What are your recommendations when choosing a dedicated server?

Hey everyone,

I am planning to buy a dedicated server which will serve for 5 sites and wondering if you had any pro/cons on each host or what host you would recommend if you were in my cases. I also want to use it as a reseller and vps hosting
there are three providers that I am reading more about them

OVH, Servermania and Cloudsouth

So what are your recommendations when choosing a dedicated server?

There are some great hosts here on Forum Web Hosting. You can check the offers section, or reach out to some hosts directly.

As far as the 3 you mentioned.
OVH = Popular provider, however they are completely unmanaged so support could be a issue.
Servermania = Familiar with them, but have not heard much about the quality of their services.
Cloudsouth = Never heard of them

Best of luck to you!

I would consider the geographic region in which the primary subset of where you users will be. North America? Asia? Europe? That might help narrow down a few good hosts to recommend.

Are you familiar with cPanel/WHM or are you managing the software/OS of the server on your own?

I have only used OVH, i have 3 dedicated server and i'm really happy with them.
You can install the last VMware vsphere to easily manage VPS using the web interface, and it's free.
And you can purchase a Plesk license for few dollars from OVH (cheaper price than at plesk.com) to manage your websites.
I have never heard about servermania and cloudsouth, but as i have tested several hosting services when i was selling VPS, and OVH is really the best for me.
You can also look at soyoustart, the OVH low cost dedicated servers, they offer the same services than OVH but the server have already 1 or 2 years old. No setup fees this month, and high ratio quality/price.

There are a lot of things to consider, I would say the number 1. is support. Look around for reviews and customer satisfaction. If you choose unmanaged dedicated server service it doesn't mean no support at all. A lot of companies still have 24/7 support if something happens includig hardware repair etc. For me this is at the top of the list.

Second - the network, check how many tier 1 transit providers does the company cooperate with and check if your chosen plan isn't somehow limited (somewhere you do not get access to the full network and have to pay premium).

Third - Pricing and plans - check if there are any hidden fees, how much you have to pay if you go over your monthly plan, check if there are any FUP (depending on your requirements).

There are other aspects, but for me these are the 3 most important thing to look out for.

I have used OVH a decent amount to say that their servers are great, DDOS protection is the best I have ever had but their support is the worst I ever dealt with.

their servers are unmanaged however if you are starting your own hosting company using dedicated servers, Im assuming you know how to manage the server.

Also their prices are unbelievably low.

(it doesnt state it very clearly now all of their dedicated is either on a 250M uplink or a 500M, if you need 1Gbps be sure to add that during the order. 1Gbps uplink is something that you will most likely need if you are going to also sell VPS.)

Thanks guys for recommendations!

RDO Servers said:

OVH = Popular provider, however they are completely unmanaged so support could be a issue.
Servermania = Familiar with them, but have not heard much about the quality of their services.

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Why support from OVH is an issue, what is your experience with OVH?

If comparing prices and specs between OVH and Servermania, which gives better offers?

BBGN Brian said:

I would consider the geographic region in which the primary subset of where you users will be. North America? Asia? Europe? That might help narrow down a few good hosts to recommend.

Are you familiar with cPanel/WHM or are you managing the software/OS of the server on your own?

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I would choose North America and of course, always cPanel.

VirtuBox said:

And you can purchase a Plesk license for few dollars from OVH (cheaper price than at plesk.com) to manage your websites.

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What is exact price for a a Plesk license from OVH? can I use a license to host multi sites?

10Gbpsio said:

Third - Pricing and plans - check if there are any hidden fees, how much you have to pay if you go over your monthly plan, check if there are any FUP (depending on your requirements).

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It is hard to check hidden fees, I should check extra fee for IPs, setups, or which services?

Luxin Host said:

I have used OVH a decent amount to say that their servers are great, DDOS protection is the best I have ever had but their support is the worst I ever dealt with.

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I have read their offers, they say they integrated DDOS protection on VPS's and Dedicated servers, is it exact and we don't need to care about DDOS attacks any more?

David Makogon said:

Thanks guys for recommendations!

Why support from OVH is an issue, what is your experience with OVH?

If comparing prices and specs between OVH and Servermania, which gives better offers?

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There is no issues with OVH, but they provide unmanaged servers. That mean they don't provide support if there are no issue on their side. You have to know what you are doing when you bought a server from them.
I don't know Servermania but they can't be cheaper than OVH. But they maybe provide more support.

What is exact price for a a Plesk license from OVH? can I use a license to host multi sites?

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Free Plesk License for 30 domains, $35 for unlimited / $35 for cPanel

It is hard to check hidden fees, I should check extra fee for IPs, setups, or which services?

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With OVH no hidden fees and IPs have just a setup fee, not monthly.

I have read their offers, they say they integrated DDOS protection on VPS's and Dedicated servers, is it exact and we don't need to care about DDOS attacks any more?

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You haven't to care about DDoS attack before you have some. Anyway a hosting provider with a real network protected against DDoS is always a good point.

David Makogon said:

Why support from OVH is an issue, what is your experience with OVH?

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They reply very late, Once it took them 2 days to reply to my ticket. Also you have to understand with these big organisations for specific stuff things have to be passed on and on to other people meaning a lot of delays and staff talking like robots as they have limits to what they can do.

David Makogon said:

If comparing prices and specs between OVH and Servermania, which gives better offers?

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it comes down to what you need, I have not used servermania to tell you how their support is or what their uplink is but be sure to test their support staff by creating pre-sale questions and also check their uplink. OVH has a 250-500Mbps Uplink which is simply not enough for me when it comes to dedicated. (you can upgrade uplink to 1Gbps for extra $$ on OVH)

David Makogon said:

It is hard to check hidden fees, I should check extra fee for IPs, setups, or which services?

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I have never faced hidden fees with OVH, its a pretty simple billing process. just dont over use your allowance as for any hosting.

David Makogon said:

I have read their offers, they say they integrated DDOS protection on VPS's and Dedicated servers, is it exact and we don't need to care about DDOS attacks any more?

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DDOS attacks are still a huge things and you should worry about them if your website has a decent size audience so you would rather be prepared for it than get a DDOS attack and have downtime.
alternatively you can just use a third party like Cloud flare as DDOS protection but that may be more expensive.

Luxin Host said:

They reply very late, Once it took them 2 days to reply to my ticket. Also you have to understand with these big organisations for specific stuff things have to be passed on and on to other people meaning a lot of delays and staff talking like robots as they have limits to what they can do.

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I don't think it was late like that |o|, I have a small VPS on OVH but not ever sent them a ticket yet.

VirtuBox said:

Free Plesk License for 30 domains

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wow I can use Plesk to host 30 domains for free without buying a license on OVH?

I will say when buy a dedicated server you look at number 1. is support center how fast are they in responding to clients....If you choose unmanaged dedicated server service it doesn't mean no support at all. A lot of companies still have 24/7 support if something happens including hardware repair etc. For me I will say you go for a fully managed dedicated server and have your mind at rest, that if you have the money. <snipped>

Good lucks

HostYouFast said:

I will say when buy a dedicated server you look at number 1. is support center how fast are they in responding to clients....If you choose unmanaged dedicated server service it doesn't mean no support at all. A lot of companies still have 24/7 support if something happens including hardware repair etc. For me I will say you go for a fully managed dedicated server and have your mind at rest, that if you have the money.

Good lucks

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Obviously dedicated servers are always better but for some users, they need to have good budget to have a decent one
I don't know why but I always like using unmanaged vps/dedicated servers so that you can manage whole servers and control panels.

VirtuBox said:

All dedicated servers have Plesk 30 domains license for free

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You are saying to free Plesk for dedicated servers but how about VPS? can I get free one for VPS's?

Kaz Wolfe said:

Obviously dedicated servers are always better but for some users, they need to have good budget to have a decent one
I don't know why but I always like using unmanaged vps/dedicated servers so that you can manage whole servers and control panels.

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Because you are interested in web servers, but for a classic user, SSH is a kind of magic.

You are saying to free Plesk for dedicated servers but how about VPS? can I get free one for VPS's?

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It's not free for VPS, but Plesk licenses cost less for a VPS than dedicated.

Hetzner might be also noteworthy. Out of the largest web hosters in the world, the order is AWS on first place (flexible but very expensive and bad UX), Digital Ocean on second place (no Plesk license included - has to be bought at plesk.com), OVH on 3rd place and Hetzner on 4th place.

For running multiple servers, Plesk will launch Plesk Multi Server in October which can manage many servers with one central interface.

Also 1&1 Cloud Server might be worth looking at. From my point of view, it is already better than Digital Ocean or at least on par. Plesk is included for free at 1&1 with the biggest edition: Plesk WebHost Edition with unlimited domains. Server location can be chosen (several ones in US and Europe).

jlsoft said:

For running multiple servers, Plesk will launch Plesk Multi Server in October which can manage many servers with one central interface.

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:rolleyes2: I'm already waiting for this feature !

Also 1&1 Cloud Server might be worth looking at. From my point of view, it is already better than Digital Ocean or at least on par. Plesk is included for free at 1&1 with the biggest edition: Plesk WebHost Edition with unlimited domains. Server location can be chosen (several ones in US and Europe).

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All dedicated server "hosting" series of OVH include Plesk. But I will never buy again something at 1&1. Slow, slow and slow

jlsoft said:

That's bad luck ;-) 1&1 won several prices also because of their performance

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I have always been sceptical towards "prizes" and "awards" they often have no actual value and are either paid for or just made up as a trademark. I would focus on customer reviews or if they offer a trial, go for it and test the services yourself.

jlsoft said:

but it always depends on which product you take and how much load the overall server has - or if a customer takes the whole bandwidth. You can have that experience with every hoster in the world. I know even companies who use AWS who run performance tests on EC2 instances to keep the good ones and drop the bad ones because performance varies so much.

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This whole thread is about recommendations for choosing a dedicated server so AWS is not really that relevant. CDN is a good way to speed up your website if your visitors come from all corners of the world, they can be very costly though. Some do offer free trials like CDN77 so you can test it and see if it increases the performance significantly or not

How can I trust an web hosting provider who try to sell dedicated servers for free ? With 1&1, you have to buy your server for a year if you want to have a price. If they have good servers, they will not need to do this ...

And even with "the power deals" an AMD Opteron 4274HE for 119$/month, it's a joke. I have a better server with my raspberry pi 3 :lol:
No need to talk about the A8i with an Intel Atom C2750, sold $79 a month with 8GB RAM, when you have the same for $23 at scaleway. And I'm not a big fan of scaleway, but they have the fastest network I have ever used.

But you are right about benchmark, it require to do at least 100 times the same benchmark on several server to have a good result. But as I only use dedicated servers, the only factor which can change between to server is the network speed.
But I will not worry about that ^^ :

We recommend for dedicated server with Xeon processor for high performance.

We recommend a dedicated server with fully managed support, if you are not system administrator, It would be more helpful to you. but their response time and resolution time for tickets/issues are need be compared. Also, uptime.

Other things like processor, memory, disk, bandwidth, port speed are related to your requirements.

From the 3 providers that you stated above i would recommend only OVH.
Everything from them is superb, support takes time but you can call them to get a more faster reply.

Also i would not recommend to use those companies if you don't have any experience with system administrator.