Though far better known for their WordPress hosting solutions, Bluehost dedicated servers are none the less impressive packages from a company that has been around for the best part of two whole decades.
Ranked highly on our list of the top discount dedicated hosting solutions of 2015, Bluehost offer affordable plans that rival any of their competitors in terms of speed, reliability and performance, not to mention strong value for money.
In the following review, we tasked our experts with looking closer at Bluehost to bring you the facts, thoughts and stats on Bluehost’s dedicated servers so that you can decide for yourself whether or not they’re the right choice for you when it comes to investing in your web presence.
Bluehost Dedicated Server Pricing
Much as with all of their hosting services, Bluehost take a three-tiered approach with their dedicated servers, following the industry practice that more money equals more resources.
At the very least, prices are comparable to those promoted by many other leading hosting companies, though that’s not to say there’s not a great deal to be found here.
At the lower-end of the scale, things kick off with their ‘Standard’ budget dedicated server. Normally priced at $149.999, the first term rate is actually half of that, coming in at just $74.99.
For that price, you’ll have a 1TB server with 4 x 2.5 GHz CPU, a nice 4GB of ran and 5TB of uncapped data transfer. Three IP addresses are also thrown into the bargain, too.
If you ask us, this more than sufficient for most businesses investing in their first dedicated server, providing ample resources with the flexibility of being able to upgrade as your website grows.
Speaking of upgrading, the next package on the list is the enhanced $99.99 ($199.99 after your first term), which again comes with the 4 x 2.5 GHz CPU and 1TB of storage, but doubles the amount of RAM and bandwidth you’ll have (8GB and 10TB respectively), and includes an additional IP address, making it four in total.
At the top end of the scale, things come in at $124.99 for the first term and $249.99 thereafter. Whilst this may seem expensive, the amount of resources you’ll have access to with this one do provide good value for money, and it’s at least on a par with many of the other hosts on our top five budget server providers.
FOr that price, you’ll again have 1TB of storage (more than anyone should reasonably need), but you’ll also have 4 x 3.3 GHz CPU for your speed, 16GB of RAM, a solid 15TB of data transfer allocation and five IP addresses.
This latter package is especially ideal for those running multiple high-powered sites or whose sites are drawing in huge sums of visitors at any given moment of the day.
Features
Right from the outset, we have to give Bluehost credit for bundling a free one year’s domain registration in with their dedicated hosting plans.
Though we mentioned in our recent HostingSource review that such things aren’t necessarily a deal breaker when it comes to choosing a server, they are a nice touch that could well come in handy.
That of course, isn’t the only thing that comes with your package. An optimised cPanel-based dashboard makes handling your entire server a breeze, even if you’re not too technically-minded.
If you do fall into that camp, you may be pleased to note that Bluehost do offer the option to manage your server for you, taking care of all that complicated ‘under-the-hood’ stuff that you’d otherwise have to pay a technical expert to take care of for you.
If you’re an advanced user, then the unmanaged option gives you the complete freedom and control manage every single aspect of your server.
Other add-on services include SSL certificates, site backups, sitelock, spam protection and domain privacy.
Performance & Reliability
With their shared hosting plans, Bluehost have developed an enviable reputation for solid performance and round-the-clock reliability. With that in mind, it should come as little surprise to learn that they’re as dedicated to ensuring that your dedicated server delivers optimum performance as they are about taking care of their shared hosting customers.
Each of their physical servers are built and stored in-house using the latest cutting edge technology. Unlike the majority of major dedicated server providers, Bluehost even used mirrored storage solutions, so your entire data is always well protected in case the worst should happen.
Customer Service
As you’ll see in the image above, Bluehost dedicated server customers have a seperate support line to call when there’s a problem, meaning you avoid the usual queues and hassle that comes with a one-size-fits-all approach to customer support.
When you do call, you’ll find that response times are never more than a few minutes and that the service you recieve is at least as good as with any other company. The only drawback of course, is that this dedicated server support line is US based, so for those of you in Europe or elsewhere, you may find yourself relying on either the email or live chat services,or taking advantage of the ample tutorials and vast knowledge base that’s available.
Our Verdict
We’ve mentioned a number of times throughout this review that Bluehost’s dedicated hosting solutions are comparable to -or at least competitive with- many other leading hosting companies, and that seems to be the overall verdict of this company. There’s nothing they do with their hosting plans that no other company does, nothing that stands out as being particularly special or which offers better value for money than you could find elsewhere.
Yet there is one thing that helps Bluehost stand out from the crowd, and that’s simply name recognition. Though you could get a dedicated server cheaper elsewhere, you’ll be unlikely to find one with as solid a reputation as Bluehost, guaranteeing you a level of quality and commitment that you may not get elsewhere.