When it comes to choosing a dedicated server, choosing between the offerings can be daunting, especially when looking at the processors! There are so many that it's almost impossible to compare them.

• There are two manufacturers with different technologies
• They each have several different product lines
• They have the same processors with different numbers of cores
• They have the same processors with different added features
• Within each product line there are different generations of chips
• Within each generation there are different clock speeds

It used to be relatively easy: 486 was better than 386 which was better than 286... but there are no numbers any more. Only cryptic names and multiple variations. If you're not a CPU geek, you're doomed...

My advice for most dedicated servers would be this: go for the one that has the most RAM. Then only try to compare processors. RAM is much more important than you'd think for servers, especially if you have database driven apps.

Now, what I frequently miss is a rough guide to what CPU is newer/better than which others. I tried to put this together below...

As I understand it, here's how I'd order the Intel processors, from the best to the weakest:

1. Itanium
2. Xeon
3. Core2 Extreme
4. Core2 Quad
5. Core2 Duo
6. Pentium Extreme
7. Pentium Dual-Core
8. Pentium D
9. Pentium 4 HT Extreme
10. Pentium 4 HT
11. Celeron Dual-Core
12. Celeron D
13. Celeron

Here's how I believe you could roughly rank AMD processors (from best to weakest):

1. Opteron Quad Core
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We receive a lot of feedback and comments from people purchasing a webhosting account for the first time. One of the most misunderstood events is customer verification. Here is the why and how about this sensitive topic.

Why do customers get verified?

Web hosting is a very legitimate need for most individuals and businesses. Unfortunately it is also an urgent need for hackers and spammers of many kinds. These people will always try to sign up for cheap hosting accounts, especially if there is an x months for free promo. Worse: they will also sign up for more expensive hosting accounts using stolen credit card info!

This is why hosting companies have to remain vigilant about every sign up they get. Unfortunately, this is why you may also have to provide additional info upon signup, which could extend your signup process from a few minutes to a couple of days. For your own safety though...