This is a user generated content for MyStory, a YourStory initiative to enable its community to contribute and have their voices heard. The views and writings here reflect that of the author and not of YourStory.
Should you sign up for free dedicated servers?
This is a user generated content for MyStory, a YourStory initiative to enable its community to contribute and have their voices heard. The views and writings here reflect that of the author and not of YourStory.
There is no such thing as a free lunch and if you were to accept this adage, you will realize why it may be foolish to sign up for free dedicated servers. Every business wants to get the best kind of hosting packages for the lowest prices. So, when you hear of free dedicated servers, it is easy to fall for the bait. However, you need to understand that free dedicated servers cannot be free in every sense of the term. Even if you get them free of cost for a time period, you are bound to incur expenses sooner or later.
When you choose shared hosting plans, you can get resources like bandwidth, space, memory or processing power for affordable costs. But, resources are not unlimited in nature and soon enough, you find it essential to upgrade your hosting package. When your site starts to get a lot of incoming traffic, you should consider signing up for dedicated hosting.
In dedicated hosting, you enjoy full control over the server; you can configure it and maintain it in ways to suit your business needs. However, managing dedicated servers are by no means an easy task. Here are some things that you need to bear in mind when you get your hands on free dedicated servers:
One of the biggest risks of choosing free dedicated servers is the DDoS attacks. The DoS or Denial of Service attacks and Distributed Denial of Service or DDoS attacks are known to cripple dedicated servers. This form of attack may be successful in causing large-scale losses for your business. When you need dedicated hosting, it clearly implies your site gets a lot of traffic. This also makes your site an easy target for hackers. When you have a growing client base, you catch the attention of hackers and cybercriminals.
In the DoS attack, servers crash because of too much traffic and too many requests. In the DDoS attacks, there is a collection of computers which work in unison to flood the server with an overwhelming number of queries and requests. This ends up exhausting your hardware resources and your clients are left disgruntled because the server becomes slow and unresponsive. To prevent this from happening, you must choose dedicated servers which are made by top-notch manufacturers. You need to make sure that your host offers effective firewalls to prevent malicious data from coming in. you should monitor the servers also for any signs of sudden traffic spikes.
Another big threat when you choose free dedicated servers is malware. Your host will let you install custom applications seamlessly. But any such software can be prone to malware. Such malware is made to create disruptions and steal valuable data. While you will find many types of viruses with different types of capabilities, you can be certain your sensitive data will be at risk. So, when choosing a host, you need to ensure it carries out regular scans, routinely monitors the site for unusual traffic patterns and tests all software prior to launching these.
When you choose free dedicated servers, you may find that the quality of services is severely compromised. The providers are likely to offer you low plans by cutting down on their data centre costs. They will never offer you a plan whereby they stand to incur losses; so, it is evident that you may not get the kind of technical support you are looking for in times of crisis. You may have to pay extra to install upgrades and updates, security patches and avail of technical assistance.
These arguments show why opting for any free hosting service may be disastrous for your business. No provider will sell plans for a loss. So, you should be extra cautious when you review such plans.
