As you might expect, a dedicated server is a pretty expensive undertaking. For most hosts, dedicated plans are the most powerful plans they have available. They provide clients access to extensive resources and considerable flexibility.

Thing is, just because you can spring for a dedicated server, doesn’t mean you should. Even if you have the budget for it, it’s better to be certain you’ll actually use it to its full potential. After all, it’s always better to avoid wasted resources - always better to allocate things in such a way that you have room to scale without having to worry about overspending.

Here’s how you can tell a dedicated server is the right choice in that regard.

You Have A Distinctive Use Case

First and foremost, think long and hard about what you’re going to be using your hosting plan for. Certain use cases require a dedicated server as a matter of course - few other hosting plans will suffice. These generally fall into one of two camps.

The first involves high-demand or high-availability applications such as media servers, databases, or complex development environments. The resource requirements for such use cases are such that few other hosting options are suitable. While you probably could run any of the above examples through shared hosting, the latency and bandwidth costs would be through the roof.

You’re Using Your Hosting Plan For More Than One Thing

Are you running a high-traffic eCommerce website complete with an email server, customer database, and chatbot software? The more functions or use cases you pile onto your hosting plan, the greater the likelihood that you’ll be better served with dedicated hosting rather than shared or VPS hosting. The power of a dedicated server can act as a foundation for multiple platforms, solutions, and systems.

Your Existing Hosting Plan Is No Longer Sufficient

Let’s say you’ve already got a shared hosting plan for your website. Lately, you’ve been experiencing some pretty significant slowdowns. Lag is starting to have an impact on how your users experience your site, damaging both your PageRank and your conversions.

Worse still, you notice that you’re frequently exceeding your storage limits, your bandwidth allocation, or both. You reason that it’s time for an upgrade, but there’s just one problem. Your host doesn’t offer any shared hosting plans capable of supporting your resource demands.

See, shared hosting plans are for small, low-traffic websites. We’re talking fewer than 10-20 visitors per minute. Any higher than that, and you’ll want to start thinking about an upgrade.

Use Power Responsibly

A dedicated server packs a lot of power under the hood. The trade-off, of course, is cost. If your business can afford it - and it can find a use for all that power - there are few better options for your hosting needs.

About the Author: Brad Litwin is the Marketing Manager at A2 Hosting, a high-performance web hosting provider. Brad’s experience ranges from PPC management to social media management.