How Many Websites Can You Run On a Dedicated Server?

When customers enquire about a dedicated server, there is all one question in their mind. This question is- how many websites can be hosted on the server. So, when the user considers a number a dedicated server, it can accommodate many websites at a particular time instance. However, the actual number of sites would vary and this would be dependent on the requirements that each user has.

Dedicated web server

There are a number of factors that can influence the number of sites that a dedicated web server can accommodate. Some of these factors include-

         Design

A lot depends heavily on the web designing software and the platform used for designing the website. The website can either be a static HTML website or a dynamic website.

  • Static Websites

Static HTML sites contain simple pages with less amount of information. These websites are smaller in size considering the fact their design is simple and there is lowered usage of fewer elements that have to be processed.

  • Dynamic Websites

Dynamic websites have much more complex pages as compared to a static website. As the name suggests, the content of these websites keeps on changing. Such websites are usually created with a CMS like- WordPress, Joomla and Magento, with MySQL databases and a WYSIWYG (“What You See is What You Get”) editor for managing the website content.

As a user, you must be wondering, what all this has to do with the server? Well, if you’re looking to host mainly static websites that you need a server that has larger hard drives and fast spindle speeds. On a dedicated server, you can easily host up to 500 websites on the same server.

If most of your sites are CMS based, then you need to increase the CPU and RAM over the server for quicker processing of MySQL databases. A moderate dedicated server configuration can run around 150 to 250 websites.

       Bandwidth

Bandwidth is the volume of data being transferred from your website to the Internet by the means of a web server. The consumption of bandwidth is judged by the number of visitors that visit your website and the type of content you’re looking to host on your website. Heavier file formats such as- photos, videos, etc. consume a higher bandwidth. If your websites receive high traffic, then you need to make sure that there is enough amount of disk space allocated. CPU and RAM are other resources that are also needed for managing the high traffic volumes and also the occasional surge on your website.

     Email Services

When you offer email services to your customers, you need to consider the more volume of emails that would be exchanging on your websites every day. With a basic web hosting plan in place, we recommend 500 GB bandwidth transfer. With a managed hosting in place, you can host around 250 sites. As stated previously, remember that the number of sites that your dedicated server will host, depends directly on the type of applications that you’re going to run on the server.

     Business Expansion Plans

If you’re a fast-growing business with an expanding client base, you should look to upgrade your resources on the server. Any overloaded server with a fewer number of resources for fulfilling your user demands will result in slower websites and there are chances that some of your websites might not even work properly. Thus, it becomes important for you to forecast your growing needs and then make changes accordingly to make sure that all your hosted websites are running properly. Also, be in touch with a trusted hosting provider for determining what their procedures, timelines, and policies are related to server upgrades before it becomes a problematic issue for you.

     Additional Requirements

Your dedicated server can be customized with applications and software for satisfying your specific needs. Server add-ons , control panels and any third-party applications that you’re looking to install will also be consuming the resources of your server. You should also be aware of the number of resources that each application is going to consume from the server resources for smooth functioning. The more number of websites hosted on your server more would the number of applications and ultimately more resources that you’ll require.

Now, after considering the factors that affect the number of sites that can be hosted on the dedicated server, you need to ask your hosting provider certain questions. Your hosting provider needs to be clear about your software and applications that you’re looking to host on the dedicated server, the design of your websites and most importantly the nature of your business.

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