Managed Vs. Unmanaged Dedicated Hosting

"Unmanaged dedicated servers" - this is a pretty uninviting term to many, especially the non-gurus, but in most cases is not as "non-servicing" as it seems. In fact, I think someone one day soon, ( who knows maybe me ) will coin a new phrase to replace the term "unmanaged" - similar to how "used cars" is now "pre-owned" or how "apartment complexes" are now "rental communities". The truth is that unless you just picked a lousy provider or have unreasonable expectations, unmanaged hosting offers more service and support than most think.

The Difference

While exact definitions vary among providers, generally speaking managed hosting means your provider takes complete or near complete care of your server. This can include anything from basic system maintenance and patches to applications maintenance, security, monitoring, etc. Someone that needs dedicated hosting and wants to rely on their host for pretty much anything and everything regarding their server needs to strike a relationship with a managed service provider. Full blown managed services involve lots of skilled people hours. Not only that, since every managed customer is unique, it's hard for a managed provider to be overly systematic. For this - expect to pay a great deal more than today's budget server provider but if your needs demand it, and you choose a solid provider it should be money well spent.

Unmanaged dedicated hosting obviously refers to dedicated servers with less, little or none of the skilled people support you'd expect to find in managed. You signup, you pay, and in a few minutes to a few hours you get a welcome email with IP address, login, FAQ's, etc. - Beyond that you are pretty much on your own. Relax - you are not really as own your own as it seems.

First off, most unmanaged providers do in fact offer technical support, and most that we've seen is very good. If you choose unmanaged dedicated service you do need to have someone on your team that knows the technical side a good bit, but they don't necessarily have to be experts. While you may have to wait 12 - 24 hours or you may even have to pay extra for it, nearly all the unmanaged providers I know do have high level techs available to handle serious issues. In addition most providers give some sort of immediate reboot service. Unless you've been tinkering with some critical config files or have a hardware failure, a reboot can help with a range of issues. Lastly, unmanaged providers may not support you or whatever you put on your server after you move in, but they do stand by the hardware and software they sell you. If a hard drive crashes they are going to replace it for you (although you had better be doing your backups) and if your system crashes most will fix it for you.

Summary

The bottom line is if you've got mission critical needs and don't have the in-house staff to efficiently keep your servers performing the way they should, then you are going to need managed services. Even still it's a more cost effective route that hiring your own staff and most likely you will receive a higher, more consistent level of service. If your needs are more basic, and or you or your staff has the time and know-how to perform 75% - 80% of your server's maintenance then an affordable unmanaged service should do you just fine.

Please refer following web sites for useful resources related to web site hosting:

http://www.vipwh.com
http://www.thehostingguide.com

About Author:

Paras Shah
Chief Technology Officer
VIP PowerNet, Inc.
Phone: (713)787-6501
Email: paras@vippowernet.com
http://www.vippowernet.com

---

40,000 New Blogs Are Started Daily - How Your Web Hosting Business Can Cash in

The fact that an estimated 40,000 new blogs are being... Read More

The Web Hosting Industry 2005

For the "big things" to be build it was certainly... Read More

Business Web Hosting: Which is Right for You?

Business web hosting is what you need. You have a... Read More

How Multiple Server Hosting impacts your websites uptime

This article describes the technology behind multiple server hosting and... Read More

Dedicated Web Hosting Is Easy When You Know These 3 Timesaving Secrets

Dedicated web hosting has its difficulties and problems from time... Read More

Niche Hosting

There is story of David and Goliath where Goliath would... Read More

How to Achieve # 1 on Free Hosting

A domain name and paid hosting are considered essential for... Read More

How VOIP Has Helped Change Web Hosting

There is really no stopping VOIP (voice over internet protocol)... Read More

Web Site Design and Hosting

If you're looking for a professionally designed web site at... Read More

Multiple Website Hosting - Subdomains are the Answer!

Many business owners find themselves in a quandary over the... Read More

What is a Web Host Reseller Account?

A web host reseller account is a web hosting account... Read More

How To Choose A Web Host That Meets Your Needs

One of the most difficult choices you have to make... Read More

Transferring Your Existing Website to a New Hosting Provider

You've already got a website, but your current hosting provider... Read More

Nine Things To Know Before Selecting The Web Host For Your Business

It may seem simple yet it is often times overlooked.... Read More

Web Hosting Bandwidth -- How Much Bandwidth Is Enough?

Bandwidth in its simplest terms refers to the amount of... Read More

Web Hosting Operating Systems Explained

A few time ago appeared a lot disagreements between opinions... Read More

Avoid Getting Ripped Off By A Hosting Company

Chances are if you host multiple domains or websites you... Read More

How to Get Better Technical Support

Whenever you have a technical question that needs answering, you... Read More

Sender Policy Framework (SPF) ? How to use it to Fight Email Forgery

Spam is a real problem today. Forged email is a... Read More

Choosing a Web Host Based On Price? Dont!

It's tempting. There are so many companies offering cut-rate hosting... Read More

Fun with DNS: Three Useful Commands

The DNS is a distributed, hierarchical database where authority flows... Read More

CHMOD - Undertanding File Permissions on a Unix-Based Server

The basic command for changing file permissions in unix based... Read More

Buyer Beware: Web Hosting, Registration, and Site Building All in One Package Nightmares

Starting out in any type of online marketing or Internet... Read More

Choosing Your Web Hosting Package

General rule of thumb is not to sign up for... Read More

Cheap Web Hosting - When Cheaper is Better

Anyone who has ever shopped for web hosting knows that... Read More

Types of Web Site Hosting

First of all we must determine the meaning of the... Read More

Shared Web Hosting Service Explained!

The next concern for you after designing and developing web... Read More

Who Should Become a Web Host Reseller?

You're the webmaster of more than one website. You design... Read More

Dont Get Fooled by the Web Hosting Wolves in Sheeps Clothing!

Are you looking for web hosting? If you want to... Read More

Which Is The Better Server Operating System, Unix or Windows?

Anybody who decides to get a web hosting service or... Read More

Uptime Guarantee ? Good Idea?

When looking for a Web Host there are lots of... Read More

CGI Web Hosting ? 3 Essential Scripts for Your Business

If there's one thing that people love it is a... Read More

How Much Bandwidth Does Your Web Site Need?

One of the most common concerns people have when deciding... Read More