What is Ecommerce Dedicated Hosting and do I Need It?

A Home Business Article Contributed by Elizabeth Fox-Wise

Dedicated Ecommerce Hosting Gives You Exclusive Use of a Server

Unlike most ecommerce web hosting services, a dedicated ecommerce hosting service gives your ecommerce business its own server on which to conduct business. While this type of commerce hosting would be beneficial for all ecommerce business, it is absolutely necessary for large retail ecommerce sites. Because of the higher costs associated with dedicated ecommerce hosting, it is typically not used by start up or small scale ecommerce businesses.

What are the Advantages of Dedicated Ecommerce Hosting?

There are many advantages for your business with dedicated ecommerce hosting options. Instead of simply sharing server space on a virtual server with other ecommerce sites, dedicated ecommerce hosting gives you the opportunity to lease an entire server for your own exclusive use.

Dedicated services typically include the lease of pre-configured equipment and connectivity from an ecommerce hosting provider. The equipment and connectivity are owned and maintained by the ecommerce hosting company. This is a big help to the business owner because the ecommerce hosting company is responsible for maintaining the equipment and making any necessary repairs.

With a dedicated ecommerce hosting service you will have more control over your web site. You will have complete freedom to choose the operating system and software you will use, and have control over other settings.

Another strong advantage to dedicated ecommerce hosting is security. Because no one is on the dedicated server other than yourself and your customers, you have a much better chance of having good performance within a secure, uncompromised environment.

Are There Disadvantages to Dedicated Ecommerce Hosting?

Of course there are, as the old cliche reminds us, there are always two sides to every coin.

By far the biggest disadvantage to dedicated ecommerce hosting is the cost. For start up ecommerce businesses that to do not yet know the money that will be generated from their site and for small ecommerce businesses with low revenue, the cost of dedicated ecommerce hosting can be prohibitive. Typically, dedicated ecommerce hosting starts at around $100 month and ranges up to $3, 000 month depending on the size of the space that you will need and the amount of tech support and other customers support you will need from the ecommerce hosting site.

Another disadvantage to dedicated ecommerce hosting is that with the more independence we already spoke of comes more responsibility. Customers who select dedicated ecommerce hosting solutions must have a certain amount of knowledge and skill in IT and server administration issues in order to properly maintain the server.

In conclusion, for start up and small ecommerce business it is probably best to first start with ecommerce hosting that comes on a shared server. This will keep your costs down and require less maintenance from you as more is handled by the ecommerce hosting company. As your ecommerce business grows, revenues increase, and you gain more skills in server administration, then you may want to consider looking for dedicated ecommerce hosting for your web site.