Dedicated Server Terms Explained

The next website you launch is set to be a big deal. All estimates point to a heavy influx of web traffic, all lured in by lots of media-rich content and a USP that you’re sure can’t fail. All you need to do now is find a solid web hosting package that’s capable of handling all those large files and never-ending stream of visitors.

You’ve looked around, you’ve read a few articles and you’ve talked to a few people in a similar position, and you’ve come to the conclusion that your best option is to invest in a dedicated server.

However, there’s just one problem. Every time you try and take your research to the next level in finding a suitable dedicated hosting package, you’re bombarded with tech jargon and phrases that just don’t make any sense.

Don’t worry, folks. Below, you’ll find many of the more common dedicated server terms explained in plain English, all with the aim of helping you make a more informed decision when it comes to making that investment.

Bandwidth

One of the more crucial elements of your dedicated server plan, you may also see some providers using the term ‘bandwidth’ interchangeably with ‘data transfer’ allowance. Whilst the latter term is actually more accurate, both are usually used to describe the same thing in terms of web hosting.

What they describe, is the amount of power that’s behind your website to cope with the demand. Every file on your site, and every visitor who drops by puts a small strain on your physical server. Obviously, if you have hundreds of files and thousands of visitors coming by all at once, that small strain soon turns into a huge amount of pressure, and unless you have the bandwidth allocation to cope with it, your server will buckle, slow down tremendously, and may even go offline altogether.

With that in mind then, when you’re next searching for a discount dedicated server, ensure you’re getting one with as much bandwidth as you can possibly afford.

Cores

You might sometimes see this described by its full name of ‘CPU Core’ though in most cases, dedicated server providers tend to just tell you how many cores their plans come with.

Either way, a core is a unit based within your server that processes every action, every upload, indeed, everything you do with your server. As you may have gathered, the more cores you have on your sever, the faster the processing, and ultimately, the better the performance of your server.

cPanel

cPanel is the front-end user interface you (and your customers if you’re turning your dedicated server into a reseller account) will use to manage the websites on your account. cPanel isn’t the only dashboard interface of its type, but it’s certainly one of the most popular and widely-used, so expect to see this one cropping up often.

Disk space

This one couldn’t be simpler. Just as the physical computer or smart device you’re using to read this very article has its own amount of disk space on which to store your files, so too does your dedicated server.

Naturally, the bigger your site, the more disk space you’re going to need. You may also see this referred to as ‘storage’ but don’t worry, they both mean the same thing.

RAM

RAM is one of those computer terms that everyone’s heard of but which few actually understand.

For the curious among you, the three letters actually stand for Random Access Memory, though you don’t really need to know that to understand what RAM does and what it’s for. Again, this is the same as on your personal computer – the more memory you have, the better your computer performs.

Likewise, the more RAM you have attached to your server, the better the whole thing is going to work overall.