Security is one of the major issues where online businesses are concerned. With dedicated servers the issues of security are much more dangerous as a large amount of investment is involved. Although the companies providing dedicated servers claim to provide a highly secure dedicated server (which they should at the rate they are charging their customers) it will me much safe to check the security issues yourself before purchasing the server. A dedicated server cannot be secure until and unless the plan has certain specific features to breech the issue.
A control panel is the first thing that one requires so as to use the server efficiently. The control panel of servers are mostly written in PHP and a PHP application is never completely secure until they are being upgraded regularly. Make sure to check that web host provider is providing you with latest versions and is open to updating in future. Sometimes if your browser is not able to detect the threats to your server due to no updates done on the browser your server may face log in threats to security.
Dedicated accounts are accompanied by FTP accounts through which one can upload files on website quickly. FTP accounts can be run without password and login but this may be a threat to your site. Anyone can upload files with your IP and Domain name in this case and use your disk space and bandwidth. Root access to your dedicated account is given to control various aspects of your server. One must regularly use your control panel to scan for any security issues related to root access.
Apart from these, few things like changing passwords, disabling unnecessary services not required, installing a firewall, protecting system from virus attack, updating software, configuring backups, and monitoring your server can help you work in a safe environment.
The key word to work in a safe dedicated server is updating. If a server is updated regularly and a careful monitoring of the server is being done dedicated server is best place to work.
