Cloud vs servers in South Africa: Which hosting option is best for you?

With revenue in the public cloud market expected to reach almost R60bn in 2023, spending on the cloud has never been higher in South Africa. Cloud service providers are expanding their services in South Africa to drive growth and competitiveness.

Is the cloud the best hosting option for your business, or are on-site servers more beneficial? When deciding between the cloud or dedicated server hosting, it's important to understand the benefits of both options so you can make an informed decision.

Cloud vs dedicated servers

Cloud hosting and dedicated hosting are two popular solutions in South Africa. With cloud hosting, the resources of a single server can be shared among various users or dedicated to one entity, while dedicated hosting is a solution where an entire server is dedicated to a single user. Dedicated servers are physical servers that are leased or owned by a user or company, and installed in a data centre. Cloud servers, on the other hand, are virtual servers that are created on a shared infrastructure, hosted in a cloud provider's data centre.

Dedicated servers require more maintenance than cloud servers, as users are responsible for installing, configuring, and maintaining their own software and hardware. With cloud servers, the hosting provider handles most of the maintenance tasks.

The type of hardware used is also a key difference between these two types of hosting services. To use a cloud environment, all hardware is virtualised. Virtualisation is a technology that creates digital representations of servers, storage and networks, as well as other physical machines. The cloud environment mimics the functions of physical hardware used with dedicated hosting. Virtualisation allows cloud servers to run multiple virtual machines simultaneously on a single physical machine.

Dedicated hosting, on the other hand, utilises physical hardware that is solely used by a single business customer. With dedicated servers, the customer is provided with exclusive access to a physical server which can be located on-premise or located in the hosting provider’s data centre. The customer is given full control over the server, including the choice of operating system, hardware and software.

Cloud hosting is more affordable, flexible and scalable

Cloud servers are easier to manage, more secure and have a lower total cost of ownership than a traditional server. These suit companies undergoing rapid growth or change. Cloud hosting services are easily scalable. You can add more capacity or storage space as business requirements change, without worrying about upgrading any hardware.

Similarly, if less capacity or storage is required, businesses can scale down their cloud environments. Major cloud service providers offer a pay-per-use pricing structure, making cloud hosting a flexible and affordable solution. This supports agile business models.

Resources can be added or removed as needed without incurring additional costs associated with maintaining and upgrading physical servers. Cloud hosting providers often handle maintenance tasks, such as software updates and security patches, freeing up the end user from these responsibilities.

Dedicated servers are highly secure and reliable

Dedicated hosting offers the highest level of control and security compared to other hosting services, as the server is not shared with any other clients. The business has complete control over the server and its resources. This allows for customisation and fine-tuning - ideal for businesses with highly specific requirements or security concerns.

Dedicated servers are well-suited for highly regulated industries that need strong cyber security due to the sensitive nature of data that is collected and stored. Businesses offering financial or health services tend to choose dedicated servers to maintain full control over confidential data. Regulatory pressures have led many organisations to continue investing in dedicated servers to handle customer data legally.

Since resources are not shared with other users, dedicated servers typically provide higher levels of performance. However, this requires a certain level of technical expertise to manage. As a result, dedicated servers tend to come with a much higher price tag than cloud servers.

Which hosting option is best?

When evaluating which option is best for your business, the first thing is to consider your digital strategy and how this fits into the wider business strategy. When fostering an agile business model that caters for changing demands, the cloud is a sensible solution.

However, organisations that need to take compliance and data privacy into account, dedicated servers may be preferable. Unless there are industry regulations to uphold, cloud servers can be configured to provide levels of performance, security and control similar to those of a dedicated server.

Another factor to consider is cost. Cloud hosting is flexible and affordable, while dedicated server hosting often operates on a fixed monthly or yearly cost model, making it easier to predict and budget for hosting expenses.

Many businesses are choosing a hybrid approach to get the best of both worlds. Hybrid hosting offers a variety of benefits and is a great choice for businesses that need the flexibility and scalability of the cloud, but also need the control and security of on-premises infrastructure. It allows businesses to keep sensitive data on-premises while taking advantage of the cost savings and convenience of cloud hosting.

SEACOM Business provides a range of hosting solutions for large enterprises and SMEs in South Africa. These include hybrid setups that deliver the best of both worlds for the customer. For more information or to get a quote for our server hosting solutions, email us at marketing@seacom.com or leave us a message.

SEACOM operates Africa’s most extensive network of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure, including multiple subsea cables and secure internet connections tracing both sides of the continent. This is partnered with broad terrestrial fibre networks in Southern and East Africa, extending services to these regions.

Today, SEACOM provides holistic ICT solutions covering connectivity, cyber security, cloud, smart networking and communication products that provide African businesses with the necessary building blocks to deliver world-class solutions to their clients. We are privately owned and operated, making us agile and adaptable to the needs of our customers.

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