I am based in the UK and need a new web server for a small ecommerce site. It is not big enough to need separate database and web servers, so everything will sit happily on a single machine.
I have been getting a few quotes, but thought I would see what people think is reasonable for a low to medium spec dedicated server (Linux)?
If you were ordering a new server today, what features would you want from the hardware and the hosting company?
It depends on the requirements of the business. If uptime isn't paramount, you can get away with a basic system with no redundancy, just make sure you have a backup and a known-working plan to restore it. For example, I have two servers with SoftLayer here in the United States. One is in Dallas, and one is in Seattle. They each run about $120/mo with Windows. Their Linux servers are cheaper, but the hardware is the same. Basically a single processor, 1GB of RAM, and a single SATA hard drive around 250GB (way more than I need for my purposes). Prices vary and go up from there. Expect to pay extra if you need features like having them handle backups, hardware firewalls, etc. You can get a virtual private server for less, but I've found that full dedicated servers are generally more reliable (in my own experience anyway).