Virtual Private Servers

VPS Hosting Overview

KnownHost's Managed VPS Hosting packages are a cost effective substitute for shared/reseller hosting as well as Dedicated Servers with one major difference: VPS Hosting (Virtual Private Server) gives you the flexibility and power of a dedicated server without the high price tag. VPS’s are excellent for high resource web applications that demand more than a shared environment can empower.

All our VPS's come with the following

• Powered by Virtuozzo ©
• Free backups
• Datacenter Options: Central (TX)/West Coast/East Coast
• No setup fees or hidden costs
• Highest uptime in the industry
• Unlimited domains / Email / SQL
• cPanel, DA, Plesk (extra fee)
• And plenty more

VPS Advantages

Scalable on demand, with no downtime

Need more resources for your Managed VPS on the fly? With our scalable system, your demands are fulfilled without any downtime - no migration of files or databases are required and there are no changes in your settings.

Isolated resources for faster performance

Our VPS nodes are divided into isolated containers that each have their own set of memory, diskspace and CPU power. This gives you optimal performance at an affordable price.

Choose your own control panel

We offer 3 different control panels for your Managed VPS – cPanel/WHM, Plesk or DirectAdmin – but if you’re happy just using the command line, you can order your VPS with no control panel and install whatever you prefer!

Rapid, quality technical support around the clock

Need any technical assistance? Any time of the day or night, we’ll be there for you. Support is something KnownHost prides itself on so you can rest easy knowing we've got your back.

Affordable solutions, 30 day guarantee

KnownHost offers the most cost effective solutions for your webhosting needs. Don’t like our services? If you’re a new customer, you can ask for your money back within 30 days of placing your order. It’s that simple

Custom Built, Enterprise-grade hardware

We don't do the cheap ride here. We custom build all our Managed VPS servers and use only the best components available, to ensure maximum performance and stability.

 

Guide: How to Choose a Dedicated Server

Dedicated Hosting Budget
It should go without saying that you need to balance your dedicated server requirements to match what your budget can realistically provide you. As with most things in life, you get what you pay for. Knowing your business requirements and budget will help point you in the right direction.
Here are the 7 most common service fees associated with dedicated hosting servers.

• Monthly Dedicated Internet Server Fees
• Server Setup Fees
• Server Management Service Fees
• Bandwidth Costs
• Operating System & Software Licenses
• Upgrades
• Miscellaneous

1. Monthly Dedicated Internet Server Fees: This is the monthly service fee for the server itself. Pricing includes the physical dedicated webserver rental, the electricity, the included bandwidth plan and the space/rack the server will be located in.
Some dedicated hosting providers allow you to pay in increments other than monthly, such as quarterly, or annually. These can be good options because you can often receive cost-savings on your internet server over the longer periods.
2. Server Setup Fees: Setup fees for your dedicated server are a one-time fee for getting the webserver up and running. Setup fees may or may not apply to your account, depending on the internet hosting provider you choose.
Fees typically include the setup of the physical server, the installation of an operating system, configuration of networking on the server to make it accessible online. It can also include fees for configuring software, control panels and service add-ons for the dedicated host.
3. Server Management Service Fees: If you choose to go with a managed internet server, management service fees will apply. This may or may not be itemized on your monthly hosting service fees, meaning it may be included with the dedicated server price or may be separate. Managed hosting fees typically include the management of the operating system and applications on your web server as well as security patches and updates, adding new software as needed etc. It’s always good to speak with your hosting provider about this as there can be unexpected service fees in some situations.
4. Bandwidth Costs: Typically, bandwidth costs aren’t applicable if you have a bandwidth plan that exceeds your monthly usages. You will only see bandwidth costs under two circumstances.
If you exceed your monthly bandwidth limit, you will be billed for the overages. Overages are generally billed at a premium.
When you use unmetered bandwidth dedicated servers, this may show up as either part of your dedicated host’s monthly service fee or as a separate service. Unmetered bandwidth plan service fees should be the exact same each month.
5. Operating System & Software Licenses: Most dedicated internet servers use some variation of Linux or Unix. That’s because Linux was primary developed as a server operating system. Most of them are completely free of charge and will not affect your service fees. There are some exceptions, such as Red Hat.
Microsoft Windows costs money, so you can expect to pay extra for the license. This may or not be included in your webserver’s overall monthly fee. It just depends on how your dedicated hosting provider breaks down the monthly service fees. You can generally expect Microsoft Windows to add anywhere from $20/month to $200/month ontop of the cost of the server.
Software licenses may apply if your dedicated internet server uses software that is commercial. Prices for this vary depending on the applications you need. Service fees may be billed monthly or may be included as a one-time setup fee, reducing your monthly expenses.


6. Upgrades: When upgrading your dedicated server there are two service fees that apply. The monthly cost of the added or upgraded server hardware. A one-time setup fee for the hosting provider to have a technician perform the upgrade.
7. Miscellaneous: In some situations there may be other miscellaneous fees. Some examples of what this may apply to are: remote reboots, KVM/IP access, data backup and server port speed access to name a few. You typically know of these service fees as you explore the dedicated hosting provider’s service offerings and make your purchase.

Complete Guide: Dedicated Servers

This guide will attempt to be the definitive guide on choosing a dedicated hosting plan.
If you feel I have missed something, please feel free to post a reply at the bottom.

1. Operating System: Assuming your organization has no restrictions on which operating systems it uses (and some companies do), here’s how to figure this out.
To begin, I will assume that you will be hosting a website on your dedicated website server. Do you know which programming languages your developers will be using to create the website? If, for example, it is ASP, you will need to stick with a Microsoft platform, such as Windows Server. That’s because asp is meant to be run on Windows Internet servers. If your site will be designed in php or most other languages, you will probably want a Unix/Linux server, such as CentOS, Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora etc.
One of the main benefits of a Linux dedicated hosting server is that you are not required to pay licensing fees on the operating system. Whereas the license for Windows alone can raise your hosting service fees by as much as $200/month, Linux is free to use and you can choose from a variety of versions.
When it comes to maintaining the server, you should confer with the person that will be administering it to be sure that they either know Windows or Linux before making a final decision on which to choose for your dedicated website host.
3. The Web Server: Here, when I say web server, I’m referring to the application that powers your websites, not the actual physical dedicated server. With that said, there’s a great number of web servers available to use. For Windows, the primary options are IIS by Microsoft or Apache, a freely available open source web server application. Microsoft offers support for IIS, but like Windows you’re paying extra in licensing fees.
For Linux, Apache is available as are many others. If you’re using the dedicated webserver for business, I would recommend sticking with Apache simply because finding documentation and help with is is quite easily found on the Internet.
4. Database Application: If your dedicated website host will be using a database, there are 3 common options. MySQL, which is primarily for Linux, is free and is pretty much the industry standard. PostgreSQL is also available for Linux. Microsoft has it’s MSSQL database server. As to be expected, licensing fees will apply.
5. Speed and Performance: Internet users can be quite impatient and will often abandon a website if it takes more than just a few seconds to load. Knowing this is important because your dedicated webserver will need to respond to visitor page requests in the fastest available way in order to maximize visitor traffic and visitor returns.
The primary performance enhancing factors for your internet servers are processor speed, server memory and network speeds. Disk drives can also play a roll for servers using large databases or extremely high traffic volumes. Server programs, such as Apache or MySQL, rely on processor speeds and server memory, whereas the network speeds are mostly dependent on the size of the webpages being sent to visitors. If they’re graphic-heavy or have audio or video, that effects your network speeds so the faster the better.
It’s all really a balancing act and it’s usually better to be safe than sorry.
6. Bandwidth & Data Transfer: Most dedicated Internet server providers give you a pre-specified amount of monthly traffic that you can use. For example, 750GB. This is the amount of traffic received by your dedicated server and sent to your server over a one-month period. Most providers will allow you to exceed that amount and bill you a price per-GB thereafter. This is good because it means that if you exceed your monthly amount your dedicated web server won’t drop off the Internet. On the other hand, bandwidth overages are charged at a premium so it can get a bit expensive.
If you find that you’re consistently exceeding the monthly allotment and you prefer to pay a consistent monthly rate for your dedicated hosting, there’s the option for unmetered bandwidth. You receive a set bandwidth speed for data transfers to and from your dedicated host as apposed to a limited number of gigabytes you can transfer. The amount of data you can transfer is ‘unlimited’. That’s in quotes because it is still limited to what the speed of the connection allows you. But with unmetered bandwidth you’ll never receive an unexpected charge on your bill for bandwidth usages. Unmetered plans are typically 5Mbps, 10Mbps or 100Mbps.

Choose Dedicated Hosting

This guide will attempt to be the definitive guide on choosing a dedicated hosting plan.
If you feel I have missed something, please feel free to post a reply at the bottom.


The time has come to upgrade to a dedicated server, or perhaps you’re looking to switch from one provider to the next. Finding an affordable dedicated Internet server to host your websites can be rather complicated and take up more time than it needs to. This post is here to act as a complete guide to help point you into the right direction and help you determine what you need from your dedicated website hosting.
SECTION A:
Getting Started With Determining Dedicated Server Needs, Pricing and Suppliers
For starters, there are 3 primary components that must be taken into consideration for your dedicated server hosting solution.

1. Business Requirements
2. Dedicated Web Server Configuration Requirements
3. Dedicated Hosting Budget

Business Requirements
This can mean a multitude of things. For example, do you know how many website visitors you will be expecting over any given length of time? Will the sites hosted on the dedicated server host be mission-critical for your business? There’s literally dozens of things to consider, but you know your business best. To get you started, here’s a list of a few things you’ll want to look into and consider when finding your dedicated Internet server provider.

• Backup Solutions and Disaster Recovery
• Security, firewalls, anti-spam and anti-virus and all around server protection
• eCommerce considerations such as SSL certificates and secure access to the dedicated server through, for example, a VPN
• Uptime Requirements
• Does your business require certain official standards to be met by service partners
• Server management services
• Geographical requirements and/or local laws

That is far from being a completed list, so take some time and determine what your business requirements are. The more you know of before you start looking for your dedicated server, the more informed your final decision will be.

Dedicated Web Server Configuration Requirements
Similar to your business requirements, there’s a huge number of things to consider when determining a configuration for your dedicated server host. Fortunately, it is a finite number of things so we can address a large number of them in this hosting blog. To try and keep this as simple as possible for you, here are the 8 things I would look at when trying to figure out what configuration to go with on my dedicated web server.

• Server Management
• Operating System
• The Web Server
• Database Application
• Speed and Performance
• Bandwidth & Data Transfer
• Data Center
• Scalability & Future-Proofing

1. Server Management: First things first. Are you, or is someone within your organization, capable of handling the required tasks of doing server system administration?
Most dedicated server hosting providers will provide you with what’s known as ‘root’ access. This means you can SSH into the server and perform maintenance at the command line. People that are comfortable with performing these tasks would probably be best off with an unmanaged dedicated server. If you’re not sure what root access is or means then you need to go with what’s called Managed Hosting or a Managed Dedicated Internet Server. NOTE: Not all managed hosting servers are the same! Read that again because it’s important and needs to be understood. Many hosting providers that offer managed hosting simply mean that they’ll monitor the server for you. If you don’t want to do any system administration on your server you need a fully managed dedicated server. To get a better idea of what that means, visit SevenL’s managed hosting section ‘here‘. There are 3 services listed. A fully managed server would encompass all of those service offerings.

Dedicated, Virtual or Shared Web Hosting?

There are so many web hosting plans out there—what's the difference? Before you spend time picking which perks you want, you must decide which level of control will best suit your business. What you need to know to make an informed decision is that there are three general hosting environments to choose from: dedicated hosting, virtual hosting and shared hosting.
First, what does a web hosting company offer? A good hosting company provides a fast access line to the Internet, security, fire protection, an uninterrupted power supply, computer hardware to house your website, server setup and optional software maintenance. Leasing these assets from a host gives businesses the uninterrupted, speedy Internet access they want without a heavy investment.
Dedicated Hosting
One of the highest levels of control over your hosting power is called dedicated hosting. With dedicated hosting, your company leases a private server (often called a "box") from a hosting company. Websites that use dedicated hosting do not share their resources (or troubles) with neighboring websites since their computer server is physically separate. This is an ideal arrangement for high-demand websites that require large storage space and transfer speeds for multiple databases or for sites that run memory-hogging applications (such as streaming media). Bandwidth, storage space and the CPU may occasionally be hogged by other sites on a shared server but these problems are not an issue with a dedicated server—it's like having your own private toy box instead of being required to share.
Dedicated hosting is offered with varying degrees of service and management. A plan with no management of your system by host provider is called co-located hosting—essentially you are just storing your locked server equipment at the host's secure location. The only way to exercise more control over your server options would be to set up and operate your own in-house server—an expensive undertaking. But you don't need to invest in dedicated hosting unless you require precise control over your host situation and you can't afford even a moment of downtime.
The disadvantages of a dedicated hosting environment include less support and higher cost than other environments—from a few hundred US dollars to several thousand per month. You'll need to know what you are doing and have the money to do it with a dedicated server. You'll need to select and then maintain your own computer server, operating system and software or pay someone to do this for you. If you don't require this much control over your hosting, consider a hosting environment that offers more support and fewer decisions.
Virtual Hosting
Most companies—and all startups—don't need all the power (and expense) that dedicated hosting requires. That's where virtual hosting and shared hosting come in. With virtual hosting, you share a computer with other websites but the computer is configured to perform as if your website is the only site—like a mini-computer operating within a computer. With virtual hosting you have most of the advantages of dedicated hosting, but without all of the expense. Your site will have more limits for storage and data transfer since you are sharing those assets with other websites, but you'll typically receive more services from your host provider. You'll only need a FTP (File Transfer Protocol) to upload and edit your files on the virtual host computer using a control panel tool. This arrangement is well-suited to small and medium-sized businesses.
Shared Hosting
The last hosting environment is the most commonly used—shared hosting. Shared hosting is just as it sounds—all the individual websites share resources on a given server. But even though the server is shared, individual sites are quite secure. Most host companies that offer shared serving boast about and even guarantee their security, backup, storage space and speed so that your service feels like dedicated hosting without the hassles.
The vast majority of websites you visit daily are hosted on shared servers. Why? Because shared hosting is both economical and easy for website owners to manage. In fact, most websites will never even come close to reaching the generous storage quota offered with the most basic shared hosting plans.
When you select shared hosting the host service handles the day-to-day hardware, software and security needs for your server's maintenance. Website owners need little or no technical expertise to manage a website on the shared server—just an Internet connection and a password gets website owners into the host's control panel to manage their sites.
Because shared hosting is the least expensive, least demanding web hosting option, most website owners have chosen to stick with this method instead of paying extra for a virtual or dedicated server.

How to choose a dedicated server

Choosing a good but affordable dedicated server can be a complicated and time-consuming task. But making the right decision will pay off in the long run.
Here’s the iWeb guide to choosing the right dedicated server, taking into account your technology, budget and business requirements.

1. Technology

Consider these criteria to in order to assess your technology requirements:

• OS: If you are looking to host ASP.NET code, MS SQL Server or to use Microsoft IIS, you need a Microsoft Windows Dedicated Server. If you wish to use an open source stack such as Apache/php/mysql (LAMP) or Ruby On Rails, a Linux server is the best choice.
• Web Server and Database Server: Depending on your technology stack, you might need a server with plenty of RAM, especially if the architecture builds upon Windows, Java or Ruby, all of which are known to be power hungry.
• Performance: For SQL, video-transcoding, virtualization, or specialized applications like game or chat servers, you may need a multi-processor server, such as a dual Xeon server.
• Bandwidth: If you plan to host images, multimedia like flash videos or an Asterisk VOIP server, the bandwidth and uplink speed provided by the hosting provider are key criteria.
• Management: If you do not have the expertise of a system administrator to manage your server, consider managed services. A good web hosting company should be able to offer you expert advice on how to do load balancing, clustering or any tailored environment, as well as good support.
• Network: You should look closely at the location of the data center and compare it with the location of your  target demographic, But also the quality and consistency of the provider. iWeb’s network is audited by Netcraft and consistently achieves 100% uptime, which is how we guarantee you 100% uptime in our SLAs.

2. Budget

Here are the kinds of costs that you will encounter when you are shopping for a dedicated server, and what to check in order to fully understand the Total Cost of Ownership:

• Monthly price – Check the monthly traffic included in the price.
• Setup fees – Some hosting providers, like iWeb will advise you and configure your servers for free.
• Software licensing fees such as proprietary operating system, database or virtualization software. If you use an open source environment, this criteria shouldn’t impact your choice as much. You may need to enter the sales process to see these prices.
• Price of upgrades and parts such as additional memory or additional hard drives. Also keep in mind the maximum upgrade capacity of the initial chassis and motherboard. You may need to enter the sales process to see these prices.
• Management plans and additional services - Most hosting providers offer packages that include several hours or unlimited support per month Additional support is usually charged at an hourly rate.
• Price of extra traffic – Some providers will offer unmetered traffic, but in this case traffic is usually limited in other ways (like bandwidth). Check how much traffic is included in your monthly price, compare it to your expected traffic, then see how much extra it might cost you if you surpass your traffic limit.

You also need to consider these other costs, which are often overlooked:

• Scalability costs - can your environment scale up to handle more traffic?
• Downtime costs – it is impossible to completely eliminate the risk of hardware failure but you can hedge against it. Compare the cost and risk of downtime to the cost of a high-availability solution.
• Training for your staff
• Backup and recovery – Your hosting provider will usually charge for back up and data protection separately as not all their customers need it.
• Migration and decommissioning costs - will it cost you to migrate to your new server, or to cancel your subscription once you are finished with the server. Migration and cancellation are free with iWeb.

Once you have calculate these prices, you may find that prices between hosting providers differ greatly, perhaps by as much as a factor of 10.
Understanding the expected duration of your hosting needs, the extra expenses you may incur during that time helps you understand the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), which is the key to finding the best value for your money.
As well understanding the prices, make sure that you understand what is included in the price. That means not just the stated limitations but the limits to traffic and performance imposed by RAM and bandwidth amongst other factors.
Finally, remember that there is value in doing business with a trusted and proven web hosting company. Consider how much you are prepared to pay to reduce risk and give you peace of mind. And remember that reliability, maintenance and investment in new technologies mean longer term value and less shopping around in future.

3. Business requirements

You may have some special requirements relating to your industry or activities. Here are some common considerations:

• E-commerce: secure access to  dedicated servers and integrity of data
• Security: including firewalls, protection against Distributed DOS attacks or the possibility of setting up a VPN
• High availability
• Disaster recovery
• Scalability, factoring in the expected growth of your business and web services
• Services such as emails and calendaring
• Management of large-sized files
• PCI compliancy

Once you have listed your technology requirements, business requirements and the prices and costs to check, you are ready to shop for a dedicated server.
Let’s take the example of a small software company launching a resource reservation website, which uses Ruby On Rails and other open source software:

Dedicated Server Hosting

Codero’s dedicated server hosting portfolio allows you to optimize your IT infrastructure for reliability, performance, and security. Choose from Windows® or Linux® servers and create your ideal hosting environment with a combination of dedicated servers, private cloud, and public cloud – all backed by Codero’s Exceptional Service and top notch 24/7, US based support.
We focus on optimizing and managing the data center, networking, hardware, and application infrastructure, so that you can stay focused on running and growing your business.

Dedicated Server Hosting: Built For High-Performance

At the basic foundation of your hosted computing environment, a server is the most vital component of your IT solution. A dedicated server is completely devoted to your application's sole needs, and not shared with another customer, so you enjoy more performance and flexibility than a shared hosting solution or cloud instance. If you are running certain workloads, such as a database, a dedicated server is the only reliable solution to host your database. Codero offers a broad and growing lineup of server choices with daily dedicated server deals for those looking to get maximum performance at an affordable price. Our dedicated hosting solutions are fully optimized for speed, security and scalability. You can feel confident in our services knowing we have SSAE 16 (SAS 70) Certified data centers and 24x7x365 technical support provided by our friendly, industry certified, seasoned staff.

Dedicated Server Hosting Features

When you are ready to add more sites, more bandwidth and more concurrent users, you can move up to the next level of server. That way, you can strengthen your database, video and mutli-tasking capabilities... and still enjoy the best value. Responsive and scalable, every server is configured specifically to meet your exact demands. Each server comes with:

• 100% uptime
• Unmetered bandwidth options available
• Experienced 24/7/365 technical support
• Helpful answers from Knowledge Base
• Rewards point program
• Round the clock surveillance, security, network monitoring, and power backup systems

Need More? Managed Hosting Works Behind the Scenes for You

As you select from high-performing server choices at competitive prices, you may want to consider the time you could save focusing exclusively on your business instead of your IT. That's where Codero's managed hosting fits in. It's ready to go to work for you whenever you are ready. We provide the server and infrastructure you need and then manage your server environment. Even better, managed hosting solutions can be further customized with a full range of à la carte options.
Complete details about the level of support you qualify for with your dedicated server are available by downloading the Scope of Support Overview.