At what point should you move to a dedicated server?
 

Or should one never use anything else?

They're pretty cheap these days.

Why share? They are pretty cheap like you said.

Dedicated servers are really pretty affordable anymore. So really, as soon as you can comfortably spend the money on a dedicated server you probably should. If you're doing any sort of galleries daily and intend to continue for several months on end, dedicated is definitely for you.

If you are to the point of even considering a dedicated server, the pricing these days makes it almost a no-brainer. However, if you are not familiar with managing a dedicated server, you may want to study up on it or find someone to help you get started. There are plenty of user interfaces available to assist you with managing the server but even these have a learning curve. So the more comfortable you are with running a server, the smoother things will go and getting a dedicated server would be that much more feesible.

When you start pushing 300+GB/mo or have a site heavily dependent upon php, mysql, and/or cgi scripts.

If you want to learn to manage sysadmin duties in the meanwhile, you can signup for a VPS and run your own services like named/apache.

We are in the process of rolling out our new VPS solution. We have a beta test VPS plan right now that is free. It might be a good opportunity for you to learn something and test the waters at the same time. It is free for a month. Email [email protected] if you are interested. Mention this site in the email so we know it is you.

If you pay under $50 per month for hosting, you stay on a virtul plan.

If I move to a dedicated host can I keep my cPanel? I like it.

ive been dedicated from day 1. i hate to share!!

I moved when the host for my virtual plan started bitching about the "server load" from my scripts even though I was well within the advertised parameters of the virtual plan.

Somebody here hooked me up with Brad and Corey at mojohost.com. Now my hosting is like my electricity, I pay my bill every month and it's just fuckin' there, with no worries, hassle, or downtime. I never realized how hard virtual hosting sucked until I got a dedicated server with good support behind it. Cheap at twice the price.

Yes provided of course the host you moved to offers it. If they do not offer it you would have to get an external license which can be pricey. Just remember that those pretty cheap sloutions will require you to manage, and/or secure your server. Are you skilled in this area? If not consider fully managed semi-dedicated and/or dedicated servers.

I have been on dedicated servers since day one....