Dedicated Hosting is the most powerful web hosting platform available today. With a Dedicated Hosting service, all the resources of a server are dedicated to running a single website, i.e., the resources of the server are not shared between multiple users or multiple websites.
Thanks to the exclusivity of server resources, websites that run on Dedicated Hosting can handle high amounts of traffic easily which is why they’re used to power most of the busiest websites around the globe.
That being said, there are many ways to make Dedicated Hosting even faster. All it takes is some basic optimisation and you can see a significant improvement in speed. What’s more, you can enhance the security as well.
Steps to Optimise Your Dedicated Server
- Switch to HTTP/2
HTTP/2 was originally developed by Google with the sole aim of reducing website latency. Lower latencies mean that websites load faster. This was achieved by storing crucial data in binary form rather than converting them to files.
By default, a Dedicated Hosting service uses an older, less efficient HTTP/1.1 protocol to transfer data. Change it to HTTP/2 to increase website speed.
There’s just one catch here. You cannot use HTTP/2 without an SSL certificate. HTTP/2 works only with HTTPS which is why it’s more popularly known as HTTPS/2 protocol.
SSL certificates are not very expensive and have a direct impact on your website security and SEO. So, it’s not an investment that’ll go in vain.
- Assign high priority for the server
The word ‘priority’ has little to do with importance here. Priority, in Dedicated Servers, simply refer to the order in which tasks have to be performed. It’s essentially a list of tasks that servers perform one after the other.
Servers are set to what is called ‘Normal Priority’ by default. The normal priority is a generalised list that works decently for a lot of websites. For better performance that is specific to your website, use a mode called ‘High Priority’.
High priority simply allows you to change the normal order of tasks and create a custom list for your website that results in the best possible performance.
While this process may sound daunting, it really isn’t. One quick online search and you’ll see that there are lots of guides that make the entire process simple. For a quick guide for Linux servers, click here. If you have a Windows Dedicated Server, click here.
- Optimise JavaScript file delivery
This is better understood through an example. So, let’s say that a browser accesses your website. What it’s really doing is sending a request. The request is to send over relevant information so that the browser can display it to the user.
This request reaches your web server and in response to it, your server sends over all the pertinent information and files. One of the files that are sent over is called the Javascript file.
By default, a browser will first read the JavaScript file and then display the rest of the information. It takes time to read the file and that means your website will load slowly after the JavaScript is read.
Use root access with Dedicated Hosting to change this. You can configure the server to ensure that the browser does not read the JavaScript file first. Instead, the browser will load your website and then read the JavaScript file in the background.
Does this make your server fast? No. But it does make your website load faster.
- Disable hotlinking
If someone likes an image on your website, they’d ideally get your consent, download the image, and then upload it to their website. However, a lot of people simply skip all these steps.
They just copy the link of the image on your website and paste that link on theirs. This is called hotlinking. So, when someone opens their website that has your image, it’s actually your server that has to process that request.
Given that the URL is that of your website, the request will automatically go to your web server. There are two problems with this. One, it’s bandwidth theft. Your server is having to process requests that aren’t actually helping your website or your business in any way.
The second problem is that these hotlink requests can really eat into your server resources. Over time, as more and more people copy your image URLs, your server will end up processing more and more images, leaving little room to serve requests for your website.
Root access allows you to completely block all types of hotlinking. Go through a few online guides and disable hotlinking for your website. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.
- Consider using a cloud-based website security tool
If you’re using a Dedicated Hosting solution, chances are, you have a lot of traffic. With traffic comes the risk of cyberattacks. Good web hosting companies protect their servers pretty well. But that just isn’t enough.
One of the advantages of having a Dedicated Server is that you own the server completely and can install or uninstall applications of your choice without consulting your web hosting company. Take advantage of this privilege.
There are numerous cloud based website security applications that provide all-round security to your website – for example, SiteLock Security. These applications have a whole host of tools built-in and scan your website every day for vulnerabilities. They can also fix problems whenever they find one.
These applications aren’t very expensive and add another crucial layer of security to your website.
Conclusion
Dedicated Servers offer two important advantages — performance and control. They are high-performance machines that can handle very high traffic with ease. Given that you don’t have to share resources with anyone else, you also get complete freedom on pretty much everything.
This freedom can be used to optimise your Dedicated Server for even better performance and greater security. A few simple steps go a long way. What’s more, all the steps listed above are easy to perform and don’t take a lot of time or hosting expertise.
So, if you’re looking for reliable Dedicated Server Hosting in India, make sure to check out Dedicated Server Hosting plans from ResellerClub India. We offer Solid State Drive storage, instant server provisioning, 24×7 dedicated support, a choice of amazing add-ons, a fully integrated server administration panel and so much more!
If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment below. Head to our Servers Blogs category for more information on different types of servers, tips to maximise server performance and more.
For more details, get in touch with us today!
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