Serchen Blog – Business Software & Cloud Services Articles

Cloud Hosting Vs Bare Metal – Which one is the best for you?

While starting a business, you must have planned strategies for business growth, right? But after some point of time, you’ll come across this question that what is next? Then, answer is quite simple that next step is to build online presence for online success. For continuous online presence, you need a website and that website needs a hosting service to keep your website live 24*7 on the web.

Further, selecting a best web hosting provider plays an important role for every business website or any other types of websites. More importantly selecting a strong server is more beneficial for fast loading of the website.

For detail understanding, check the next segment of the article, where you’ll see the comparison between cloud hosting and bare-metal hosting.

What is Cloud hosting?

Cloud hosting is the newest form of hosting that’s easy as well as tough to understand for newbie’s and users that are using shared or any other forms of hosting. In traditional hosting, you’ll get a limited space of the server to host your website, whereas on cloud hosting, you’ll get a separate server configuration that allows you to utilize unlimited space on the server.

In short, cloud hosting is a network of virtual servers that consists of networks of physical servers. You can scale the resources as per the requirement of resources on the server. However, these resources are spread on multiple remote servers that you can use at the time of needy. Your website is not hosted on a single server.

How does Cloud hosting work?

As I explain above that cloud hosting is a unique server configuration. Similarly, in cloud hosting, your website files are located on multiple servers that makes easy to deliver files to visitors, when they visits on your website.

You can operate the servers from the anywhere at any time without worrying about place, server or network. Due to virtual machine, you don’t require to carry physical hardware for accessing the data.

All you need to buy internet connection to run your website. There are two types of cloud hosting one is public cloud and second is private cloud. However, both have unique working system.

What is Bare-metal Hosting?

Next is Bare-metal hosting, it’s a physical computer that is especially developed to run a dedicated services easily for long period of time.

Bare-metal is a highly stable, durable and reliable. It is traditionally called as dedicated server or physical server. During installation it required highly controlled and monitored environment.

It consists of hardware resources like CPU, RAM, and storage, Network port that is not shared between two or more users. In short, only single user can use it or it may need a cluster of servers which is called as a “private cloud”.

Moreover, you can give on rent or purchase the physical hardware along with available resources. How does Bare-metal hosting work?

A working of bare-metal hosting is quite technical that I will explain below in three process as first is to select the Hardware, it consists of single processor of 64 GB DDR4 RAM and for dual processor it required RAM of 256 GB DDR4 RAM.

Ahead, you can develop your server with SATA, SAS, and SSD drives of different sizes and re arrange those drives with a RAID set.

Last, you need to customize the server by including NAS, SAN block storage or firewall.

Second is to select the Software, for dedicated server, you’ll get multiple options for installing software. If we talk about operating system then you can opt for Windows servers, CentOS, Debian and Ubuntu, etc.

In case of virtual servers, you required virtualization software like Hyper-V, VMware ESXi, or Xen Hypervisor, etc. For controlling purpose, best options are cPanel, WHM, or Plesk. Additionally, you can also add software like CMS software, mail software, FTP, etc.

Now, you’ll get a question that there are multiple software’s available in the market then whether you should consider it or not then yes, you can consider as it’s depend upon your hardware configuration.

Third process is to include additional services, I have explained before that you can rent or lease the dedicated server. However, web hosting company will assist you for hardware problems only.

You can ask for additional services before signing up with the web hosting provider. Check below the list of services which you can ask with web hosting provider like website migration, cloud backup, security services, DDoS protection, firewalls, etc.

Pros of Cloud Hosting

• Easy to implement

• Accessibility

• No need of hardware

• Cost per head

• Flexibility

• Easy recovery

• Centralized data

• Free storage

• Quick sharing of documents

Cons of Cloud Server

• Internet connection

• Low bandwidth

• Security issue

• Cost comparison

• No need of hard drive

• Incompatibility

• No proper support is offered

Pros of Baremetal Hosting

• Hardware performances available

• High level of security

• No storage cost

• Performance reliability

• Dedicated support

Cons of Baremetal Hosting

• Required technical support

• Suitable for experience user only

• Scalability

Combination of Cloud and Baremetal or Dedicated servers – The hybrid Cloud

Due to high demand of configuration, majority of businesses are opting for hybrid cloud. It consists of dedicated and cloud hosting solutions.

It is a combination of private and public cloud servers with collocated servers. Further, this configuration is suitable for plenty of variations on the customization side that is beneficial for businesses that have distinct requirements or budgetary limitations.

For back end purpose, hybrid cloud configuration is useful for dedicated servers. These servers create robust environment for data storage and movement.

However, this configuration also works well for Software as a Service (SaaS) applications which needed flexibility and scalability as per customer requirement.

Similarities of cloud servers and Baremetal or dedicated server

If we talk about the core values of cloud and baremetal servers, then you’ll come to know that both the servers are performing similar actions which you can go through below. For example;

1) Information storage

2) Demand to generate information on requests

3) Proceeding requests for information

4) Working on delivering information to the searcher who has asked for information. These two servers are different from shared hosting and VPS hosting.

Now, you’ll get a question, how?

Answer is Structure!!

Structure?

Yes, structure of cloud and baremetal is complicated or you can say tough to understand, if you’re a non tech person.

Check below few pointers to know difference of these servers from shared hosting and VPS hosting.

1) Maintaining good amount of traffic without any lag or performance interruption. 2) Receiving and delivering the information to the searchers on time.

3) Protecting the data storage

4) Guarantee stability of web applications

Almost both the servers are same as they have ability to support any service or application. You can manage the server with similar back – end tools and software. The only difference is the Performance.

If you are aware with your business requirements then opting for a proper solution will save your money, help to boost scalability, flexibility and easy maximization of resources.

Let’s Begin the Comparison of these two servers for better understanding. 1.CPU

If we compare the processor point of a cloud server and baremetal or dedicated server then they are quite similar in terms of performance of CPU.

But baremetal server will enhance the performance as it has physical and direct access to the processing resources in comparison to cloud server.

Under baremetal server, you can access the processor cache quickly.

Where as in cloud hosting, you don’t get the direct access of CPU.

All web hosting providers offers different CPU model. Therefore, you need to check the CPU model while signing up with the web hosting provider.

2. Storage

In baremetal server, you can use local storage whereas in cloud network attached storage block is utilized. Baremetal and Cloud hosting is suitable for HDD and flash – based (SSD) storage.

The major differences is that bare metal consists of own storage devices due to easy availability of the resources in comparison to cloud hosting in which resources are shared amongst the users.

3. Flexibility

Baremetal configuration is easily available for configuration and customization purpose as per individual usage. For small business website, you can consider starter plan of baremetal as the offers given by your web hosting provider. In case, your business starts growing then you can scale out the server and include more servers.

Cloud hosting server is also flexible in comparison to baremetal hosting server. As cloud gets deployed easily whereas physical server is time consuming.

4.Performance

In performance, both hosting servers work well, right? But bare metal hosting server consists of separate server which is managed by single user. You’ll get all necessary resources to manage the server without sharing the resources or server with anyone.

Additionally, it offers better performance for popular applications and heavy workloads like big data processing business.

In cloud server, you need to share the server with others users which might affect the performance of your business.

5. Scalability

In cloud hosting, you can easily scale the resources due to easy availability of the resources. Similarly with baremetal server also gets scaled, if workload is increased. There are two types of scalability in baremetal server first is vertical and second is horizontal scaling.

In vertical scaling, resources are moved from one server to another server. However, migration between servers is not a difficult task.

In horizontal scaling, deployment of extra server is quite tough. For ex; you can host CMS that is content management system on single server only. If that server is not able to handle traffic then you can move the database to another server or deploy it on multiple servers, as per the decided proportion of requests.

6.Migration

On baremetal, live migration is possible, in which you can easily migrate within the different virtual servers. If any server is running outpaces then you can move your application without taking down your application.

Whereas in cloud hosting also, you can migrate your data in three different steps that are from local to public cloud, second is cloud to cloud migration and third is reverse migration in which data is transferred from cloud to local data center.

7.Cost

Baremetal servers are not virtualized but still they offer flexibility like cloud platform. Its billing is based upon per hour usage, monthly or yearly terms depending upon the dedicated hosting plan. You can start and paused the server at anytime with no upfront costs or contract periods.

However, key benefit of baremetal server is price performance with great flexibility. It can handle great work load though it’s temporary.

Whereas in cloud hosting, you get a similar plans like baremetal hosting. Here, also you can scale the resources as per the scenario of traffic on the website.

If you compare the price of both the hosting environment then you’ll came to know that cloud hosting is costly as compared to baremetal hosting. Though, features are quite same but prices vary provider to provider.

Okay, which one you should consider amongst these: Cloud Hosting or Bare Metal

Firstly it’s very important to know that managing the server is not for everyone. It needs a strong technical knowledge of server operating, systems, services and security.

In baremetal, you’ll get half of support from your web hosting provider, which is good, if you come across with any critical situation.

Whereas in cloud hosting, you can enjoy all the benefits but if you get stuck with any issue then it’s become tough to sort that issue unless you’re an expert or having a strong support to overcome the issue.

Learn More About Host4Geeks

What is the Difference Between a VPS and VPN?

Although the acronym VPS seems similar to VPN, do not confuse the two, as these are different IT services. In this post, we will help you distinguish a VPS vs VPN.

What is a VPS?

So, what is a VPS server?

Using software, a physical server can be partitioned into smaller virtual private servers (VPS) that many users can utilize, taking only the resources that their applications require.

After all, if you want to run a website or host an application, you will need to host it on a server.

Decades ago, this server was always a physical computer that you or your company would own and manage. However, it became simpler and more economical to outsource these servers and rent them from an Internet hosting provider. This provider is responsible for managing the hardware of the computer, and you can just install the software that you want on it (like a website).

As computers became more and more powerful, it was no longer practical to rent an entire server to one user who only needed to run a single website. In most cases, for both business and personal use, it was also not practical to buy an entire server. Even with a number of business applications and websites installed, in many cases, most of the resources of that server would sit idle and not in use. This represented a poor return on investment.

As a result, virtualization technologies were introduced and the virtual private server (VPS) was born.

For example, a physical server with 16 CPU cores and 32 GB of RAM could be broken into four virtual servers, each with a virtual 4 CPU core and 8 GB of RAM. The user has a more economical solution, and the person or company that owns the server is maximizing their resources as well. Each virtual server is then considered private to its user, because its resources are not shared with other users. It is like your own personal computer, except that it is hosted on the Internet.

When Should You Consider a VPS?

There are many benefits to virtual private servers. For example, if you need to host a relatively small website, then a server with a 2 CPU cores and 2 GB of RAM should be plenty. Unfortunately, you will not find a physical server this small. Servers are inherently expensive to produce, so making one that has minimal resources simply isn’t practical. However, you can find VPS Hosting that will fit your needs very well and be affordable.

As your website grows, you may want to make your VPS more powerful. Thankfully, this is straightforward to achieve in a few minutes, without needing to reinstall and reconfigure the whole server. Your hosting provider can help migrate you to a larger, more powerful VPS with considerably less difficulty than if you were trying to move from one physical server to another.Learn more about Cloud VPS.

There are also alternatives to VPS. You can use shared hosting, which is even less expensive but only recommended for very small and simple websites. Or you can rent an entire physical server also known as a dedicated server if you need significantly more power. If you are considering either of these options, make sure to check out the full comparison between vps vs dedicated.

What is a VPN?

A virtual private network (VPN) creates a bridge over the Internet to connect users to resources securely. Since the VPN uses the Internet to connect users, it typically keeps the connections private by encrypting them. For example, any data that is sent from one office to another cannot be read by outsiders. This is the benefit of a virtual private network.

Business Use of a VPN

The Internet is a public network that connects computers around the world which allows people to access public resources from anywhere with a connection. However, there are some resources that should be kept private. For example, an organization can have private documents and websites (often called an intranet) that should only be accessed by its employees. In this case, it is more secure to keep these resources on a private network that only exist in the office.

Now, let’s say that this organization has many offices or remote workers in different locations. If the private network only exists in the headquarters of this organization, then employees in other locations will not have access to private resources. The solution to this problem is to create a virtual private network (VPN) that connects all these offices together. – Read More

Learn More About Liquid Web Inc

Improve Your Sales Outcomes by Using CRM Predictive Analytics

Organizations typically utilize multiple sales tech software to bring in more customers. However, having more of these tools doesn’t necessarily equate to more products sold. Sometimes, the only thing that your sales and marketing team needs is the right CRM system and its predictive analytics to secure more deals.

So how can CRM predictive analytics boost the company’s sales outcome? By discovering qualified leads, organizing prospect contact, tracking call outcomes, proving better product prices, and retaining more customers, the secured sales of a company may increase steadily thanks to CRM predictive analytics.

What CRM Predictive Analytics is and How it Can Improve Your Business

Customer relationship management (CRM) software serves as the anchor for the sales team in an organization. In 2019, around 74% of businesses in the country utilize CRM for better access to their customer data. However, most of these businesses are not aware of the full capabilities that the right CRM software can bring them. Most CRM software feature AI-informed predictive analytics which can help the organization boost sales outcomes.

Predictive analytics is simply the utilization of historical data on customer behavior to create a more accurate prediction of future results. Thanks to machine learning and other technology like CRM software, predictive analytics can parse more data and produce more accurate predictions without requiring long manual processing hours.

There are several predictive analytic theories out there, but only three of them can help you create smarter decisions about improving the sales in your company.

3 Types of Predictive Analytics

1. Sequencing

This type of business analytics is about analyzing the probability of a potential customer buying the product if they perform other actions. For example, if a person downloads a whitepaper and clicks a pricing page, what’s the possibility that they will buy the product too?

The concept of sequencing came from the works of A.A. Markov, a Russian mathematician. His works about probability theory state that an action is equally likely to happen if the two previous actions occurred first. All you have to do is observe the historical patterns of actions A and B to predict the likelihood of action C happening.

2. Cross-Selling

Cross-selling utilizes the analytic data to predict what companion products a buyer may purchase. The best example of this predictive analytics is the “frequently bought with” suggestions – an effective marketing strategy found in online selling sites like Amazon.

This strategy has a higher success rate for existing customers than potential ones. Using the key customer data collected by the CRM, it’s easier to analyze their buying habits and suggest companion products whenever they visit a pricing page.

3. Lack of Action

While the first two types are about interpreting the existing data about a customer, lack of action focuses on the behavior of the customers that have stopped buying from the company. One of the possible reasons why a customer’s communication with a brand wanes is due to an unsatisfactory product or service. By identifying the cause of their dissatisfaction, it’s possible to reach out and save the relationship.

CRM is helpful in this case because the software can analyze trends or patterns that you can use to create a “fall-off” model. By combining the pattern collected in the “fall-off” model and the sequencing data, the team can identify which buyers are likely to buy the product.

5 Ways to Boost Your Sales with CRM Predictive Analytics

Predictive analytics has become widely used by different companies and organizations because it is an effective sales strategy to boost sales outcomes. Here are five ways that CRM predictive analytics can help your business grow:

1. Discover Qualified Leads

Lead scoring is a practice that’s much older than machine learning or predictive analytics itself. It’s the method of determining which among the potential buyers are likely to purchase the product using luck, guesswork, and spreadsheet data. But with the recent advancement in technology, lead scoring has become more accurate and less time-consuming.

CRM predictive analytics allows the sales team to determine which among the interested parties can become customers, as well as how long they can continue buying from the brand. By identifying which potential buyers to focus on, the team can dedicate most of their time and efforts to fruitful transactions.

The predictive analytics today can allow the team to access important information about the buyer, such as how similar the product is to the customer’s needs and how far a potential customer is from buying the product. It can even predict which member among the sales team is likely to secure the purchase.

2. Organize Prospect Contact

Analytical solutions like CRM predictive analytics allow team members to have more productive transactions. With the right information, agents will have to spend less time on the wrong transaction.

The right information can advise the team which customer to call and when it’s best to call them. CRM predictive analytics analyzes the information about the potential buyer, including the number of calls needed before a conversation is reached. It also includes data such as email open rate and length of sales talk time from past interactions.

These kinds of information help the sales team form a strategy and the marketing team plan a campaign while reducing administrative tasks and increasing contact time with the prospect. – Read More

Learn More About Commence