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
2. Opteron Dual Core
3. Phenom
4. Athlon X2 Dual Core
5. Athlon 64
6. Sempron

Keep in mind that there are a lot of variations and lower ranked processor running at a higher clock rate (indicated in GHz) can be faster than a higher ranked processor running a a lower rate. However, double cores almost always beat single cores for servers, even at luch lower clock rates.

Now comparing Intel vs AMD chips is extremely difficult. It almost feels like comapring oranges and apples. So again, my advice would be: compare the number of cores. If one has more cores than the other, it's probably better.

Beyond that, you'd need to get into details about Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 caches, Front Side Bus speeds and other nerdy specs... Check intel.com and amd.com for juicy details!

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...

Read more »

Every now and then we get feedback from a user complaining that this or that hosting company canceled their account without warning. And when checking up on it it always turns out they were hosting "adult content" or something else which is clearly against the Terms of Service (TOS) of almost all hosting companies.

Most of the time it's outright porn...

For those of you who think it is unfair or discriminatory or whatever, here are a few reasons to help you understand why the vast majority of hosting companies will not allow "adult contents" on their hosting plans:

• The hosts tend to get a lot of expensive and distracting contacts from the FBI inspecting on child pornography.

• The sites tend to not publish their content with the appropriate legal disclaimers.

• They tend to generate above average DMCA complaints.

• The resource usage is unpredictable and can go wild at any time.

• Those sites tend to have a short life span and the hosts are statistically left with a lot of unpaid bills.

• And finally, a very important one: as a hosting company, asking your support staff to deal and help debug sites with a lot of potentially offending graphic content may severely impede on your recruitment options.

Now that being said, there are a couple of companies whose staff actually don't mind, let alone enjoy, working on the latest 21st century creative sex trends or whatever it might be. If you want to do adult hosting go with one of them (Cirtex Hosting for example). If you're not sure, read the TOS! Failure to do so is the best way to get your account canceled. And by all means, don't complain to us!

When I was in L.A. a couple of weeks ago, I visited LunarPages' data center located in the One Wilshire building. This is just one of Lunar's 3 different data centers. They have another one in L.A. and a third one in Vegas.

Interestingly enough, I learnt that One Wilshire is the 3rd most connected building in the world! A lot of other hosting companies actually have server cages there...

Read more »

MidPhase recently sent me those pictures of their new datacenter hosting their servers for AN Hosting as well as MidPhase.

I think they look cool. Actually I think hosts should always show their data centers on their website... but they rarely do. I don't know, is it me having a fetish for server racks?? ;)

Seriously, I believe how neat or how messy someone's datacenter is tells you a lot! ;)

Read more »