For most of us, a shared web hosting solution may be the most suitable
option at the start of our online venture. Why? Simply because it’s an
inexpensive alternative to a VPS or dedicated hosting solution.
However, there may be exceptions to this rule, such as when a project
is anticipated to experience exponential growth and a dedicated hosting
service is chosen right at the start. Even if you do choose a shared hosting
service initially, you may realize at one point or another that the
demanding requirements of your web site can no longer be satisfied by shared
hosting. And if your project now has a steady revenue stream, the cost of
migrating to a dedicated hosting platform may appear less intimidating than
it did at first.
I’ve conducted research on ten major companies offering entry-level
dedicated hosting plans. These include 1&1,
HostDime, HostGator, Hostway, InMotion, LiquidWeb, LunarPages, NetHosting, ResellersPanel, and ServePath. An in-depth comparison of
these companies has been carried out in terms of all the most important
criteria for dedicated hosting, including processor speeds, hard drive
capabilities, RAID options, RAM, monthly bandwidth, IP addresses, and a
number of other factors. Along with this, I’ve also taken into account the
possibility of extending a plan without upgrading, which makes it more
flexible since it lets you avoid the need to migrate to a higher level
plan.
All the reviewed plans include full root access and a hardware
replacement guarantee, along with an uptime guarantee of 99% or more.
Furthermore, SSH access is common to all the plans and the uplink speed for
the majority is 100Mbps, with the exceptions of ResellersPanel, InMotion,
and HostDime.
The major obstacle in comparing all these companies on an equal
footing was that in almost all cases, one or more features weren’t specified
on the plan description page. Consequently, I contacted these companies by
whatever contact method was available, in order to find out about the
missing features. I held live chat sessions with most of them, and for those
that didn’t offer live chat, I used email or telephone.
Finally, after many days of researching, I was able to gather all the
data, which I’ve presented in a comprehensive
dedicated hosting comparison table. The unspecified features about
which I had to enquire at the hosting companies are italicized in the table.
I’ve also done an analysis of the contents of this table, to point out the
pros and cons of each dedicated hosting plan.
Now, though, let’s take a look at each of the hosting plans in
detail.
The 1&1
Dual-Core XL plan has an edge over other dedicated hosting plans
in terms of the hard drive capacity and FTP back up it offers. 1&1
offers two 400GB hard drives as well as 200GB FTP back up, which is more
than any of the other web hosts in this comparison. It also offers an
included RAID option which makes frequent back ups a breeze.
In terms of the amount of included RAM, 1&1 offers 4GB,
which—along with HostGator and ServePath—is the most of any of the
reviewed hosts. 1&1 also offers an included software firewall along
with an SSL certificate, which may be really valuable for ecommerce web
sites. There is no mention of an uptime guarantee on the plan description
page. However, our live chat with the host revealed that t1&1 offers
an uptime guarantee of 99.99%, which is the second-highest of all the
reviewed hosts.
As regards monthly bandwidth, 1&1 offers a generous 3000GB and
emerges as the runner-up to LiquidWeb, which has the highest bandwidth
offering with 6000GB. However, there are a number of features on which
1&1 appears to be at a disadvantage, such as the processor
specification, hard drive upgrade option, RAM upgrade option, and the
number of IP addresses offered.
The plan is available at a cost of $199.99 a month, which is on par
with ServePath, and slightly more than the lowest monthly price in our
comparison (LiquidWeb at $189). The total available discount on 1&1’s
plan is $100 for a yearly signup.
HostDime offers a better processor specification than 1&1 in its
QC1
plan, and also provides options for upgrading the processor, hard drive,
and RAM. The included 160GB hard drive, on the other hand, is one of the
lower offerings in our comparison. However, multiple options are available
for RAID configurations in this plan.
Although the included 1GB of RAM is the lowest of the plans
compared, it can be upgraded to a maximum of 4GB. HostDime offers a
monthly bandwidth allowance of 2000GB, which is the third-highest of all
the reviewed hosts, with the only better options being 1&1 and
LiquidWeb, offering 3000GB and 6000GB respectively. Only four IP addresses
are included in the plan, however additional IP addresses can be obtained
at a rate of $2 per month, with no upper limit on the number of IP
addresses that can be purchased.
A wide range of operating systems is available with this plan,
including Fedora Core as well as Windows 2003 server. HostDime lets you
select either the CPanel and Plesk control panels at a cost of between $25
and $50 per month. The plan also offers optional managed services as well
as an FTP backup solution. A free CSF software firewall comes bundled with
the package, while a Juniper NetScreen 5GT hardware firewall can be
obtained for $100 per month. An SSL certificate is also optional and can
be purchased for a $50 yearly fee.
The server is monitored by HostDime, and there’s no setup fee for
the plan. The monthly price for this plan is $220, which is the fifth
lowest after LiquidWeb, 1&1, ServePath, and LunarPages. HostDime
offers a discount of $20 per month for the first server, which amounts to
a total available discount of $240 yearly. HostDime does not offer a
money-back guarantee.
HostGator offers the Intel dual-core Xeon processor in its Standard plan,
which is probably the best processor for server platforms. That said,
there’s no processor upgrade option available with this plan. The dual
250GB hard drives offered by HostGator give it a number three rank for
storage among all the reviewed hosts. It comes with a RAID configuration
and also allows you to upgrade the hard drive to a higher capacity.
Like 1&1, HostGator includes 4GB of RAM with this plan. The RAM
can also be upgraded, though there’s no mention of the maximum amount of
memory that can be purchased. A total of 1500GB data transfer is allowed
in a month, which turns out to be the lowest allotment on offer. The plan
comes with ten IP addresses, making it a runner-up to LiquidWeb’s plan,
which offers 16 IP addresses. Additional IP addresses can be purchased
from HostGator, although there’s no mention of the price associated with
each.
A choice of three operating systems, including Red Hat Linux 4, is
available with this plan. The only two other web hosts that offer Red Hat
Linux are Hostway and ServePath, so if either of these is your OS of
choice, it might be a good reason to opt for HostGator. CPanel is the only
control panel available, however the good news is that it comes at no
extra cost. FTP backups can be performed through WHM. A software firewall
is also included with the plan, but the SSL certificate is optional. There
is no setup fee, and no money-back guarantee.
The plan comes at a price of $219 per month, which puts it smack dab
in the middle of the reviewed plans. HostGator is currently offering a 20%
discount that can be claimed using the coupon code “Snowman,” which makes
this plan the most cost-effective of all. As shown in the table,
the total yearly savings for this plan equate to $525.
Hostway offers two dual-core Intel Xeon processors in its TFS
800 plan. A comparison with the other reviewed hosts reveals that
no better processor specification is available. Consequently, this plan
seems to be ideal for users looking to deploy power-hungry applications.
As far as hard drive capacity is concerned, Hostway’s plan offers two
160GB hard drives, thereby sharing third ranking for storage capacity with
InMotion. Hostway also offers flexible hard drive upgrade options, with a
maximum capacity offering of 2TB at a rate of $70 per month. RAID 1 also
comes included with the plan.
The total amount of RAM offered is 2GB, although there is an option
for upgrading the RAM to a maximum of 16GB at a cost of $140 per month. As
regards the included RAM, Hostway’s plan turns out to be a runner-up to
1&1, HostGator, and ServePath, which include 4GB of RAM in their
plans. Hostway stands in third place on the monthly data transfer
comparison, offering 2000GB. In terms of the total number of included IP
addresses, Hostway again ranks third with its offer of five addresses,
after LiquidWeb and HostGator, which offer 16 and ten IP addresses
respectively. Additional IP addresses may be obtained for $2 per month,
but you’ll need to provide a technical justification in order to get
them.
Hostway also offers a wide range of operating systems, including
Windows and Red Hat Linux. It offers a custom control panel referred to as
“Site Control,” although there is an option to use Plesk with a ten-domain
license at an additional cost. A maximum of 50GB FTP backup is included in
the plan, as is a software firewall. An SSL certificate, however, is
optional and can be obtained at a cost of $49.95 per year.
There’s no setup fee for this plan. Hostway offers the TFS 800 plan
for $219 a month, thereby sharing fifth place for price with HostDime,
HostGator, InMotion, and ResellersPanel. It’s also offering a 15% discount
or two months of free hosting with a one-year prepayment, which equates to
a total saving of $438 for this web host—one of the highest available
discounts in this review. Hostway also stands out by offering a 30-day
money-back guarantee.
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