Cloud computing has shaken up the IT world. Businesses both large and small are eager to make the switch from dedicated servers to the cloud. Cloud computing offers many benefits, both to small and large businesses. Cloud services can be a big money saver for small businesses and give them room to grow while providing larger businesses with the ability to store more data off-site and provide contractors and travelling employees easy access to their work from anywhere in the world. Dedicated servers still have a place in the business world, though. From increased control to more well-defined security standards to faster response times, a dedicated server is still a viable choice in the world of business. More and more businesses will be migrating much of their data and services to the cloud in the coming years, but it will be a long time before dedicated servers are eclipsed in their use by cloud services.
Cloud Hosting

Cloud computing offers many benefits to its users, but the most important is its flexibility. Small businesses just starting out on the web or getting ready to launch a new product or service don’t often have an accurate idea of the amount of storage, bandwidth or processing power they’ll require, making it difficult to prevent overspending on IT services. With cloud hosting, businesses can choose a level of service and quickly scale up their available resources when they experience an increase in load, preventing them from paying for services they may or may not use. Cloud subscribers are often given easy-to-use tools for controlling their servers, reducing the time spent configuring servers. Enterprise clients benefit from additional off-site storage that can be scaled with their needs and the redundancy and distributed network offered by the cloud, giving them greater reliability. Cloud models, particularly Software as a Service, allow businesses to offer external contractors and traveling employees access to their work files, regardless of the computer they’re using. They also provide for real-time file collaboration, allowing everyone involved in a project to immediately see changes to files, without relying on email updates.

Dedicated Servers

While cloud hosting provides many new features that will become indispensable to business, dedicated servers continue to offer many benefits that cloud computing can’t yet match. For starters, dedicated servers offer an unprecedented level of control. Because the user is renting the entire machine, they are allowed complete control over the system, configuring everything down to the operating system. When building and testing new applications, being able to control the environment is a must. Unexpected changes in network speed or server configuration can result in costly losses or productivity. Cloud computing environments share resources among users, resulting in slight delays when accessing servers. For time-critical work, these small delays can add up quickly. Dedicated servers have guaranteed bandwidth rates and data caps, giving users the comfort of knowing that all of their work with the server will occur unimpeded. Having total control over the server and not sharing resources with other users can benefit security, also. There aren’t any industry standard security measures for cloud computing environments at this point, making it hard to determine which hosts offer the best protection. When a company manages its own dedicated server, it can set security protocol on the machine and ensure that only approved, tested measures are used.
Though the number of businesses making use of cloud computing will continue to increase in the coming years, there are some instances in which dedicated servers trump the cloud. Cloud computing gives users the ability to scale their services based on their needs. It also allows businesses to collaborate on projects and give access to remote users easily. Dedicated servers, however, offer benefits in speed, control and, if a company employs proper measures, security. Cloud and dedicated hosting will likely be used to complement one another for years to come.