Reasons why someone would go for a low end server?

Artashes

Artashes

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We've all seen them - low end specs VPS/dedicated servers. And while you are getting a machine with bare minimum specs, you are also getting it for an extremely low price. You can't run anything intensive on a server like that, so why do people go for servers like that?

I am going to kick off the list with reason #1:

Learning. A cheap low-spec server allows for a great opportunity to learn the ins and outs of server management.
 
Probably those people who will go for low end specs servers are the one who wanted to try something or maybe play around with it. Before getting high end - high cost server later. We can also say that they are out of their minds...hehehe
 
I have 2 which are use as backup servers.
I have centoswebpanel installed and backup my main servers to them on a daily basis using jetbackup.
I also have one that runs my WHMCS development licence on, so i can test any WHMCS changes or modules before adding to my production licence
 
Some applications/use cases simply require a very low amount of resources, in which case low end servers offer a great opportunity to reduce running costs. Perhaps a blast from the past for some, but IRCds are one example. I'm sure there are many other applications that require next to no resources though!
 
Excellent examples so far. Testing, backup (didn't think of that one actually, it makes great sense), low-spec tasks are all great reasons.
 
alpshost1 said:
Can we also say they are out of their minds? :smash::smash::smash:
Click to expand...

How?

Why spend a fortune on a high spec server to learn on (this is what i call out of their minds)

Also to use as a backup server you dont need a high spec all bells and whistle server.
 
Price - that's it in most cases. Sure there are some that get them to learn - but most that I see buying them are after the "cheapest" service. Often times they buy unmanaged servers and then have no idea what to do with them.

There are plenty of good use cases for cheaper / lower end servers - but more often than not I've seen them used in cases where they really weren't appropriate for the use-case.
 
MikeDVB said:
Price - that's it in most cases. Sure there are some that get them to learn - but most that I see buying them are after the "cheapest" service. Often times they buy unmanaged servers and then have no idea what to do with them.

There are plenty of good use cases for cheaper / lower end servers - but more often than not I've seen them used in cases where they really weren't appropriate for the use-case.
Click to expand...

Yes Mike. Its the same when you get customers who have fallen for the ebay everything unlimited resellers plans for $2 a year only to find out they have lost their sites as these hosts have suddenly vanished.

But still does not explain why alpshost1 say we are out of our minds for getting low spec servers for testing and backups
 
I have to say that I worked in Unix Systems in the Enterprise before I started my own company. I have tried some low-end boxes and I find you can't trust them for anything but learning.
t
We've actually stopped selling boxes with less than 2GB of ram, due to complaints about performance.

"I though a VM would be faster than shared hosting" was the usual complaint.
When you run out of RAM your server is dead, so 2GB is a minimum.

I've also stopped selling VMs are "bare VMs" now and sell them as a service, so you get the control panel on the VM
Just the same service you get on shared, but you can hammer the living daylights out of it.

We can all remember hostrail!
 
alpshost1 said:
Probably those people who will go for low end specs servers are the one who wanted to try something or maybe play around with it. Before getting high end - high cost server later. We can also say that they are out of their minds...hehehe
Click to expand...

Thats true indeed, and also because if they wanted a starter website with require minimum cpu or ram and plus side its cheaper for them and also it is shared hosting.
 
I can name a few things:

- DNS. It can be low end because you usually have more than one, so the other one can act as a replacement while you get the first one up. Also, DNS doesn't require so much server resources, so low end box can suffice

- Backup. If the box has good network and a lot of storage, you can use it to backup your data. If you use rsync, then even better because you only copy over the changes that were made after the last backup

- Website. Simple PHP website or a forum can be hosted on a low end box and still serve decent amount of traffic

- Email. Mail server can also be hosted on a low end box and you can use it as a SMTP server for email sending

- Raw data storage. You may have some bulk, raw data that you need to store somewhere but only if that data is not being read/written often

So I think the general rule is that you can use low end box if the thing you need it for won't be accessed/used regularly and concurrently by a lot of people.
 
I would say, it is for the learning purpose as well as if someone has really low resource requirements and still he is needing his own server then he uses such VPS services.

There are some users who are using the VPS just for the one page site too just for the security purpose as well as for great site speed, resource usage, bandwidth. It's always upto the user who sing-up.
 
Artashes said:
We've all seen them - low end specs VPS/dedicated servers. And while you are getting a machine with bare minimum specs, you are also getting it for an extremely low price. You can't run anything intensive on a server like that, so why do people go for servers like that?

I am going to kick off the list with reason #1:

Learning. A cheap low-spec server allows for a great opportunity to learn the ins and outs of server management.
Click to expand...

Well that's one reason i agree with, i still use Digital Oceans cheapest VPS/Droplet for testing new ideas before putting anything in to production, also a cheap VPS is perfect for someone looking for a bit more performance & control than shared hosting can offer.
 
Artashes said:
We've all seen them - low end specs VPS/dedicated servers. And while you are getting a machine with bare minimum specs, you are also getting it for an extremely low price. You can't run anything intensive on a server like that, so why do people go for servers like that?

I am going to kick off the list with reason #1:

Learning. A cheap low-spec server allows for a great opportunity to learn the ins and outs of server management.
Click to expand...

Some people have location needs, just to have a node in a location that runs a minimum script. We see that alot.
 
Yes they can be beginner who want to use their own server for a single page website to improve the performance.
They are using may be just for learning purpose or their may be some another reason. Otherwise no one would be interested to use such dedicated server.
 
You guys have listed dome great points here.
I would like to think basically for learning purpose but I have encountered many cases where these services are used as VPN and abuse activities are being carried on.
 
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