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What Is A Dedicated Server?

How often do you hear your friends talking about game servers during a Saturday night session and have no idea what they’re talking about? You’ve probably heard how important they are for a smooth night of gaming, but what do they really do? Can they be bought? Rented? If we’re using a dedicated server, does that mean it’s dedicated only to us, or are we dedicated to it? 

The language can be intimidating, but it’s really quite simple. A dedicated server, in plain terms, is a type of private, remote server that is exclusive to an individual or group of people who hold the lease on that server; therefore it isn’t shared with anyone else. 

Comparatively, a public server is accessible by anyone regardless of location. If you connect to a public server, your IP address can be seen by anyone else connected to that server, meaning your data can be accessed by others as well. 

In regards to gaming, the goal of a dedicated server is to provide an exclusive experience for a gamer or group of gamers to improve performance, reduce lags, and improve gameplay stability, without interference from other players. Common benefits of using a dedicated server in gaming include an excellent gaming experience, high amounts of CPU (central processing unit) power and RAM (random access memory), various customization options, around-the-clock support, and a boosted level of cybersecurity. 

What Are The Most Popular Uses for Dedicated Servers? 

Dedicated servers are most commonly used for high-traffic websites or applications with high levels of risk or numerous tasks that can be complicated. Companies want to ensure that their data is as private as possible. Dedicated servers can provide peace of mind in beefing up your data security. 

Companies often like the ability to configure their servers without restriction. This provides an added layer of control and security over their data. Security breaches in dedicated servers are highly uncommon and ensure that there's nobody on the outside trying to get to your information. 

Similarly, gamers like the ability to boost their control, security, bandwidth, and performance by opting for a dedicated server or dedicated hosting. Online streamers need to ensure that their streams go smoothly without interruption or being compromised. These servers are “self sufficient”, allowing gamers and streamers to continue playing even when offline, and provide a seamless and uninterrupted gaming experience. 

Dedicated servers are also popular in email services. In this case, owners can allocate company email addresses, monitor communications, and set file attachment limits. This provides security in data sharing between employees in a company, and is particularly important for highly sensitive information, like in healthcare companies for example. 

Are There Disadvantages of Dedicated Servers?

Not everyone is in need of a dedicated server. Managing these servers requires a level of technical expertise that most people don’t have. Public servers do a lot of the heavy lifting for people that can afford a hands-off—or less strict—approach to their data storage. 

Public servers are often less expensive than private dedicated servers and are highly secure in their own right. Dedicated servers require a lot of maintenance and operations costs that public servers do not. 

Dedicated servers do provide a higher level of security, but the owner is responsible for monitoring that security manually. A dedicated server is generally monitored and managed by an in-house IT team that knows its ins and outs. This can be expensive and time consuming, and most smaller companies or individuals don’t have these resources. 

Conclusion - What Is A Dedicated Server?

Though not everyone needs to use a dedicated server, if you can afford to do so, have the expertise to manage and monitor it correctly, and are in need of better performance, higher security and customization options, and better support 24/7, it’s a very solid option. 

For high-level gamers and streamers, you won’t find better gameplay execution on a public server. Customize your experience, reduce lags and performance issues, and seamlessly cruise through a night of gaming with peace of mind it will go uninterrupted. 


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