Minecraft can be hosted on both shared as well as dedicated servers. Choosing a dedicated or shared server for hosting Minecraft is more of a personal decision; though your requirements and budget play important roles in the decision making.
What is a dedicated server? How is it different from a shared server?
In-order to understand what a dedicated server is, let’s first understand the concept of a shared server. Usually, hosting service providers, allow 2 or more users to share the resources of a single server. Each user will be allotted specific RAM (M)bytes, specific amount of disk space, control panel for admin access and all other features required to set up hosting. The CPU processing and the data transfer rates will be shared. The user-power over the system will be limited. Since the server is shared by many users, there is a restriction to the access of the system. For example, shared server users will not be allowed to install or uninstall any program that they wish, which might affect the entire system, or which might need the entire system to be rebooted. Choices are limited as well. The user might not have the option of choosing the OS he wants. Then again, there are Virtual Private Servers, in which each user gets a virtual machine. Despite being on the same physical computer, each user’s virtual machine functionally behaves as a separate physical computer. VPS is thus more advantageous when compared to regular shared servers. Shared server providers do offer technical support. They in fact take additional measures to ensure that none of the user actions cause any harm to the server. The advantage of using shared server is economy. Since several users are using the same server, the maintenance costs can be shared. Thus, the tariffs for shared servers are much lower compared to other kinds of servers.
Dedicated Server
A dedicated server, on the other hand, is completely dedicated to a single user. The resources of this server are not shared with anyone else, but completely belong to the user. The user also gets complete control over the system, and has full admin rights. So he can install, upload, upgrade etc. according to his wishes. Dedicated servers are generally used when the user has plenty of software changes to make, where-in the entire system can be effected. The user can also choose any OS he wants installed on the server. Thus there is a lot of flexibility when it comes to dedicated server hosting.
Important to note before renting a Dedicated Server
One of the essential factors that needs to be considered when opting for dedicated Minecraft server hosting is the pricing. Compared to shared hosting, dedicated hosting will cost much more. However, you get what you’re paying for – complete control and complete flexibility. Thus, you’ll be the master of your server. Some hosts also provide the option of performing hardware upgrades. So you can get a larger hard drive, a faster processor and more according to your requirements and of course, your budget. Despite giving full control of the server to the user, many hosting companies do provide complete support and monitoring, 24/7/365, to the dedicated servers.
One of the biggest advantages of using dedicated servers over shared servers:-
In a shared server environment, in case any website or account experiences a huge amount of traffic all of a sudden, it will affect the other websites/accounts on that server. Internet users or gamers using the other accounts/websites will experience a lag. Therefore, certain hosts might de-activate the account which is causing the lag, so that it does not affect the performance of other accounts. On a dedicated server, you need not worry about someone else’s applications or website affecting your website or account and vice versa.
Thus, you can always opt for a dedicated server for Minecraft hosting, depending on your requirements and your budget.
