Signs You Need to Upgrade from Shared or VPS Hosting to a Dedicated Server

Your graphics are taking too long to load, you need more bandwidth constantly, and downtime is becoming a problem. Overall, your site just isn’t loading and working as it used to. You can pay for more bandwidth or ask your hosting company for an upgrade, but it won’t be enough if your site continues to grow.
Signs you’ve outgrown shared hosting
Your website is taking at least three seconds to load. Don’t ignore speed issues: as of August 2024, mobile devices generate more than 63% of all web traffic, and 47% of mobile users will wait a maximum of two seconds for a website to load.
- You need specialized software, which your shared hosting plan doesn’t support.
- You’ve been getting the 509 error, which means you exceeded your bandwidth limit.
- Your website is growing and needs more security features and software solutions.
If two or more of the above occur, you have outgrown shared hosting. It is now time to upgrade unless you’re willing to risk conversion rates and user experience. Websites loading in 5 seconds see 38% of visitors leaving quickly. On average, this causes the bounce rate to decrease to 9% when the load time is reduced to two seconds.
Signs you’ve outgrown VPS hosting
Again, a site that loads slowly is one sign. While VPS servers have more resources than shared ones, they still share hardware, which can result in a performance decline or inconsistencies, especially if other virtual servers are experiencing intensive usage.
Two additional indicators are frequent downtime and the need to scale up. VPS servers are susceptible to downtime, particularly if there are issues with the virtualization software or physical hardware.
Scaling memory, CPU, or storage capacity can be complicated and involve migration to a new instance or downtime. 37% of small and medium-sized businesses have lost customers because of downtime.
Why might you consider moving to a dedicated server
Dedicated server hosting is a rapidly growing market, with more and more users grasping its unique benefits. The global dedicated hosting market was worth $16.95 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow by 18.9% a year until 2030.
A dedicated server means that you get physical access to the hardware. The server resources are exclusively for your use. There are no issues with “bad neighbors” whose activity can inflict damage on your site. You don’t share resources with anyone.
You don’t need to buy or maintain hardware equipment. As of 2024, high-quality dedicated server hosting costs an average of $115 a month.
Since the server is only occupied by one site, there is no room for security threats. Security software is still important, even with a private server. You do, but you can choose what to install and set up or modify your security configurations to meet your website’s needs.
You pay for the whole server, so you have full control over it and the freedom to install tools, software, apps, etc.
Support leaves nothing to be desired when you sign up for dedicated server hosting. The provider will back your hardware 24x7x365. Client support is available via multiple channels, and there’s never a risk of getting no or poor-quality support.
Dedicated web hosting is the third most popular type at the moment. 18.3% of all websites use cloud hosting. 10.3% use shared, and 5.6% use dedicated web hosting.