Businesses have several options to choose from when selecting a cloud hosting solution. Many organizations utilize shared hosting, where customers share hardware resources with other users. Most hosting providers also offer cloud hosting, which gives customers complete control over a virtual server within a shared physical machine.


Organizations with specific business requirements may opt for a dedicated hosting solution rather than share resources with other customers. The advantages of a dedicated hosting environment may come with a higher cost and additional client responsibilities regarding its management. We will examine the benefits of dedicated server hosting and identify some of the best dedicated hosting providers.

What Is Dedicated Server Hosting?

Dedicated server hosting is a type of web hosting where a single client rents and gains access to, as well as control of, a complete physical machine. Customers have dedicated resources, unlike shared or Cloud Hosting, in which multiple users share the same hardware and server resources. A shared hosting provider can host numerous websites on a single physical server, leveraging virtualization and shared resources.

Dedicated hosting plans are typically more expensive than shared hosting options. Decision-makers need to consider the costs when determining which type of hosting is most suitable for their needs. The dedicated hosting provider is responsible for maintaining the server, while the client is responsible for server setup, ensuring security, and updating the software. Companies may not require the use of a dedicated server to meet their objectives and can choose a more economical and less technically complex shared solution.

The Best Dedicated Hosting Providers in 2025

Decision-makers should not choose a dedicated server hosting solution without considering the quality of the provider. The following providers all exhibit the qualities expected from the top companies offering dedicated server hosting solutions.

Atlantic.Net

Atlantic.Net Logo

Atlantic.Net has been providing customers with hosting solutions for over 30 years. The company offers a wide range of dedicated hosting options, with customized server configurations designed to meet the specific needs of any business. Their dedicated servers are standalone hardware, running Intel Xeon Scalable and Intel Xeon E3 Series server processors, with discounts available for long-term contracts. Atlantic.Net employs U.S.-based support professionals who are available 24/7, 365 days a year. The provider’s data center infrastructure is fully audited and compliant with PCI, HIPAA, and HITECH hosting requirements.

Advantages:

  • HIPAA-Compliant Hosting Solutions: Atlantic.Net specializes in providing secure infrastructure for healthcare data, signing a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) to certify its adherence to strict HIPAA security and privacy rules, which is essential for any organization handling electronic protected health information.
  • Rapid Server Deployment: In an industry where provisioning physical hardware can sometimes take several days, their commitment to deploying servers in under 24 hours is a significant operational advantage, allowing businesses to respond quickly to new opportunities or infrastructure needs. Need dedicated hosting faster? Cloud Dedicated hosts can be instantly deployed via the ACP console!
  • Award-Winning Customer Service: The company prides itself on providing direct access to expert engineers 24/7. This award-winning, U.S.-based support ensures that when issues arise, customers are speaking with knowledgeable technicians who can resolve problems efficiently, a crucial factor for business-critical applications.

Ideal for:

  • Healthcare Organizations: A perfect fit for entities like hospitals, clinics, and health-tech companies that need a secure, audited, and HIPAA-compliant environment to host electronic health records (EHR), patient portals, and other applications handling sensitive data.
  • Financial and E-commerce Platforms: Businesses that process financial transactions or sensitive customer data will benefit from the robust, PCI-compliant security posture, including managed firewalls and DDoS protection, ensuring data integrity and customer trust.
  • Companies Prioritizing Support: Organizations without a large in-house IT team will find immense value in the responsive, expert-level support that acts as an extension of their own team, providing peace of mind and minimizing the burden of server management.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

AWS EC2 Dedicated Hosts are physical servers dedicated to a single organization’s use. The Dedicated Hosts leverage an organization’s existing software licenses from Oracle and Microsoft, enabling a company to maintain flexibility and cost-effectiveness while benefiting from the resilience and elasticity of AWS. An AWS Dedicated Host provides customers with visibility and control over how instances are placed on the server, supplying a platform that facilitates meeting corporate compliance and regulatory requirements.

Advantages:

  • Hyperscale: AWS allows you to build sophisticated, resilient applications by natively connecting your dedicated compute resources to industry-leading services for databases, machine learning, storage, and analytics.
  • Cost Savings Through License Mobility (BYOL): This feature is a good financial advantage for enterprises. Instead of repurchasing expensive software licenses from the AWS marketplace, businesses can use their existing on-premises licences, lowering the total cost of ownership.
  • Flexible and Strategic Pricing Models: The ability to choose between On-Demand, Savings Plans, and Reserved Instances allows for precise cost management. A company can use On-Demand for short-term projects and then transition to a Reserved Instance for long-term, predictable workloads to maximize savings.

Ideal for:

  • Enterprises with Existing Software Licenses: Companies with significant investments in per-core or per-socket software like Oracle, SQL Server, or Windows Server can migrate to the cloud without violating licensing agreements or incurring redundant costs, making the transition financially viable.
  • Strictly Regulated Industries: Government, and financial organizations can use Dedicated Hosts to satisfy compliance mandates that require physical server isolation, ensuring that their workloads are not co-located with those of any other customer.

Microsoft Azure

Microsoft Azure provides customers with a reliable platform that enables users to exercise almost complete control over resource allocation. Azure Dedicated Host is a service that provides physical servers capable of hosting one or more virtual machines assigned to a single Azure subscription. Hardware isolation ensures security, allowing companies to run sensitive applications in the cloud. Customers can choose to accelerate specific workloads by sharing physical resources, such as memory and storage.

Advantages:

  • Cost Savings for Microsoft Workloads: The Azure Hybrid Benefit is the primary draw, offering savings that other for Windows Server and SQL Server. This makes Azure a logical choice for organizations already heavily invested in Microsoft products.
  • Operational Control Over Maintenance: The ability to schedule the 35-day maintenance window is an operational advantage. It allows IT teams to apply critical host updates during planned, low-impact periods, avoiding service disruptions to critical applications during peak business hours.
  • Seamless Hybrid Cloud Integration: Azure Dedicated Host is designed to work really well with on-premises Microsoft technologies like Active Directory and System Center.

Ideal for:

  • Microsoft-Centric Organizations: Any business that relies on Windows Server, SQL Server, .NET applications, and other Microsoft technologies will find that Azure Dedicated Host offers a good migration path.
  • “Lift-and-Shift” Migration Projects: Companies looking to move their existing on-premises applications to the cloud with minimal refactoring are good candidates. Azure can replicate client server environments on a dedicated host, using existing licenses.

Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

Google offers sole-tenancy nodes, which provide a client with exclusive access to a physical Compute Engine server dedicated to their project’s virtual machines. The hardware isolation of sole-tenant nodes offers enhanced security and control over resource management. The node can be used to provision multiple VMs or serve as a dedicated server to meet security or compliance requirements for workloads that need to be isolated from other activities.

Advantages:

  • Zero-Downtime Host Maintenance: The live migration feature is an advantage for uptime. It means that essential security patches and hardware maintenance can occur in the background with virtually no impact on running applications, a feature critical for 24/7/365 operations.
  • Granular Workload Placement Control: Node affinity policies give architects precise control over their application topology. For example, you can ensure a database and its application server run on the same physical host to minimize network latency, or place redundant servers on different hosts to maximize fault tolerance.
  • Cost Optimization Without Commitment: GCP’s Sustained Use Discounts are applied automatically, rewarding consistent usage without forcing customers into a long-term contract.

Ideal for:

  • High-Performance Computing (HPC): Research institutions or data science teams running complex simulations or analytics can use node affinity to group compute-intensive VMs on the same host, ensuring maximum performance and minimal latency between interdependent processes.
  • License-Constrained Software Workloads: Companies running licensed software that needs to be tied to a specific physical server can use sole-tenant nodes to ensure compliance while benefiting from the flexibility and pricing advantages of the Google Cloud environment.

Hostwinds

Hostwinds offers dedicated Windows and Linux servers that are entirely configurable to address unique requirements. Storage options range from RAID 0 to RAID 60, and each server has automatic backups to protect customer data. The company focuses on managed hosting and may not provide sufficient client control to meet the expectations of some customers. The web hosting provider allows clients to obtain up to 128 dedicated IP addresses for enhanced flexibility. HostWinds’ team of experienced technical professionals is available 24/7 to resolve customer issues.

Advantages:

  • Extensive Server Customization: Unlike providers offering fixed configurations, Hostwinds allows you to tailor every aspect of the hardware to your workload. This means you only pay for the resources you need, from the exact amount of RAM to the specific RAID level for your storage, ensuring optimal performance and cost-efficiency.
  • 100% Network Uptime Guarantee: Like Atlantic.Net, Hostwinds’ 100% guarantee is a bold commitment to reliability. This SLA ensures that the network will always be available, providing maximum confidence for businesses running mission-critical services where any amount of downtime is unacceptable.
  • Versatile Managed and Unmanaged Services: This flexibility allows the service to grow with a business. A startup might begin with a fully managed server to save on IT overhead, while a company with a growing DevOps team can later switch to an unmanaged server to gain root-level control for custom configurations.

Ideal for:

  • Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (SMBs): With its affordable pricing, optional managed services, and reliable infrastructure, Hostwinds provides a cost-effective way for SMBs to gain the power of a dedicated server without needing a dedicated IT department to manage it.
  • Developers and System Administrators: Tech-savvy users who want complete control will appreciate the ability to custom-build their server and choose the unmanaged option. This provides a blank canvas to install a preferred OS, configure software stacks, and manage the environment to precise specifications.

The Benefits of Dedicated Server Hosting

A dedicated server offers customers several benefits compared to shared hosting that may align with a company’s business requirements and objectives. The following are the most impactful advantages of using a dedicated cloud server.

Full control and customization

Customers enjoy the same degree of control and customization with a cloud-hosted dedicated server as they would with traditional dedicated servers. The client can choose to run any operating system and suite of applications and software tools. There are no limitations on system customization like those that may be enforced with a shared server.

Clients must be prepared for the increased complexity that comes with complete control of the server. Customer teams are provided with root access to the hardware and must possess the technical skills necessary to configure and maintain their server and operating system. Companies without these skills may want to leverage the benefits of a dedicated server with a managed hosting solution.

Enhanced security

A dedicated server offers enhanced security due to its isolation from other users within the environment. There is no risk of cross-site contamination from cyberattacks or malware affecting other clients. Customers are not at risk from misconfigured security controls that may allow other tenants to access their data. Some companies may require the added security and privacy of a dedicated environment to meet regulatory compliance requirements.

Consistent and improved performance

Customers enjoy more consistent and improved performance by having access to the server’s complete computing power. They need not be concerned about other tenants using system resources that may be required for peak performance of mission-critical workloads. Dedicated hosting eliminates the resource contention that may impact shared web hosting.

Scalability

Businesses may find that a dedicated server offers more flexibility through horizontal and vertical scaling, allowing them to address fluctuating requirements or high traffic spikes. Customers should be able to easily add storage and upgrade RAM, especially when opting for a bare-metal server option.

Dedicated IP address

Customers get a dedicated IP address with a dedicated hosting solution. A dedicated IP address provides businesses with several benefits, including enhanced security, increased reliability, and improved performance. Organizations can reduce the risk of blacklisting by not sharing an IP with other, potentially unscrupulous clients.

Long-term financial benefits

Companies may incur higher upfront costs with a dedicated server, but may reap some long-term financial benefits. Dedicated servers may be cost-effective at scale for businesses with predictable workloads and consistent, high-volume usage.

When Should Your Business Utilize a Dedicated Server?

Companies should strongly consider dedicated server hosting to address the following business requirements.

  • A company must meet regulatory compliance standards, such as HIPAA and PCI-DSS, when processing sensitive information. This data includes patient health records and financial information.
  • The organization seeks complete freedom to configure the system and security settings as they wish.
  • An organization has mission-critical applications that will benefit from the enhanced performance and reliability of a dedicated server.
  • Companies running custom software will benefit from root access and the ability to configure server resources to ensure optimal performance.

Qualities of Top Dedicated Server Hosting Companies

The best dedicated hosting providers share most of the following qualities.

  • High-performance servers – Providers must offer high-performance hardware to address complex and advanced workloads such as machine learning or analytics. Top-tier performance is crucial for high-traffic sites, such as ecommerce stores.
  • Excellent customer support – Top companies provide 24/7 customer support to address issues with their clients’ dedicated server environments. The support team must be capable of quickly resolving any hardware or network issues that affect the customer’s environment.
  • Uptime guarantee – Customers must be protected with a service level agreement (SLA) that guarantees at least 99.9% uptime. Clients with high-traffic websites can’t afford outages and lost business opportunities.
  • Global server locations – Providers with geographically dispersed data centers may be able to deploy servers near a customer’s location, resulting in reduced latency and improved site performance.
  • Customization – Top providers offer customization options, allowing clients to upgrade resources to address their unique requirements. They may also provide customers with access to add-ons, such as a control panel and automated backups.
  • Management options – The provider should have managed and unmanaged options, allowing customers to adopt a hands-off approach or leverage their technical expertise for more control over the environment.
  • Clear pricing plans – Customers should be able to clearly understand the costs of their hosting account and not be surprised by hidden fees, allowing them to budget accurately.
  • Outstanding reputation – The top providers demonstrate a proven track record and have built a strong reputation based on satisfied customers.

Conclusion

Dedicated hosting offers customers significant advantages over shared hosting, enabling them to address their business requirements and objectives more effectively. Decision-makers should consider the benefits of dedicated servers when selecting a web hosting solution. The companies listed above provide an excellent selection of viable dedicated hosting providers.

Get in touch with Atlantic.Net’s dedicated hosting experts today to get started with a dedicated server tailored to your business needs.