between Hardware and Software RAID could be negligable

Generally it is thought that if available Hardware RAID is a better choice. 

If you have an option to “RAID”  your server, I say go for it, at least RAID 1. Servers are 24hr nonstop workhorses and any interruption due to single Hard Drive point of failure could cause serious downtime for your web site.

Bandwidth

Bandwidth is the term used to describe the amount of data that server will deliver over period of time. Hosting companies can choose to offer various pricing structures for cost of bandwidth.
But some of the most popular ones are:

Metered Bandwidth
Unmetered Bandwidth

Metered bandwidth packages usually come with certain amount of included bandwidth a month and if going over the included limit you are charged certain fee per transferred GB ( GigaByte ) of data.

Unmetered bandwidth packages allow you to to transfer as much as you can at the maximum included transfer rate. This maximum transferred rate is measured in Mbps ( megabits per second ).

Each pricing structure type offers its own advantages and disadvantages.

With metered bandwidth you usually have access to much faster connection so your speed can burst up to the hosting provider’s maximum bandwidth capabilities. This enables the user to download the file quicker if capable. Since you are charged per amount of data transfer, you are only limited to the speed of your uplink port.

With unmetered bandwidth you are limited (capped) to certain speed of your connection (10Mbps, 50Mbps, 100Mbps …etc). Amount of data you transfer is not measured. In nutshell hosting company says here is your max speed so you use it up to the max speed or not , you are charged one flat fee for that speed.

With metered bandwidth you have to make sure that amount of data transfer included a month can actually be delivered over a included uplink port. 
For example : Lets say with your server you get 6,000 GB of outbound transfer a month but your uplink port speed is 10 Mbps.
With this type of uplink speed if you were to continuously transfer for one month at the maximum speed of 10 Mbps you would only be able to transfer  3,240 GB of data. So to fully be able to utilize all of the allowed transfer usage you will have to upgrade to higher port speed.

Operating System

Usually hosting companies offer several different types of Operating Systems , but most of them are grouped into Linux/Unix based and Windows Servers.
OS X Server is a very rear breed to find on dedicated servers.

Choosing an operating system is mostly dependent on the requirements of software , libraries and applications you will be running on your server.
Certain software is available on both Linux , Unix and Windows , while others are only available for specific OS.

Linux based Operating Systems are very popular choice since most of them are free and usually require less resources to run then windows.

Control Panel

Control panels allow for easy management of dedicated servers. They allow you setup new virtual hosts, domains, emails accounts and various other tasks that can without a control panel be vary tedious and hard to setup.

Some are free and open source but for most of them you have to pay. Usually paid ones come with more features and support.
Most popular paid ones are : Cpanel, Plesk , DirectAdmin.
Most popular free ones are : Virtualmin GPL, Webmin, ISPConfig.

If you are a novice with dedicated servers and your web server is unmanaged by the hosting company then I would strongly suggest having some kind of control panel installed. It will make your server management easy and you will be able to spend the nights actually sleeping instead of trying to figure out why your apache server is returning “500 Internal Server Error” 🙂

One thing to note is that some Control Panels take over your OS and embed them self so deep with the OS that it can make doing setups and installs not supported by the control panel difficult.

Web Hosting Support and Management
Managed or Unmanaged?

Most of the Dedicated Server packages come as “Managed” or “Unmanaged”.

With unmanaged servers it’s your responsibility to manage the server. Meaning that installing and configuring any software on the server falls on you. Unmanaged servers are usually much cheaper and if you do not have any “System Administration” experience it can be difficult to manage the server.
One option is to get some type of control panel which can make the management of the server much easier.

With managed servers responsibility of managing of the server falls on the hosting company. If you are very new to all this or you do not have time to manage it your self then this is your best bet. Usually managed servers are much more expensive. Managed services come with different levels of management. Make sure that you find out exactly what is included in the management of your server, some tasks or software might not be covered and you might get charged hourly support rates.

Remote Reboot

Is referred to an option that enables you to instantly Hard Reboot your machine. This is usually done via web interface and it is useful since gives you the control to restart the server at your command. Once in a while something will happen with the OS or software on the server so that it crashes or freezes.
This requires the hard restart of the machine (cutting the power off to the machine, and starting again).

If remote reboot is not available , you can usually issue an email ticket or call the hosting company them self and they will perform this for you. Problem is that sometimes support team might not get to your ticket in a while, which is why remote reboot comes in handy.

Technical Support

Things do go wrong and they usually happen when you least expect. Servers crash, Hard drives fail, Processors can burn out and what do you do then? You are possibly thousands of miles away from the server and there is nothing you can personally do. You are in the hands of technical support.

There is all types of hosting companies out there, from those run by one person to those run by hundreds of skilled technicians. Some offer 24/7 manned phone, chat and email support, while some have only limited email support. Be careful when choosing your hosting company, pay good attention to the level of support they provide and see what is covered. For support that is not covered in your plan some hosting companies charge as high as 0 per hour. Make sure you read their SLA (Service Level Agreement) to see if they offer any guarantees for any down time as well

Conclusion

I hope that this article was able to give you some insight in the world of dedicated hosting and help you in your choosing of dedicated server.
If you see a mistake or have questions feel free to post a comment at http://dedicatedhostingdeals.com/blogs

Make sure you also check out the latest dedicated hosting deals we found on the net at http://www.dedicatedHostDeals.com

Virtual Private Server (vps) with Web Interface, for MetaTrader Forex
BostonTechVPS.com provides Virtual Private Servers set up to run automated trading Expert Advisors using MetaTrader, with an easy to use web interface. Access the secure server remotely from any computer with Internet access, 24/7.
Virtual Private Server (vps) with Web Interface, for MetaTrader Forex

The Dedicated Server Handbook (Linux Edition)

Slash your hosting fees by learning to host your own dedicated Linux server. This book will take you step-by-step through setting up the freely available Webmin control panel and setting up popular services, such as Apache, FTP, MySQL, DNS, PHP and much, much more.

Price: $ 59.96

Thanks to AgentGOD and his great work bringing the developer console back into the PC version, a whole new wave of servers are possible with vast amounts of customisation. Things such as unlimited ammo, massive experience points (10000xp for a single kill), Field of View tweaks, speed and gravity adjustments and so much more! The best bit is, this is all ranked and on IWNet! I guess the game is no longer balanced to fuck the PC gamers over! Music: Deadmau5 – Moar Ghosts n Whatever
Video Rating: 4 / 5

Related Dedicated Server Articles