Most of the time when hosting providers refers to Cloud hosting, they tend to leave out the fact that Cloud is primarily built on hardware-based dedicated server(s) infrastructure. The strength and resiliency of your cloud infrastructure depend on its underlying core hardware and the network where it’s hosted.
For the purpose of this discussion, I am going to stick to the definition of cloud as an off-premise solution built on a cluster of dedicated servers where resource pooling/sharing exist through virtualization. Cloud is not an instance of a virtual machine built on a single dedicated server.

Why should a startup go with cloud hosting?

I would hope that any startup company took the time to vet out their technology budget at minimum against the odds. Although financially prepared, the “unknown” factor remains in the growth of the company to scale higher than expected or simply fail. If a company was to quickly grow, this implies that resources need to be allocated with little to no downtime in order to satisfy demand. Cloud answers the question of uncertainty by allowing users to add on the fly in the event of significant growth. You are not limited to a single machine and its resources. The sky is the limit if you choose a good platform that promotes business agility and continuity. The last thing you need is having to shut down your business in order to increase capacity. This is exactly what VMware the #1 leading virtualization software evangelizes. Focus on your day to day business and don’t let technology be the reason for failure.
It’s possible that a startup may not have the budget to hire a CTO to build out clusters and load balance solutions along with troubleshooting on-site internal technology. Many cloud providers have now made a Virtual CTO available to their customers. Someone who works along-side the organization to address all their technology needs and promote productivity and business continuity for a fraction of the cost. Get rid of your local server room, cut cost in half!

Why would a startup choose dedicated server hosting?

Before there was cloud, there were dedicated servers. Hardware-based environment supersedes cloud! All cloud implementation and design need to take in consideration its underlying hardware: processing power, RAM capacity, and drives involved. That’s good engineering.
Depending on the nature of what’s being hosted, a dedicated server fully dedicated to a single entity or organization may be a compliance requirement. FISMA (Government), PCI-DSS (Credit card), HIPAA (Health) may require that a single tenant solution be deployed as opposed to adopting a cloud infrastructure that’s also housing other organizations.
While a Private Cloud infrastructure may sometimes satisfy the above, the dedicated world truly promotes logical and physical security. Back in the days, we use to think that servers are expensive, but now, the cost is starting to come down to the cloud level. A single server can now house multiple modular nodes like Microclouds by SuperMicro making it convenient for an organization to host all their IT infrastructure on a single chassis.
How about situations where money-hungry providers tend to oversell their cloud infrastructure? How many other users are you truly sharing resources with? What’s your uplink connection to the internet? (Usually unknown). What type of security risks are you exposing your organization to? The list goes on and on.

Conclusion

In order to run your business the best way possible, it’s important to understand the implications on both sides of the hosting platform. While cloud might be the easiest to scale with, dedicated servers can help address some security issues. Don’t fall in the trap of moving to the cloud just because the mass is doing so and ignoring your specific business requirements. Not one size fits all.

The GigeNET Cloud difference 

With the proliferation of Cloud Services across the internet and business verticals, there’s high level of confusion and panic when it comes to selecting the right type of cloud for your organization. It’s crucial to work with a provider who understands best cloud deployment practices while putting the customer in the driver seat. Why should anyone choose the GigeNET Cloud platform?

• GigeNET shared or public cloud offering is built on a cluster of Enterprise servers connected at 10 Gbps redundant across the board where resources are not over-utilized. Be careful and ask questions about to the cloud you are about to purchase because most of the competition would sell a VPS instead of a cloud.
• GigeNET cloud is not limited to a single location! Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington DC all have cloud offerings to cater to the needs of clients looking to set up geographically redundant solutions.
• GigeNET cloud is not confined to a single virtualization platform. Our engineers have the ability to think outside of the box and deploy solutions like Proxmox, VMware, Citrix Xen, unlike the competition where you have to use what’s offered.
• When setting up a private cloud solution, GigeNET does not share the network or the server nodes with any other clients. The entire infrastructure is dedicated to your organization.

Because of the above, GigeNET continues to position itself as the mothership of all things custom when it comes to the cloud. Receive a free consultation services about your project from our experts.