Overview
Unlike Sites, Databases, and Services (which run inside a shared resource pack), a Custom Server gives you a dedicated allocation sized exactly the way you configure it — pick the vCPU, RAM, storage, type, and region yourself instead of choosing from fixed packs.
Configuring a Server
- Go to Dashboard → Servers and click New Server
- Pick a server type (below) and adjust vCPU, RAM, and storage sliders
- Choose a region — the page live-pings each region from your browser so you can pick the lowest latency
- Choose monthly or hourly billing
- Review the price breakdown and pay the invoice — provisioning starts automatically once it clears
Server Types
| Type | Best for |
|---|---|
| General Purpose | Balanced compute, memory, and networking — the default for most workloads |
| CPU Optimized | Compute-intensive tasks — builds, transcoding, batch processing |
| Memory Optimized | Large in-memory datasets — caching layers, analytics |
| GPU Accelerated | ML training/inference, rendering, parallel processing |
Regions
- 🇺🇸 US East (Virginia)
- 🇺🇸 US West (Oregon)
- 🇩🇪 EU Central (Frankfurt)
- 🇸🇬 Asia Pacific (Singapore)
Some regions carry a small surcharge over the base rate — shown live in the price breakdown before you pay, never hidden at checkout.
Billing Cycle
Choose monthly for a fixed recurring price, or hourly if you only need the server for a short burst of work — the hourly rate is the monthly price divided down, with no long-term commitment.
Add-ons
- Auto-scale — automatically raises resource limits under sustained load, for a percentage premium on top of the base price
- Pay-per-use services / AI — optionally allow one-click services or AI credit usage on this server to bill incrementally instead of requiring a separate pack up front
Managing Your Server
From Dashboard → Servers, click into a server to see its live CPU/RAM, running resources, and start/stop/restart controls — the same lifecycle actions available on sites and databases.
Via the AI Assistant
You: "Order a CPU-optimized server, 4 vCPU, 16GB RAM, 100GB storage in EU Central"
AI: ✓ Server configured — invoice sent
Pay here to provision: https://hostwares.com/invoice/inv_abc