1Gbps port dedicated servers are quickly becoming popular in the web hosting industry. However, there are several things to look out for before jumping on the high traffic bandwagon.
For starters, these types of servers are obviously going to cost more and you may be paying for more traffic than you will really need. If you currently run a dedicated server and realize that your traffic requirements are rather high and approaching your monthly allotted amount, then an upgrade could be a necessity. A lot of dedicated server providers will charge their clients for going over their allotted traffic.
The costs involved
Reaching your monthly traffic limit and going over can be costly depending on the service provider. Some providers will give you advanced notice if you are going to pass your allotted traffic. They can provide an alternative solution for you. This can be simply upgrading traffic and moving to another server with the 1Gbps port option or simply paying the extra amount usually billed in a “Gb per dollar” method. A server administrator can also, use less traffic on the server by disabling or limiting traffic flow from and to the server. With 1Gbps port dedicated servers, you will never need to worry about traffic costs.
What traffic are you really getting?
The interesting part is determining how much monthly traffic you will actually be provided on a 1Gbps port dedicated servers. If a dedicated server is set up with 5,000GB of traffic and a 10Mbps uplink port is provided, then the server will actually only be able to use a maximum of 3,300GB of traffic. So a server with only a 10Mbps port could only consume 3,300GB’s. A 100Mbps port can consume 33,000GB’s of data. A 100TB traffic dedicated server will need a 1Gbps port.
Evil play on words
A big difference between unmetered traffic and unlimited traffic is that the unmetered server will not have any extra charges on the amount of traffic you use and you are free to use the traffic you require. Unlimited means that you literally have an unlimited amount of traffic and the sky is the limit here. No provider can offer this and is generally accepted that this is an inaccurate statement. Due to costs involved from carriers, ISP’s, and limitations on the uplink port in the dedicated server, unlimited traffic is not possible. (This is also similar to unlimited space.)
What’s Traffic?
Traffic is the amount of data transfer that can be transferred to and from a dedicated server during a specified amount of time, usually listed as “traffic per month”. All web hosting providers should list their data transfer numbers using the word “traffic”.
What’s bandwidth
Bandwidth is the amount of traffic that can pass through a network or port on a server. Bandwidth will actually dictate how much traffic can accrue during a given month with a web hosting plan. A 100Mbps port, for example, will provide more bandwidth than a 10Mbps port due to more data being able to transfer through that port at a time.
When burst is important
100Mbps ports are popular and even 1Gbps port dedicated servers as it enables a server to meet traffic spikes during certain times of the day to keep up with traffic demands. Maintaining a traffic spike for too long will result in extra traffic charges unless you have an unmetered server.
It is always good to see a web hosting companies providing estimates on your traffic use. There will always be a limit on the amount of traffic that’s possible.
Remember, there is no such thing as unlimited traffic. Reaching an unmetered server’s limit simply means that you will not be faced with traffic charges and you may need to simply upgrade your port speed. It can be a nice feature not to have to worry about.
Carriers behind the 1Gbps port dedicated servers
Just as important, are the carriers that are providing the traffic, not just the dedicated server provider. There are many low-cost carriers offering traffic with less than ideal latency, a high number of hops, and long routes. A dedicated server will reflect this at the server price. Good data center locations for excellent carrier providers and traffic performance is essential.