an Internet website. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A file hosting service, online file storage service, or online media center is an Internet hosting service specifically designed to host static content, typically large files that are not web pages. ... A remote backup service or online backup service is a service that provides users with an online system for backing up and storing computer files. ... A game server is a server used by game clients. ... A DNS hosting service is a service that runs Domain Name System servers. ... An e-mail hosting service is an Internet hosting service that runs e-mail servers. ... An Internet hosting service is a service that runs Internet servers, allowing organizations and individuals to serve content on the Internet. ... Shared hosting is a form of web hosting where more than one web site is hosted on the same server. ... // An operating system (OS) is the software that manages the sharing of the resources of a computer. ... For other uses, see Hardware (disambiguation). ... In finance, the return on investment (ROI) or just return is a calculation used to determine whether a proposed investment is wise, and how well it will repay the investor. ... A data center is a facility used for housing a large amount of electronic equipment, typically computers and communications equipment. ... For collocation methods for the solution of differential equations, see collocation method. ... Emergency power systems are a type of device, which may include lighting, generators and other apparatus, to provide backup resources in a crisis or when regular systems fail. ... HVAC may also stand for High-voltage alternating current HVAC systems use ventilation air ducts installed throughout a building that supply conditioned air to a room through rectangular or round outlet vents, called diffusers; and ducts that remove air from return-air grilles Fire-resistance rated mechanical shaft with HVAC...

Operating system support

Availability, price and employee familiarity often determines which operating systems are offered on dedicated servers. Variations of Linux (open-source operating systems), are often included at no charge to the customer. However, Microsoft requires additional license fees on all their products, thus increasing the monthly cost of a dedicated server running a Windows operating system. Commercial operating systems include Microsoft Windows Server, provided through a special program called Microsoft SPLA. Red Hat Enterprise is a commercial version of Linux offered to hosting providers on a monthly fee basis. The monthly fee provides OS updates through the Red Hat Network using an application called up2date. Other operating systems are available from the open source community at no charge. These include CentOS, Fedora Core, Debian, and many other Linux distributions or BSD systems FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD. This article is about operating systems that use the Linux kernel. ... For other uses, see Open source (disambiguation). ... In computing, an operating system (OS) is the system software responsible for the direct control and management of hardware and basic system operations. ... Microsoft Corporation, (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKSE: 4338) is a multinational computer technology corporation with global annual revenue of US$44. ... 1. ... Red Hat Network (or Red Hat Enterprise Network, abbreviated to RHN or RHEN) is a system operated by Red Hat that makes updates, patches, and bug fixes of packages included within Red Hat Linux and Red Hat Enterprise Linux available to the public. ... CentOS is a freely available Linux distribution which is based on Red Hats commercial Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) product. ... Fedora Core is an RPM-based Linux distribution, developed by the community-supported Fedora Project and sponsored by Red Hat. ... Debian is a free operating system. ... FreeBSD is a Unix-like free operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) branch through the 386BSD and 4. ... NetBSD is a freely redistributable, open source version of the Unix-like BSD computer operating system. ... OpenBSD is a Unix-like computer operating system descended from Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), a Unix derivative developed at the University of California, Berkeley. ...

Support for any of the operating systems above typically depends on the level of management offered with a particular dedicated server plan. Operating system support may include updates to the core system in order to acquire the latest security fixes, patches, and system-wide vulnerability resolutions. Updates to core operating systems include kernel upgrades, service packs, application updates, and security patches that keep server secure and safe. Operating system updates and support relieves the burden of server management from the dedicated server owner.

Bandwidth & Connectivity

Bandwidth refers to the data transfer rate or the amount of data that can be carried from one point to another in a given time period (usually a second) and is often represented in bits (of data) per second (bps). For example, visitors to your server, web site, or applications utilize bandwidth as the traffic moves from your server to the Internet and vice versa. Connectivity refers to the “access providers” that supply bandwidth, or data transfer rate, through various connection points across a network or footprint to one or multiple data centers where dedicated servers are housed.-1...

Bandwidth measurements are defined (per telecom standards) as the following: Telecom is an abbreviation of telecommunication. ...

• First – 95th (measured using average bits and speed of transfer)
• Second – Unmetered (measured in speed or bits)
• Third – Total Transfer (measured in bytes transferred)

95th Method: Line Speed, billed on the 95th percentile, average or peak usage, refers to the speed in which data flows from the server or device. The measurement can be compared to mph (Miles Per Hour), or how fast something travels. Line Speed is measured using bits per second, kilobits per second, megabits per second, and gigabits per second. BITS may have any of the following meanings: In computer science, bits are binary digits, which may each have the value one or zero. ...

Unmetered Method: The second bandwidth measurement is Unmetered service where providers cap or control the “top line” speed for a server. Top line speed in Unmetered bandwidth is the total Mbit/s allocated to the server and configured on the switch level. For example, if you purchase 10 Mbit/s Unmetered bandwidth, the top line speed would be 10 Mbit/s. 10 Mbit/s would result in the provider controlling the speed transfers take place while providing the ability for the dedicated server owner to not be charged with bandwidth overages. Unmetered bandwidth services usually incur an additional charge.

Total Transfer Method: Some providers will calculate the Total Transfer, the measurement of actual data leaving and coming from the server, measured in bytes. Measurement between providers varies and includes one of the following equations:

• Method 1: IN TRAFFIC + OUT TRAFFIC = TOTAL TRANSFER
• Method 2: IN TRAFFIC = TOTAL TRANSFER
• Method 3: OUT TRAFFIC = TOTAL TRANSFER

One of the reasons people choose to outsource dedicated servers is the availability of high powered networks from multiple providers. As dedicated server providers utilize massive amounts of bandwidth, they are able to secure lower volume based pricing to include a multi-provider blend of bandwidth. To achieve the same type of network without a multi-provider blend of bandwidth, a large investment in core routers, long term contracts, and expensive monthly bills would need to be in place. The expenses needed to develop a network without a multi-provider blend of bandwidth does not make sense economically for hosting providers.

Many dedicated server providers include a SLA (Service Level Agreement) based on network uptime. Some dedicated server hosting providers offer a 100% uptime guarantee on their network. By securing multiple vendors for connectivity and using redundant hardware, providers are able to guarantee higher uptimes; usually between 99-100% uptime if they are a higher quality provider. One aspect of higher quality providers is they are mostly likely multi-homed across multiple quality uplink providers, which in turn, provides significant redundancy in the event one goes down in addition to potentially improved routes to destinations. Service Level Agreement (SLA) is that part of a service contract where the level of service is formally defined. ... For the scientific and engineering discipline studying computer networks, see Computer networking. ... Multihoming is a technique to increase the reliability of the internet connection of an IP network. ...

Bandwidth consumption over the last several years has shifted from a per megabit usage model to a per gigabyte usage model. Bandwidth was traditionally measured in line speed access that included the ability to purchase needed megabits at a given monthly cost. As the shared hosting model developed, the trend towards gigabyte or total bytes transferred, replaced the megabit line speed model so dedicated server providers started offering per gigabyte.

Prominent players in the dedicated server market offer large amounts of bandwidth ranging from 500 gigabytes to 3000 gigabytes using the “overselling” model. It is not uncommon for major players to provide dedicated servers with 1Terabyte (TB) of bandwidth or higher. Usage models based on the byte level measurement usually include a given amount of bandwidth with each server and a price per gigabyte after a certain threshold has been reached. Expect to pay additional fees for bandwidth overage usage. For example, if a dedicated server has been given 3000 gigabytes of bandwidth per month and the customer uses 5000 gigabytes of bandwidth within the billing period, the additional 2000 gigabytes of bandwidth will be invoiced as bandwidth overage. Each provider has a different model for billing. As of yet, no industry standards have been set.

Management

To date, no industry standards have been set to clearly define the management role of dedicated server providers. What this means is that each provider will use industry standard terms, but each provider will define them differently. For some dedicated server providers, fully managed is defined as having a web based control panel while other providers define it as having dedicated system engineers readily available to handle all server and network related functions of the dedicated server provider.

Server management can include some or all of the following:

• Operating System Updates
• Application Updates
• Server Monitoring
• SNMP Hardware Monitoring
• Application Monitoring
• Technical Support
• Firewall Services
• Anti-Virus Updates
• Security Audits
• Backups and Restoration
• Disaster Recovery
• DNS Hosting
• Load Balancing
• Database Administration
• Performance Tuning
• DDOS Protection and Mitigation
• Software Installation, Configuration
• Intrusion Detection
• User Management
• Programming Consultation

Dedicated hosting server providers define their level of management based on the services they provide. In comparison, fully managed could equal self managed from provider to provider.

Administrative maintenance of the operating system, often including upgrades, security patches, and sometimes even daemon updates are included. Differing levels of management may include adding users, domains, daemon configuration, or even custom programming. In computing, a patch is a small piece of software designed to update or fix problems with a computer program or its supporting data. ... In Unix and other computer multitasking operating systems, a daemon is a computer program that runs in the background, rather than under the direct control of a user; they are usually instantiated as processes. ...

Dedicated server hosting providers may provide the following types of server managed support:

• Fully Managed - Includes monitoring, software updates, reboots, security patches and operating system upgrades. Customers are completely hands-off.
• Managed - Includes medium level of management, monitoring, updates, and a limited amount of support. Customers may perform specific tasks.
• Self Managed - Includes regular monitoring and some maintenance. Customers provide most operations and tasks on dedicated server.
• Unmanaged - Little to no involvement from service provider. Customers provide all maintenance, upgrades, patches, and security.

Note: The provider will continue to maintain security on the network regardless of support level. A service provider is an entity that provides services to other entities. ...

Security

Dedicated hosting server providers utilize extreme security measures to ensure the safety of data stored on their network of servers. Providers will often deploy various software programs for scanning systems and networks for obtrusive invaders, spammers, hackers, and other harmful problems such as Trojans, worms, and eggdrops (see "Limitations" below). Linux and Windows use different software for security protection. Below is a list of security software and services based on the operating system installed on a dedicated server: Walls of the excavated city of Troy This article is about the city of Troy / Ilion as described in the works of Homer, and the location of an ancient city associated with it. ... Eggdrop is a popular IRC bot. ... This article is about operating systems that use the Linux kernel. ... 1. ...

Linux Dedicated Servers

• Port Sentry
• Connect scans
• SYN Scans
• FIN Scans
• NULL Scans
• XMAS Scans
• FULL-XMAS Scan
• UDP Scan

Windows Dedicated Servers

• Trend Micro

Trend Micro (TYO: 4704 , NASDAQ: TMIC) is a Taiwanese company that develops software to protect against computer viruses. ...

Software

Providers often bill for dedicated servers on a fixed monthly price to include specific software packages. Over the years, software vendors realized the significant market opportunity to bundle their software with dedicated servers. They have since started introducing pricing models that allow dedicated hosting providers the ability to purchase and resell software based on reduced monthly fees.

Microsoft offers software licenses through a program called the Service Provider License Agreement. The SPLA model provides use of Microsoft products through a monthly user or processor based fee. SPLA software includes the Windows Operating System, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft SharePoint and shoutcast hosting, and many other server based products.

Dedicated Server Providers usually offer the ability to select the software you want installed on a dedicated server. Depending on the overall usage of the server, this will include your choice of operating system, database, and specific applications. Servers can be customized and tailored specific to the customer’s needs and requirements.

Other software applications available are specialized web hosting specific programs called control panels. Control panel software is an all inclusive set of software applications, server applications, and automation tools that can be installed on a dedicated server. Control panels include integration into web servers, database applications, programming languages, application deployment, server administration tasks, and include the ability to automate tasks via a web based front end.

Most dedicated servers are packaged with a control panel. Control panels are often confused with management tools, but these control panels are actually web based automation tools created to help automate the process of web site creation and server management. Control panels should not be confused with a full server management solution by a dedicated hosting provider.

Limitations

Many providers do not allow IRC (eggdrops, clients or daemons). This is due to rogue IRC users triggering DDoS attacks against the provider, which may overwhelm their networks, lowering service quality for all customers. “IRC” redirects here. ... Eggdrop is a popular IRC bot. ... A denial-of-service attack (also, DoS attack) is an attack on a computer system or network that causes a loss of service to users, typically the loss of network connectivity and services by consuming the bandwidth of the victim network or overloading the computational resources of the victim system. ...

Adult content is disallowed by many providers as it may either be of questionable legality or consume large amounts of bandwidth. Porn redirects here. ...

Spam is usually prohibited by the provider's Acceptable Use Policy. E-mail spam, also known as bulk e-mail or junk e-mail is a subset of spam that involves sending nearly identical messages to numerous recipients by e-mail. ... An acceptable use policy (AUP; also sometimes acceptable usage policy) is a set of rules applied by many transit networks which restrict the ways in which the network may be used. ...

Extra features

Useful features for dedicated servers may be included, or cost additional monthly fees:

• Serial Console or KVM/IP - this is used to gain access to a server if for some reason the user is unable to get in via normal means (e.g. ssh), and permits a server to be recovered from boot-time configuration faults, such as filesystem recovery.
• Automated restore of OS - an automated system can be used to restore the server to its original configuration.
• Remote Backup Space - ssh/FTP space to backup data stored on the server.
• ColdFusion (MX) - ColdFusion is the rapid server scripting environment for creating Rich Internet Applications.
• SQL Server - Server dedicated to hosting Microsoft SQL databases and typically incur additional hosting fees.
• Oracle - Server dedicated to hosting Oracle databases and typically incur additional hosting fees.

A diagram of how a KVM switch functions. ... Secure Shell or SSH is a network protocol that allows data to be exchanged over a secure channel between two computers. ... This article is about the File Transfer Protocol standardised by the IETF. For other file transfer protocols, see File transfer protocol (disambiguation). ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... For the geographical term, see ria. ... Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database management system (RDBMS) produced by Microsoft. ...

External Links

• Website hosting services at the Open Directory Project
• Web Hosting Information
• Dedicated hosting guide