You know the old story … cheapest isn’t always best. However, with a little bit of research and some due diligence you can usually find a good deal on a dedicated server.

Firstly, it’s important that we define ‘cheap’. The price range for a fairly fast dedicated unix server (i.e. Linux/Fedora/RedHat etc with single high end pentium 4 processor, at least 80GB hard drive, 1GB of ram and WHM installed) varies from around $US120.00/mth to $US180.00/mth. That price range is based on my own experience and research so there will obviously be some that are a little higher or a little lower but you will find that most of the larger hosting providers fall somewhere in that range and then go considerably higher for multi-processor servers, extra RAM etc. If you are just looking to host a fairly busy site or a bunch of smaller sites then this type of server should be more than enough. There are quite a few servers available in lower price brackets. These are generally referred to as ‘budget priced’ dedicated servers and they are also quite suitable for many applications but keep in mind that it is BUDGET hosting and as such may not have the same service guarantees or customer support level as the higher price brackets.

Many people get confused about the terms ‘Virtual Private Server’ or ‘Virtual Dedicated Server’ and how they compare to a genuine dedicated server. The only difference between ‘Virtual’ dedicated and standard shared hosting are that there are less people using the server and you have more control over the server resources. It’s still a bit of a gamble though and performance will vary depending on who is in the ‘neighbourhood’. Being a shared server, whilst there may only be 3 or 4 others sharing the server, you only have to have one of those people giving the server a real hammering and it will affect you. If you are serious about having a dedicated server then you need to be looking for a real dedicated server that you don’t have to share with others.

As usual, I’ll only list hosts that I have had personal and positive experience with. Some of them are affiliate links and some aren’t. I’m not big on affiliate programs but they help pay for the pizza, so they can’t be all bad!

First though, here are some links to a few of the better web hosting directories and forums:

Website Host Directory

Web Host Directory

Web Hosting Talk

APlus.net is probably the fastest host I’ve worked on (other than Rackspace). I had a contract to set up an online job finder script and most of the time it was like the server was in the room next to me rather than on another continent! The couple of times I contacted technical support their responses came in less than an hour and my client also had several pre-sales discussions using their live chat service. All in all it was a very pleasant experience.The only negative comment I would have is that they use a Plesk control panel. I’m CPanel/WHM through and through, so take that as a personal opinion rather than an objective analysis :).Now…here’s how to find the best deals. At the time I added this link there was a big special on their homepage as soon as you clicked through. If they aren’t running that special, then look at the menu on the left and click on ‘Value Servers’. They are running a $49 special with no setup fee. The $49 server doesn’t have a high end CPU but it still should give you much better overall performance than a Virtual Private Server. It’s also great for techies who want a server to do some development on or any business that wants a secondary DNS and MX server.

Another place to look for good, cheap dedicated server deals is at Layered Technology. They often have a range of cheaper servers available on their Server Specials page.

I’ll add to this list as I find more places for good deals, but if you know of any others, please leave a comment or submit a ticket to our helpdesk with the details so we can add it in.

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