With the constant flow of information on the internet, systems are inundated with data that needs to be store safely, in order for normal business functions to be maintained. Business owners will therefore have to choose the best sever based on factors such as your IT infrastructure, data processing, desired cloud security services, handling and storage for long-term projects. Let’s look at two of those options: Big Data Servers and Dedicated Server Hosting.
Table of Contents
What is Big Data?
Big Data concept is a process that includes the collection, management, processing and storage of information. It’s the art of studying high volumes of diverse information almost in real time. It generally uses NoSQL technology and a distributed architecture to examine the data and the analysis can be done on private infrastructure or in the public cloud.
What Are Big Data Servers?
Having provided a basic explanation of what Big data is, let’s look a little closer at what they are. Firstly, if you’ve heard about NoSQL or NewSQL databases, there are the same things as Big data servers. The terms are just interchangeably.
They handle unstructured information extracted from several unrelated sources. This data may also exist in a wide variety of formats. In simpler terms, Big data filters through large amounts of raw data to get information that might be otherwise difficult to find out.
For example, it helps businesses determine how long people stood looking at their displays by tracking the WiFi in a phone – even if the phone isn’t connected.
So, the idea that big data concept is just data that’s created to be managed by regular servers, could not be farther from the fact.
What is Dedicated Server Hosting?
Dedicated server hosting is a type of website hosting that gives clients a server devoted solely to their site. It gives users the control and flexibility to customise their server or to choose the software and adjust the system as they desire. Dedicated Hosting also allows subscribers to its service to stream large amounts of video content and high resolution photos. It’s also a very powerful and users enjoy fast hosting because they do not share bandwidth and disk space. So users have more resources and need not fear impacting another user’s website performance.
Dedicated Hosting also gives its users a unique IP address. Plus, it offers a great deal of security that enables subscribers to offer high level security to their users.
It’s also important that you understand that while each option comes with advantages and disadvantages, there are differences between Big Data Servers and Dedicated Server hosting. These differences can prove quiet helpful in your decision making process.
Similarities between the two
Both hosting options perform the same basic actions such as process and store information. Dedicated servers and Big Data servers also outpace shared and Virtual Private Server, VPS, solutions in a number of areas. Some of these include: how they process large amounts of traffic without delay or performance glitches and their ability to receive, process and return data to users within industry standard response times.
Another similarity to note between the two hosting options is the fact that both of them are generally able to support most service or application.
You can use similar back-end tools to manage them both. Both solutions can also operate on similar software. Performance is what sets them apart, which brings us to the differences between Dedicated servers and Big Data Servers.
What are the differences between Big Data Servers and Dedicated Server Hosting?
1. Writing Method
Big data servers use an asynchronous or non-simultaneous method in writing. Because these are not based on a limit from the database engine, there are no delays in writing. This makes the process much faster than regular servers. With Dedicated Server Hosting, and other servers, the process is synchronous or simultaneous and categorised. There is nothing wrong with this method as it is a good step-by-step way of handling data. Dedicated Servers being one of the most powerful forms of hosting has little to no delays in this area. For other servers however, there may be a delay, because some applications are not built to hold this response or are not prepared.
2. Technology
Big data is a relatively new technology. If you look at the platforms it most commonly uses, the infancy of its technology is revealed. Let’s look at its main platform for analytics, for example. It uses open-source Apache Hadoop, which in turn uses the Hadoop Distributed File Systems or HDFS, to manage storage.
However, distributed databases, including NoSQL or Cassandra, which are also commonly associated with big data projects, are rather new technologies, which are still in the developmental stage and as such; they come with some maturity problems.
Dedicated Server Hosting on the other hand, has been around for a while, which allowed it to develop its technology overtime and still continue to do so, to match clients and industry demands.
3. Cost
The cost associated with Big Data Servers is the primary obstacle for organisations that are considering using it. While the software for big data platforms built on Hadoop is affordable, the hardware to operate it bears a hefty price-tag.
With Dedicated Servers, it is not as pricey. Structured Query Language – SQL database systems for large organisations can rely on a few dedicated servers to get the job done.
4. Storage method
Data is generally stored as records that are situated within a centralised set of tables as a database. But that’s with a regular offline data system or a system that is located on-premises, which works great with regular data. Big Data however requires something a bit more forceful. As such it uses storage techniques known as NewSQL or NoSQL systems to handle unstructured data from various sources.
The requirements for Big data’s analytical processing is also different. The ways in which it requires data to be linked, is either not allowed by regular databases or are counter-intuitive to their storage structure. So the data is not analysed or stored this way because Big data is fancy or wants to be different. It just makes more sense based on how it is used.
Summary
With the growing trends in technology and the increase handling and processing of information, businesses will have to decide whether to switch to a cloud solution to deal with their Big Data needs or stick to powerful dedicated hosting platforms. That decision however comes down to what is more suited for the business and its needs.
