A server is a computer that stores your website so it can be visible on the web. The company that owns/runs the server is called a Hosting Company ("how much is your hosting", "where do you host your website", etc.). Just like a computer you may have at home, a server is just a computer but, A.) it contains all the necessary software and setup to allow it to "serve" code and B.) has a larger direct data pipe to the internet infrastructure. In practice, if you had all the necessary software and know-how to set up a server, you could actually use your home computer to serve your website but what a major hassle that would be! So, what we do is rent a server (monthly or yearly fee) and that server hosts your website. By renting a server and paying a fee we let the professionals handle all the super technical server stuff.
Servers come in a wide variety
Server Diagram
Once again, just like a personal computer, servers come in a wide variety. To state it simply, the less you pay, the less powerful/slower your website will be. For an average, decently running server for a small to mid-sized brochure type website (a website that just displays information without much interaction/functionality), you can expect to pay around $100 USD a year. If your website starts to grow with either lots of users and or functionality (users, shopping carts, video, etc.) your going to have to start paying more for a better server or your website will simply not run (or run extremely slow).
Server plans
If you visit a Hosting Company website (remember, a Hosting Company owns/menages servers) you will notice that they offer various "plans". Generally on their front page they'll highlight a very cheaply priced plan displayed like "Only $4.95 per month!" but this of course is just whimsical advertising to get you to sign up and start using their services (most likely so that you'll eventually upgrade to a better plan that costs more or to try an "up-sell").
Cheap plans, along with the $10 - $20 USD per month plans, are set up on servers we call Shared Hosting. Shared Hosting means your website is on a computer with hundreds if not thousands of other websites, all of which share resources of that computer. Depending on many factors (like the actual Hosting companies service/reputation, hardware of the computer, how many websites, etc.) your typical brochure type website might run just fine on a server like this. However, if your site is slow, it's most likely because your server is just too weak to handle either that amount of traffic it draws and or to weak to handle the coding built into your website.
There are 3 main types of server plans
3 Main Server types
There are three main types of servers you can rent. Note that within each of these main types, there will also be a variety of selections you can make depending on your needs which include power, speed, size, all of which will determine the final cost. By reading this basic explanation of web servers, we hope you can get a general understanding of the server types but of course we are here to help and consult with you to make the best decision for your online presence.
Shared Hosting - Start around $5-$20 per month
As mentioned above, your website will be on a computer with other websites (from hundreds to thousands) all of which share the computer's resources. In general, a small/mid-sized brochure website should run just fine on this type of server but many factors (including just being with a bad Hosting Company) may effect the speed of your website. A technical yet important aspect to know about shared hosting is that usually all the websites in a shared host also share the same IP address. Once again, in general this usually is not an issue but, if one or some of the websites your sharing the IP with are bad websites (scammers, dangerous, illegal, etc.) this may effect your website's SEO as well! Usually hosting companies pay attention to this and are quick to take down and or make sure all the websites are behaving nicely but websites can be thrown up quickly and once an IP is black-balled, it can have negative effects.
VPS (Virtual Private Server) Hosting - Start around $50 per month
With VPS type hosting you still share a server but the amount of other people you share the server with is limited to a specific amount. Furthermore the manager of the VPS has a lot more control over how the server works and what can be done with it. With better hardware and less sharing, of course your website will run better on a VPS but the lowest price VPS plan will cost triple or quadruple the amount of a Shared Hosting plan so it's important to discuss whether or not it is needed with your web designer/developer. A VPS typically starts at around $50 USD per month and can go up to $200 USD per month. If the price of a VPS starts getting to high, usually it's best to jump up to a Dedicated Server (see below).
Dedicated Hosting - Start around $200 per month
With Dedicated Hosting you are renting a full computer for your own use. There are NO sharing of resources. You or your developer will have Full Control over most every aspect of it's management and can basically treat it as a computer you have at home (although everything has to be managed remotely over the web). Running a Dedicated Server can be easy if your just doing basic things and usually the Host gives excellent support but if you need a bunch of special apps and or functionality you'll most likely need a very skilled developer to manage it. Most businesses will never need a Dedicated Server but if your business is specifically using the functionality of the internet (like a video streaming service or "Twitter" like user based service), a Dedicated Server may be necessary. The DreamChest.com has managed a few Dedicated Server websites and we can manage and recommend plans and Hosts if required. Dedicated Hosting starts at around $200 per month and the skies the limit from there.
Upgrading, Downgrading and Moving your Server
Depending on the situation, upgrading or downgrading can be as simple as making a request to the Hosting Company and they just make some quick adjustments. However, if you want to upgrade/downgrade between one of the three main types of servers explained above, this will take advanced server know-how (basically the website will have to be moved within the same hosting company). Moving your website to a new server is also possible and done once in a while if for some reason you don't like your hosting company or find better options elsewhere. Once again, moving a website also takes some advanced server know-how. We can handle upgrading, downgrading and moving of a website to a new server but if you would like to consult with us first, please get in touch.
Ongoing Cost
Renting a server for your website is an Ongoing Cost which is usually paid for on a yearly basis.
