Dedicated Web Hosting: An Industry Snapshot
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by Ian McInnes
http://uk.tophosts.com

The Web keeps getting bigger, and as it grows, so too does the demand for hosting. When the industry first took hold, businesses were undecided between shared and dedicated server - but recent studies have shown that dedicated hosting is now the preferred choice, especially for SMEs.

It is predicted that by 2004 the Web hosting industry will boom to $20 billion, up from last year's figure of approximately $2.5 billion. Most of this expansion is expected to come from small and medium-sized businesses as they launch their presence on the Web. Not surprisingly, hundreds of companies now offer dedicated Web hosting, and as costs come down, service continues to improve.

Services that cost $400 a month in 1997 now cost less than $100 a month. And with an increasing amount of business from small and medium-sized operations, hosts can afford to drive down their prices; SMEs' network and storage requirements are usually much more modest than those of larger organizations. However, the SME market is not known for its loyalty, and with price as a major selling point, competition between hosts is likely to become very intense.
Dedicated hosting offers several key advantages, with the main one of these being that the user has sole access to the server. This amounts to control over the server's usage, content, and - importantly - its security. According to service providers, dedicated servers may also offer superior power backup and better access to other connections. Finally, dedicated hosting provides the user with site management, e-mail, and VPNs.

Because of the sheer size of the market, new developments occur almost daily. In the last quarter of 2000, HostPro consolidated its position by adding six major Web service providers to its client list. Web hosting giant Interliant also started off 2001 with a bang by launching the Miva Commerce Server, which allows users to manage their online stores through a standard Internet browser.With the competition heating up, it's a buyer's market. Dedicated hosting companies offer distinct advantages to their clients, but haven't yet managed to edge out shared Web hosting companies on the price front. At least in the short term, it seems like the real winner will be the consumer.

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