Liquid Web Just starting your search for the best dedicated cloud server provider for your business? Finding dedicated cloud server hosting for an enterprise-level business at a reasonable price can be challenging, but we’ve done the research and narrowed down the best options for you.
But price shouldn’t be your only concern. To ensure you reap the full benefits of dedicated hosting services, you should look at various hosting features like security and support.
- What is a dedicated cloud server?
- Benefits of dedicated cloud server hosting
- Factors to consider when choosing a dedicated cloud provider
- Best dedicated cloud server hosting providers
- Final thoughts: Best dedicated cloud server hosting for enterprises in 2024
What is a dedicated cloud server?
A dedicated cloud plan is a single-tenant hosting environment, meaning customers get exclusive isolation and customized provisioning. In comparison, shared hosting plans put your data on the same server as other customers, which increases security risks and sometimes decreases performance.
Dedicated cloud plans give you the power and security of dedicated server hosting with the flexibility and scalability of the cloud.
In particular, dedicated cloud server hosting is an excellent option for customers who want their own server resources with extra cloud add-ons to optimize the performance of websites, applications, and company data centers.
Dedicated cloud hosting use cases include high-traffic websites, companies handling sensitive information, and large enterprises with mission-critical workloads that require customized IT infrastructure.
Benefits of dedicated cloud server hosting
While control and security are often considered the main benefits of dedicated hosting services, there are many reasons to switch to a dedicated cloud setup. These benefits include:
- Server isolation.
- Exclusive resources.
- Easy provisioning.
- Scalability.
- Performance.
- Customization and control.
Server isolation
Companies that handle sensitive data and applications may require isolated resources to comply with data protection regulations and retain customers’ trust. Some of the best web hosts also offer additional security packages and tools like Acronis Cyber Backups and disaster recovery solutions.
Exclusive resources
With dedicated cloud server hosting, you’ll get dedicated bandwidth, memory, and storage without noisy server neighbors to take resources away from your website or impact performance, security, and loading times.
Easy provisioning
Provisioning is the process of preparing and setting up a company’s IT infrastructure. This includes both hardware (e.g., physical servers) and software (e.g., virtual private servers). Some of the best web hosts, like Liquid Web, offer instant provisioning.
Scalability
Scaling resources can be complex and time-consuming for companies on traditional dedicated hosting plans. Dedicated cloud hosting allows for quick scaling as your needs increase or decrease so you can keep up with growth and seasonal demand spikes.
Performance
Cloud performance features, like load balancing, can help you supercharge your dedicated server setup for lightning-fast response times. Not all dedicated cloud providers provide these extras, so double-check all feature lists before choosing the best dedicated cloud server provider for your needs.
Customization and control
Standard public cloud hosting doesn’t give you any real control over the server environment. With dedicated cloud server hosting, you’ll likely have a high degree of control over your server setup, so you can customize it to your needs. Some hosts, like Liquid Web, provide root access.
Factors to consider when choosing a dedicated cloud provider
When looking for the best dedicated cloud server hosting, review your enterprise’s needs and consider a range of factors, including:
- Price.
- Management level.
- Support.
- Ease and cost of migration.
- Performance add-ons.
- Security.
- Service guarantees.
- Control panel options.
- Operating system choices.
- Memory, storage, and bandwidth.
- Root access.
Price
A decent dedicated cloud server plan will initially cost you more than most shared or VPS plans, but they are more cost-effective in the long run. A host with a wide selection of cloud dedicated plans will ensure you get the resources you need with some extra room for growth.
Management level
Explore management levels available. Are the dedicated hosting services unmanaged, semi-managed, or managed? Unless you already have a strong IT team, a managed dedicated server will likely be preferable to an unmanaged one. Managed services take some pressure off your team and let them focus on other tasks.
Customer support options
No hosting review is complete without considering customer support options. A good customer support team is vital to ensure a smooth transition. Some hosts charge extra for premium support that is only available during business hours, while others, like Liquid Web, include 24/7 support at no additional cost.
Migration
Getting your data and website to a new host can be complicated, especially when moving from a basic shared hosting plan on one host to a more robust plan on another host. Migration support streamlines the process, helping minimize or eliminate downtime during the transition. Some hosts, like Liquid Web, provide white glove migrations for free with any hosting package, while others charge a high fee.
Performance perks
A good cloud service can help you ramp up your IT performance and maximize efficiency with tools like load balancers and content delivery networks (CDN).
Security benefits
The best dedicated cloud hosting providers can help secure confidential data through security features such as isolation, firewalls, and DDoS protection.
Service level agreement (SLA)
Some web hosting companies have SLAs with a 100% uptime guarantee. This means that if your server experiences downtime, you may be entitled to some money back.
Control panel options
Depending on your preferences, you may want to use cPanel, Plesk, or Interworx. Liquid Web provides all of these and supports even more options, like Webmin, DirectAdmin, and Control Web Panel.
Operating system
Web hosts offer different operating system options. For example, some offer Windows and Linux, while others leave the choice up to you, depending on what hosting plan you select. Ensure the host you choose offers the operating system your IT team is most familiar with instead of having them learn a new system.
Memory, storage, and bandwidth
Website files, apps, and data take up space. Ensure your website has enough storage space and memory to achieve high performance. When comparing hosting reviews, remember that HDD storage is cheaper than SSD but slower and less energy efficient.
Bandwidth is another important consideration for high-traffic websites. Some hosts promise unlimited bandwidth, but that’s not technically possible, so be sure to review the details of plans for limits on any unlimited promises.
Root access
If you need full control over your cloud dedicated server, make sure your web host grants you full root access.
Best dedicated cloud server hosting providers
Due to the increasing popularity of cloud services, some web hosts will mention cloud hosting without providing any real cloud capabilities to back up their claims. We dug into the details for our hosting review to find the best dedicated cloud server hosts.
Liquid Web
Liquid Web has 187,000+ customers in over 150 countries. With its ten global data centers and a 500-strong team of hosting professionals, it powers over half a million sites.
The company is well-known for its wide array of web hosting solutions to suit any client, including managed WordPress hosting for beginners, Magento for ecommerce sites, and VMware Private Cloud for enterprises with mission-critical workloads.
Acronis cyber backups are available on all of Liquid Web’s dedicated cloud plans, and you’ll also have access to a CloudFlare content delivery network (CDN) and load balancer.
Depending on your needs, you can choose fully managed, core managed, or unmanaged hosting services.
A 30-day money-back guarantee is offered on cloud dedicated plans, and Liquid Web’s support is well-known for being fast to respond via ticket or web chat. Plus, they have a high Net Promoter Score (NPS).
You’ll also get an outstanding 100% power and uptime SLA guarantee for all major routing devices, giving you peace of mind that you’re getting the best dedicated server hosting with cloud capabilities.
- Processor: E3-1230 v6, E5-1650 v4, E-2336, and 6226R (single or dual)
- CPU: 4–32 cores
- GPU server options available
- Operating system: Windows or Linux
- Control panel: InterWorx, Plesk, or cPanel
- Security: DDoS Protection
- Memory: 16–128 GB RAM
- Storage: 480 GB to 3 TB SSD storage (RAID 1)
- Bandwidth: 10 Gbps
- Support: Top-tier support from the Most Helpful Humans in Hosting
- Public IP address: One dedicated IP address is included
OVHcloud
Founded in 1999, OVHcloud is one of Europe’s leading public and cloud service providers, and it has over 1.6 million customers in 140 countries. It has nine data center locations, including in Australia, the United States, and India.
OVHcloud offers services such as bare metal and VPS hosting, with its cloud dedicated offering labeled as managed bare metal.
A disadvantage of OVHcloud for prospective customers is its support options. To get product information from their sales team, you’ll need to fill in a fairly detailed form to request a callback. With Liquid Web, you’ll get a response in under a minute.
What’s more, with OVHcloud, support is only available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in most regions, while Liquid Web has 24-hour support.
One positive of OVHcloud’s support is that it’s available in several languages, including English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
OVHcloud’s SLA includes an uptime guarantee of 99.70% on their dedicated cloud plans.
- Processor: Intel Xeon E5-2689 V4 or Intel Xeon E5-2680 V4
- CPU: 10 cores, 20 threads; 14 cores, 28 threads; and 28 cores, 56 threads
- Operating system: Not listed
- Control panel: OVHcloud Control Panel
- Security: Secure backbone network with anti-DDoS infrastructure
- Memory: 64 GB, 128 GB, and 256 GB
- Storage: 3 TB
- Bandwidth: Unmetered bandwidth (3 Gbps private and 3 Gbps public)
- Support: Tiered support, which can cost over $5,000/month for enterprises
- Public IP address: Not listed
IBM
IBM predates cloud computing and the Internet — it was founded in 1911 and became International Business Machines in 1924. Today, IBM is a US-headquartered global technology leader in software, tech infrastructure, artificial intelligence, and consulting.
IBM Cloud servers are distributed in 60 data centers in 18 availability zones globally. For cloud bare metal, customers have a wide range of configuration options (up to 11 million), and pay-as-you-use pricing is available.
One nice perk of this hosting option is the free 10 GB of IBM Cloud backup. However, if you want a hardware firewall, you’ll need to pay extra ($103.46 at the time of writing).
IBM also charges a hefty fee for anything but basic support. Notably missing in the basic support plan are service time guarantees as well as phone and chat support options. Advanced support is at least $200/month, and you won’t get premium support for under $10,000.
- Processor: Intel Xeon 8474
- CPU: 96 cores
- Operating system: CentOS, Microsoft, Red Hat, Rocky Linux, and Ubuntu
- Control panel: Not specified
- Security: Not specified (add-ons available)
- Memory: Up to 2,048 GB RAM
- Storage: 960 GB SSD x 1 (up to 16 drives available)
- Bandwidth: Tiered basis for public outbound bandwidth – quoted upon request
- Support: Not specified
- Public IP address: One IP address is included with options for more
VMware
Recently acquired by Broadcom, VMware provides enterprise-grade cloud computing solutions. It is best known for its virtualization software, which divides servers into virtual machines. According to the company, it has over 70% of the market share in hypervisors for enterprises.
VMware’s dedicated cloud offering, vCloud Air, is a physically isolated single-tenant environment in the public cloud the company calls “the true hybrid cloud.”
If you want VMware’s hosting technology but prefer managed hosting, you might be better off purchasing web hosting services from a third-party host that offers VMware. Liquid Web is a VMware-certified host that provides VMware-powered private cloud hosting.
- Processor: Not listed
- CPU: 35 GHz vCPU
- Operating system: Broad OS support
- Control panel: Uses the vSphere tool suite
- Security: Robust vSphere security
- Memory: 240 GB vRAM
- Storage: 6 TB
- Bandwidth: 50 Mbps
- Support: Access to specialists who help with onboarding and ongoing support
- Public IP address: Three included with options to add more
NetSource
NetSource focuses mostly on providing hosting to small and medium-sized companies in the Chicago area, where its data center is located. This means it won’t be a tempting dedicated cloud provider for companies with customers outside the United States.
That said, it has some decent advantages for regional businesses. Servers are connected to NetSource Public Cloud and will benefit from failover protection, which is great for businesses that need to minimize downtime for operational reasons.
Also, you can spin up as many virtual machines as your server can hold. This is attractive to software developers and companies with multiple departments that require their own virtual machines.
The company focuses on building custom server configurations and does not offer standard sets to choose from. Below is an example configuration.
- Processor: Not listed
- CPU: 2 Intel 6 core CPUs (12 physical).
- Operating system: Linux or Windows
- Control panel: Not listed.
- Security: Fully managed, including dedicated firewalls, OS patching, and virus protection
- Memory: 64–128 GB RAM
- Storage: 1 TB SAN disk space
- Bandwidth: 100 Mbps
- Support: 24/7 with managed hosting
- Public IP address: Not specified
ServerPronto
ServerPronto owns and operates its own data centers. According to the company website, it has personalized solutions, full root access, free setup assistance, 24/7 customer support, and a 100% uptime guarantee.
It’s a relatively inexpensive option for a smaller company and offers a 7-day money-back guarantee. This is a nice touch but much shorter than Liquid Web’s 30-day guarantee.
The company also has a proprietary Smart Control Panel that lets you manage your servers from any device.
Disappointingly, ServerPronto doesn’t provide top security features as standard. For example, you’ll have to shell out for a firewall and DDoS protection, both of which Liquid Web provides free of charge.
- Processor: Intel Xeon E5-1650 v4
- CPU: 6 cores, 12 threads x 3.6 GHz
- Operating system: Various options are available, but some, including Windows, require extra payment
- Control panel: Webmin is included for Linux.
- Security: 24 hours of DDoS filtering included (8 hours of attack defense)
- Memory: 64 GB RAM
- Storage: 2 x 500 GB SSD HD with RAID
- Bandwidth: 76.8 Gbps max
- Support: 24/7 support
Liquid Web wins out for its:
- Powerful servers with impressive specs.
- Top-notch support for small businesses and large enterprises alike.
- Easy server management and full control.
- Great security features as standard.
Final thoughts: Best dedicated cloud server hosting for enterprises in 2024
While all of the companies on our list are solid in many ways, most of the dedicated cloud service providers on our list will require some sacrifices, with issues such as limited server options, high cost, and limited support. But Liquid Web strikes the perfect balance, giving you power, scalability, and fast support whenever you need it.
With Liquid Web, you get powerful servers, top-notch support regardless of your hosting plan, easy server management with root access, and excellent security features at no additional cost.
If you need help deciding or require a customized solution, get in touch with sales today.