Cloud computing has become a household term and in the hosting industry it is taking a lot of the limelight. With scalability, redundancy, on-demand services and attractive prices, can dedicated servers compete with a Cloud/VPS offering?
When looking at cloud computing VS dedicated servers, it’s not easy to say which would win without looking at your businesses needs now and in 3-5 years’ time. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer.
Cloud computing is a shared service where RAM, CPU, storage and other network resources are pooled together and distributed among the users. Cloud computing, like dedicated servers, can have hardware and network issues but the cloud has a bit more redundancy because of the pooled resources. However, the combination of the ‘cloud server’ being shared between users and traffic during peak times can make cloud computing prone to bottlenecks.
Performance
Cloud computing will struggle to compete with dedicated servers when it comes to speed. Cloud computing can be easily and quickly scaled, but this is also a trait of dedicated servers although it’s not as instant.
Disk Performance
Cloud computing can have an unpredictable disk IO; if one user sees a high level of traffic, this can have a knock-on effect slowing down services for other users in the cloud. Dedicated servers are not prone to this issue as typically it is used by a single user.
Redundancy
One of cloud computing’s main features is its redundancy – pooled resources mean that if one piece of hardware fails, there are others servers available to pick up the slack. However, it’s not totally exempt from downtime – if the node for the cloud fails, it is not much different than a CPU or RAM failing on a dedicated server.
Complexity
Complexity favours dedicated servers and complexities adds cost to cloud computing. Dedicated servers can offer a more bespoke service, but this also means you will need the resources to manage the server.
Price
Cloud computing can have some very enticing prices but can get expensive quickly. Dedicated servers if well managed can give great value and excellent performance. Overall, you can suck more value out of a dedicated server than cloud computing.
Cloud Computing VS Dedicated Servers Conclusion
Every business is different and will need different hosting methods. Choosing one should be based around where your business is, where it wants to be and the technical resources you have available. In general, dedicated servers can provide greater value and performance than a cloud solution, but there are many arguments for either side.
If you would like any advice on choosing an appropriate solution then please contact a member of our technical team for impartial advice.
