Is this really a cheap dedicated server ?

With so many numbers and options available out there, choosing the right cheap dedicated server can be a really confusing, difficult task.

Based on the specific needs of your online business, there may be different offers that seem attractive at first sight, but when including certain necessary features into the plan you finally realize that those supposedly “cheap” dedicated servers end being much more expensive than others that didn’t seem so convenient at first.

Let’s take a look at the following example:

Company A offers discount dedicated servers starting at 35 dollars/month. Company B offers cheap dedicated servers with similar physical characteristics (processor, memory, hard disk space), but for $45 dollars/month. Now, your online business is going so well that your traffic exceeded the included data transfer by 2 gigabytes. Company A charges $8 for each additional gigabyte used, while company B charges only $1. So if your provider is company A, you must pay a total of 51 dollars this month, while if you had chosen company B you should have to pay just $ 47. As you can see, the prices of additional features must be taken into consideration too.

Now, let’s suppose that you are not happy with the service provided by company A and you want to cancel the contract. Bad news, you must notify your cancellation 60 days before you actually stop using their services. Company B, on the other hand, allows you to cancel with a 30-day prior notification. The result: If you rented your dedicated servers from company A, you have to pay two months before you can effectively cancel your contract, while if you chose company B you can get out at any time as long as you have paid your last bill.

As you can see, there are a lot of hidden costs associated to renting a cheap dedicated server, and those costs may determine if a dedicated server is actually cheap or not.

When looking for a convenient hosting company to rent a discount dedicated server, you must be sure to evaluate at least the following three points:

Does the cheap dedicated server offer include at least a limited support? – Ideally, a serious company provides at least a couple of support tickets included in the price. It’s ok if they charge you for any additional support ticket used, but there will be some basic questions at first that will need an answer, and the provider should consider this fact.

How much do the additional features cost? – Think about what features your business will need, like number of IP addresses and data transfer maximum, and compare their prices. Usually, the cheapest a dedicated server is, the more expensive the additional features are.

How long will you have to stay with the company before you can cancel the contract? – If your minimum contract time is a month you will be able to ask for a cancellation at any time, as long as your last bill is paid. But if you have a longer contract time (typically a year) and decide to cancel the service, you will be stuck with them for a long time before you can end the relationship.

Choosing the right discount dedicated server can be tricky, but if you keep an eye open and take these things in mind, you’ll be just fine. See you!

Henry C. Walsh
Dedicated Server Advisor Contributor