The world has gone cloud crazy. Or so it seems. Everywhere you look, some company is trying to make the case for a new cloud product. You may even find yourself wondering if the cloud is better than a dedicated server. Before you make any kind of move, though, read through this comparison to see why the cloud might not be all that it’s cracked up to be.

What the Cloud Is

When you store your data “in the cloud,” you are allowing a third-party provider to keep track of and store your data for you. This provider will then monitor everything you put in the cloud. More often than not, companies that go the cloud route never really hear about their data again until something goes wrong.

What the Cloud Isn’t

Although it seems like the best solution available the cloud isn’t perfect. Cloud can come under hack attacks, and it is possible for hackers to tap into your personal data that’s stored in the cloud (as we’ve seen time and time again with major cloud providers). So, know that your information is not entirely secure in the cloud. That said, though, cloud providers do go the extra mile to make sure that your data is safe, and many cloud hosts offer encryption security measures that are far superior to other hosting security options.

Why The Cloud Can be Controversial

There are two main reasons why some companies move to the cloud, have a really bad experience, and move back to a dedicated hosting option. The first is a complete lack of control. Most cloud hosting companies do not provide users with access and control to cloud servers. That’s just the nature of the beast. The other problem is that most cloud companies are so big that customer service is almost nonexistent.

Customer service and technical support may not seem like a big deal until something happens. It’s at that point that most companies newly moved to the cloud start to panic. Things happen, nobody is around to fix the issue or provide explanation, and said company decides to cancel the cloud. That’s usually how an adventure in cloud hosting goes. So, if you are going to move to the cloud, make sure to choose a smaller company capable of providing excellent tech support. You may also want to find out how much control you actually have over your account (if any at all).

Why Dedicated Makes More Sense

You’ll hear the argument that the cloud is cheaper, and it can be. But, you always pay the price for a cheaper product, right? Just think about it: will that cheaper item last as long as the more expensive one? Probably not. Well, that’s the way it goes with dedicated hosting. Sure, you have to hire an IT specialist to handle your servers, but at least you can get in touch with this person when you need to.

And renting out space or buying your own equipment is more costly at first, but at least you’ll have control over your data. Control might not seem like a big deal, but trust me, it is. Dedicated hosting options are archaic or less secure than the cloud. What they are is a respite from too many cloud companies not having a good grasp on the products that they offer. Then again, it’s all about the company that you choose, which is why doing your homework is vital.

Finding the Right Hosting Option

When it comes to storing your company data, you can’t be too careful. That’s why we recommend reading as many reviews as possible. It never hurts to read what other people have to say about the company you’re looking into. We do recommend dedicated hosting over cloud hosting, but that’s largely because most cloud hosting companies just don’t offer the level of support that they should, and users should have more control than is often granted. To further your research into this topic, make sure to check out SiteGeek.com for complete hosting reviews and discussions.

What is a Cloud Server?

A cloud server is a virtual server which is a large pool of multiple servers which is built, hosted and delivered by cloud computing, thus a cloud can run multiple OS using the same resources. It is available to the users for their access .Cloud server allows the user to use applications and store data in the remote cloud server. It also allows access through various devices such as desktop, phone or other devices .Cloud server does not depend on any centrally installed software because it contains all the software which it requires to run. A cloud server may also be called a virtual server or virtual private sever or virtual dedicated server.

What is a Dedicated Server?

A dedicated server is basically designed to serve the needs of the whole network which contain thousands of computer connected to each other and communicate with each other. In a network it is a single computer which is set aside to serve the need of the network. It indicates the server which is allocated to you only for hosting your website i.e. dedicated to the client website only to serve its need.

Cloud Servers vs. Dedicated Servers

  • Cloud servers use dedicated operating system which provide support to many other operating systems also, dedicated server use dedicated os.
  • Cloud server can install remote operating system but dedicated server cannot install remote operating system.
  • Cloud server can reinstall remote operating system but dedicated server cannot reinstall remote operating system.
  • Cloud server may access remote server console but dedicated server cannot access remote server console.
  • Cloud server performance is better than average dedicated server and dedicated server are costly so their performance is better than Cloud server.
  • Server snapshot feature is available in Cloud server but not in dedicated server.
  • If a physical server fails, Cloud server will switch to other servers but if dedicated server is fail then you are required to build a new server, reinstall os and store the data again.
  • While the server is running, Cloud server can add CPU power and disk space but dedicated server must be shut down.
  • When you are updating Cloud server to a new server then no need to reinstall operating system and device drivers but when you are updating dedicated server to a new server then there is a need to reinstall operating system and device drivers.
  • Cloud server are not very costly they costs $29/month to $199/month and you need to pay the bill on hour basis and for only those resources which you consume but dedicated server are quite expensive they cost from $99/month to $1500/month and you need to pay on monthly basis.
  • If your cloud server fails and is unrecoverable, you can power on the cloud server backup image and you see that your cloud server is back and start running in few minutes. But in the case of dedicated server, you need to reinstall operating system, store files and data again which is a time consuming task.
  • Cloud server does not meet the highest compliance standards but if we talk about dedicated server, then their hardware and software are very dedicated, and thus it meets the highest compliance standards.
  • A Cloud server runs on software called hypervisor which is not having an own collection of hardware but dedicated server is having an own collection of hardware.
  • Cloud server is easy to scale up and down. Hard drive space, RAM, CPU power can be increased and decreased by using software interface but dedicated server requires fussing with hardware to scale them up or down.
  • Cloud server share the computer with others but dedicated server does not share the computer with others Management and provisioning of Cloud Servers will usually provide users good experience if compared with of dedicated servers.
  • In terms of reliability, building a high-availability solution is much easier and less expensive on a cloud server as compared to dedicated server.
  • In Cloud server resources are equally distributed but in dedicated server resources are not equally distributed, as they are used by a single client only to host its website on the dedicated server.
  • Cloud server has lack of control but dedicated server provide full control.
  • Cloud server has expensive disk space and SQL storage but dedicated server has inexpensive disk space as well as SQL storage.
  • Cloud server is not recommended usually but dedicated server is reliable and highly recommendable way of hosting whether it is highly interactive websites, web apps or anything else.