Dedicated servers · databases
SQL dedicated server A whole machine for your database
A SQL dedicated server is a physical machine that runs your database and nothing else, so no other customer competes for its disks, memory or processors. Ours put SSDs behind a RAID controller, take up to 2 TB of memory and run SQL Server, MySQL, MariaDB or PostgreSQL, whichever your application speaks.
Paid month by month, with no contract. The network port is unmetered, so replication traffic and backup uploads are never counted against you.
An example: eight SSDs in one RAID 10 array, the other bays free for later
01Your database
Which database will you run on it?
All three main engines run well on this hardware. What changes between them is the operating system you pick at checkout and whether a licence is involved.
AMicrosoft
Dedicated SQL Server hosting
Choose Windows Server when you order and we install it before you log in. You then install SQL Server with your own licence, or start with the free Express edition.
- Windows Server is priced at checkout from the processors you pick.
- We do not sell the SQL Server licence itself.
BOpen source
MySQL dedicated server
MySQL and MariaDB are free to run on Ubuntu, Debian or AlmaLinux, all of which we install at no charge. Give the InnoDB buffer pool most of the memory and the database reads from RAM instead of disk.
- No licence fee, however many cores the machine has.
- Room for a replica on a second server in another city.
COpen source
PostgreSQL server hosting
PostgreSQL is free as well and installs from the Linux distribution's own packages. Because you have root access, you can tune shared buffers, the write-ahead log and extensions without asking anyone.
- Put the write-ahead log on its own mirrored pair if you want.
- Install any extension your application needs.
02Platforms
Database dedicated server platforms and prices
Each row is a platform with a RAID controller that can build RAID 10. The price is the least you pay for a complete machine on it, with two SSDs mirrored, and the line under it says exactly which machine that is. More memory, more drives or a faster port are priced as you choose them.
| Platform | From, per month | Cores | Memory | Drive bays | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMD Opteron 6300Windows Server · Linux | $63.85AMD Opteron 6366 HE Hexadeca Core 1.80 GHz · 16 GB DDR3 · 2 × SATA-SSD 240 GB (RAID 1) · 500 Mbps | 12–32 | 16 GB – 256 GB DDR3 | 12RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 | New York, Bucharest, Miami |
| Intel Xeon E5-2600 v1/v2Windows Server · Linux | $75.33Intel Xeon E5-2630L Hex Core 2.00 GHz · 32 GB DDR3 · 2 × SATA-SSD 240 GB (RAID 1) · 500 Mbps | 6–20 | 32 GB – 256 GB DDR3 | 12RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 | New York, Bucharest, Miami |
| Intel Xeon E5-2600 v3/v4Windows Server · Linux | $77.87Intel Xeon E5-2620 v4 Octo Core 2.10 GHz · 32 GB DDR4 · 2 × SATA-SSD 240 GB (RAID 1) · 1 Gbps | 8–28 | 32 GB – 1 TB DDR4 | 12RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 | New York, Bucharest, San Francisco, Miami, Amsterdam |
| Intel Xeon Silver / GoldWindows Server · Linux | $83.67Intel Xeon Silver 4110 8 Core 2.10 GHz · 16 GB DDR4 · 2 × SATA-SSD 240 GB (RAID 1) · 1 Gbps | 8–40 | 16 GB – 1 TB DDR4 | 24RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10 | New York, Bucharest, San Francisco, Miami, Amsterdam |
| Intel Xeon E5-4600 v1/v2Windows Server · Linux | $116.294 × Intel Xeon E5-4650L Octo Core 2.60 GHz · 64 GB DDR3 · 2 × SATA-SSD 240 GB (RAID 1) · 500 Mbps | 32–48 | 64 GB – 512 GB DDR3 | 12RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 | New York, Bucharest, Miami |
| Intel Xeon E5-4600 v3/v4Windows Server · Linux | $192.974 × Intel Xeon E5-4650 v3 12 Core 2.10 GHz · 128 GB DDR4 · 2 × SATA-SSD 240 GB (RAID 1) · 1 Gbps | 24–64 | 128 GB – 1 TB DDR4 | 12RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10 | New York, Bucharest, Miami, San Francisco, Amsterdam |
| AMD EPYCWindows Server · Linux | $227.38AMD EPYC 7413 24 CORE 2.65 GHz 128MB L3 CACHE · 32 GB DDR4 · 2 × SATA-SSD 240 GB (RAID 1) · 1 Gbps | 8–128 | 32 GB – 1 TB DDR4 | 12RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 | New York, Bucharest |
| Ampere Altra Q64-22Linux | $298.37Ampere Altra Q64-22 2.2GHz 64 Core · 32 GB DDR4 · 2 × SATA-SSD 240 GB (RAID 1) · 1 Gbps | 64 | 32 GB – 1 TB DDR4 | 12RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 | New York, Bucharest |
| Intel Xeon GoldWindows Server · Linux | $415.984 × Intel Xeon Gold 6130 16 Core 2.10 GHz · 128 GB DDR4 · 2 × SATA-SSD 240 GB (RAID 1) · 1 Gbps | 64–80 | 128 GB – 2 TB DDR4 | 24RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10 | New York, Bucharest, San Francisco |
- SetupA server you configure yourself pays $29 once. A racked server ordered as it stands pays nothing to set up.
- Longer termsPay for 3, 6 or 12 months ahead and the machine costs less, up to 15% off for a year. Software licences keep their monthly price.
- CurrencyYou pay in dollars for a server in a US city, and in euros for one in Amsterdam or Bucharest.
03Storage
Pick the RAID level for how your database writes
The RAID controller decides how your drives share the work and what happens when one of them fails. These are the levels our controllers build, with the number of drives each one needs.
- RAID 1
- Two drives that mirror each other. Either one can fail and the database keeps running. You get the space of one drive. A good start for a small database, and the shape every price in the table uses.
- RAID 10
- Four drives or more, mirrored in pairs and striped. Writes are spread across the pairs, so it suits databases that write all day: orders, sessions, logs. You get half the raw space.
- RAID 5
- Three drives or more, with one drive's worth of parity. More usable space than mirroring, but every write costs extra work. Better for reporting and archives that are mostly read.
- RAID 6
- Four drives or more, with two drives' worth of parity. The array survives two failed drives at once, which matters with many large SSDs. Offered on the platforms whose controller lists it in the configurator.
Why a RAID controller and not software RAID
- The controller handles the array itself, so the operating system sees one disk and the processors stay free for queries.
- Our backup service works with a RAID controller. A server delivered with software RAID cannot be backed up with it yet.
RAID is not a backup
- A mirror copies a dropped table or a bad update to both drives in the same instant.
- Keep backups as well, off the machine. Section 06 shows how.
04SQL Server licensing
Count the cores before you buy SQL Server
Microsoft sells SQL Server Enterprise by the core, and Standard either by the core or per server with client licences. Counted by the core, every physical core in the server needs a licence, with a minimum of four per processor, so a machine with many slow cores can cost more in licences than in rent.
AFree editions
Express and Developer
- SQL Server 2025 Express costs nothing. It stops at 50 GB per database, uses at most one processor or four cores, and keeps 1,410 MB of data in memory.
- The Developer editions have every feature of Standard or Enterprise, but they are licensed for development and testing, not for a live application.
BPaid editions
Standard and Enterprise
- SQL Server 2025 Standard uses up to four processors or 32 cores, whichever is fewer, and up to 256 GB of memory for its data cache.
- Enterprise has no limit of its own beyond the operating system's, so it can use every core and all the memory you order.
If your licence is counted by the core, a few fast cores often cost less overall. These processors run at 3 GHz or more and can be ordered with Windows Server:
- Intel Xeon E5-2667 v4 8 Core 3.20 GHzIntel Xeon E5-2600 v3/v4
- Intel Xeon Gold 6136 12 Core 3.00 GHzIntel Xeon Silver / Gold
- AMD EPYC 72F3 8-Core 3.70GHz 256MBAMD EPYC
Windows Server Standard is priced at checkout as one flat monthly figure up to eight cores, and by the core above that, so you see the full amount before you pay. Limits above are from Microsoft's own list of SQL Server 2025 editions; check your licence agreement before you install.
05Sizing
How big a server does your database need?
Start from the data you touch every day, not the total size on disk. A database is fastest when the part it reads most fits in memory.
Memory first
Add up your busiest tables and their indexes, then leave room for growth and for the operating system. Memory starts at 16 GB and goes up to 2 TB in one machine.
Then the drives
Take the space you need today, double it, and choose the RAID level that fits how you write. Controllers take up to 24 drives, so even a large array fits in one machine.
Cores last
Most databases wait on memory and disks before they run out of processor. If you pay for licences by the core, buy the speed you need, not the count. For very large jobs, quad CPU servers reach 128 cores.
Choose something else if
- Your database is a few gigabytes behind one website. Our web hosting includes MySQL with phpMyAdmin, and a cloud VPS is a smaller step than a whole machine.
- You want the fastest NVMe drives above everything else. Compare the NVMe dedicated servers first.
A dedicated machine fits if
- Your queries slow down when someone else's server gets busy.
- You need control over memory settings, disk layout and the operating system.
06Backups and support
Backups that understand SQL Server, and help when you ask
Our backup agent, a paid add-on, saves the server to your own Google Drive while it keeps running, encrypted on the machine before anything leaves it. On Windows, the Backup Advanced and Backup Premium plans ask SQL Server to settle its files first, so the copy restores cleanly. The basic Backup plan takes the disk as it stands, like a sudden power cut.
On Linux, a dump from mysqldump or pg_dump next to the disk backup gives you a copy you can load anywhere.
| Plan | We answer within | Failed hardware replaced within | We check the server every | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | 12 h | 24 h | — | — |
| Bronze | 4 h | 4 h | 5 min | $19.00 |
| Silver | 2 h | 3 h | 2 min | $39.00 |
| Gold | 1 h | 2 h | 1 min | $69.00 |
| Platinum | 30 min | 2 h | 30 sec | $99.00 |
Basic comes with every server. Whatever the plan, our AI chat replies in seconds and can look at your account and your server, and a person takes over whenever you ask. The paid plans are explained on managed support.
Bandwidth Pricing
See how we compare to our competition
*Competitor figures are what each provider's own published price list charges for that much outbound traffic to the internet in a month, with its free allowance deducted: AWS (US East), Google Cloud (Premium Tier, from Iowa) and Azure (North America), read on 29 September 2026. None of the three sells an unmetered port.
Our figures come from the order catalogue. Every server ships with an unmetered port, so traffic itself is never billed; a 1 Gbps port is included on most lines and sold as an upgrade on the rest, and the chart shows the upgrade price.
Included with your server
Network
Your port is not shared with any other customer at the access switch.
1 IPv4 address included; a free IPv6, and extra IPv4 from $6 a month, on most lines
Unmetered port, up to 100 Gbps on some lines
New York, Miami, San Francisco, Amsterdam or Bucharest Data Center
Hardware
Enterprise dedicated servers are delivered with:
Enterprise HPE hardware, with Dell and Supermicro on some lines
Hardware RAID on the blade and rack lines, software RAID on the m510/m710x/m750 cartridges
Software
Choose from up to 33 operating systems when configuring the server:
Ubuntu 14.04 through 26.04, with AlmaLinux and Debian on most lines
Windows Server 2008 R2 through 2025 on most lines, as a paid license
Proxmox VE 9
VMware vSphere Hypervisor 7 and 8 on the blade, rack, m710x and m750 lines
Administration
You have complete control over your server specifications, upgrade or downgrade anytime.
Control Panel
Root Access to Server
Out-of-band iLO, iDRAC or BMC console on the blade, rack and m510/m710x lines
Support And SLA
A team of server experts is available around the clock, ready to assist you.
24/7 Live Support Via Phone or Live Chat
Service Level Agreement
07Ordering
From order to first query
- 01
Pick the parts
Choose the platform, memory, drives, RAID level, city and operating system. The total updates with every choice.
- 02
We build it
A configured server is ready in 4 to 24 hours. A racked server taken as it is goes online about 30 minutes after your payment is approved.
- 03
Install your database
You log in as root or Administrator, with an out-of-band console on the platforms in the table, so you can reach the machine even when the system will not start.
- 04
Move your data
Restore your last backup or start replication from the old server. Traffic between them is never metered.
A racked server can be refunded within three days of activation. A server built to your choices cannot, so if you are unsure about a part, ask us in chat before you order.
08Questions
SQL server questions, answered
01What is a SQL dedicated server?
It is a physical server rented to one customer and used for a database. Nothing else runs on it unless you put it there, so its disks, memory and processors answer only your queries. You choose the hardware, the operating system and the database engine.
02Is a Microsoft SQL Server licence included?
No. We install Windows Server for you and price it at checkout, but SQL Server is licensed by you, through Microsoft or a reseller. You can also start with SQL Server 2025 Express, which is free and handles databases up to 50 GB each.
03Can I use MySQL or PostgreSQL instead?
Yes. Pick Ubuntu, Debian or AlmaLinux at checkout, all installed at no charge, then install MySQL, MariaDB or PostgreSQL from the distribution's packages. None of them charges a licence fee, whatever the size of the machine.
04Which RAID level is best for a database?
RAID 10 for a database that writes a lot, because writes are spread over mirrored pairs. RAID 1 is enough for a small one. RAID 5 and RAID 6 give more usable space for data that is mostly read. Every platform in the table has a RAID controller that builds RAID 10.
05How much memory does a database server need?
Enough to hold the data and indexes you read most often, plus room for growth. When that fits in memory, the drives are used mainly for writes. Our platforms go from 16 GB to 2 TB. Remember that SQL Server 2025 Standard uses at most 256 GB for its data cache.
06How much does a dedicated database server cost?
It depends on the platform, the memory and the drives you choose, and the configurator shows the total as you go. The least expensive build in the table is $63.85 a month for AMD Opteron 6366 HE Hexadeca Core 1.80 GHz · 16 GB DDR3 · 2 × SATA-SSD 240 GB (RAID 1) · 500 Mbps. Paying for a year ahead takes up to 15% off the machine.
07How do I back up the database?
Add a backup plan to the server and our agent copies it to your own Google Drive without stopping it. On Windows, Backup Advanced and Backup Premium make SQL Server consistent before each copy. On any system, a regular dump of the database to another place is worth keeping too.
08How quickly can I have the server?
A server built to your choices is ready in 4 to 24 hours. A racked server taken as it is goes online about 30 minutes after your payment is approved.
09Where are the servers?
In New York, Bucharest, Miami, San Francisco, Amsterdam. Each platform is sold in the cities listed beside it in the table. Put the database in the city closest to your application servers, because every query travels that distance.
10Is there a contract?
No. There is no contract and no minimum term: you pay month by month. To stop, give five business days’ written notice before the end of the month you have paid for.
Give your database a server of its own
Choose a platform, the memory and the drives, and we build it in 4 to 24 hours. Not sure which RAID level or how much memory? Ask our chat, which answers in seconds, and a person is there when you want one.