I’ve had some form of dedicated server on and off for many years.

I get cheap ones (from Hetzner, OVH or OneProvider). They’re really useful. They have fast connections, powerful CPU’s and plenty of storage. And they’re no more difficult to maintain than a VPS.

What do I use mine for?

  • Sharing big files. Especially big ones. I have a ‘cold storage’ folder on my S3-powered website for files that I’ve shared via email, Twitter, etc. down the years. I never delete those files. But I don’t want to pay the AWS storage/bandwidth fees for a 4GB .zip of football player images I once shared on a video game forum. My dedicated server can have those.
  • Backups. I can’t backup my entire media library. But the essential files on my Mac are backed up to the server.
  • Website hosting. VPS’s are very popular and capable these days. But you can’t beat a dedicated server. And once you start spending £30 on a VPS, you can get a lot more bang for your pound by getting dedicated hardware.
  • Video transcoding. The main reason I have my server is to transcode full quality HD and 4K BluRays to more manageable sizes.
  • VPN. I wouldn’t say I can ‘hide’ very well using the server as a VPN, as the IP address never changes and only I use it. But still, it gives me some protection.