|
Managed Hosting Services
Managed hosting service is basically a
dedicated server that is accompanied by a full suite of technical
support, maintenance and monitoring services. This differs from
dedicated Web hosting, where customers are provided with their own
servers but are still responsible for virtually all administrative and
maintenance duties.
Managed hosting are meant for those websites that are designed to host
busy e-commerce sites and dynamic, database driven Web pages. Perfect
for organizations that do not have the time or capital to invest in
server administration.
A managed server will come equipped with all the features of a dedicated
server, plus instead of leaving most of the administrative tasks to the
customer, a managed provider will typically handle that as well.
Many companies will often assign you a dedicated service representative
who will cater only to you and a handful of other accounts. This support
also comes in the form of proprietary control panel technology that
enables the inexperienced administrator to easily set up and maintain
sites on a server. This is achieved through an intuitive and user
friendly point and click method rather than by typing complicated
commands at a prompt line.
Hosting companies offer a supplementary suite of features and services
that relate to managed hosting, including application and database
management, high-availability services and load balancing. These hosting
companies will back up their services with performance guarantees and
Service Level Agreements.
Unmanaged services, on the other hand, give the customer complete remote
server administration capability and freedom. The downside to this is
that unmanaged servers require a large amount of time and technical
expertise, as the customer is ultimately responsible for the
instillation and management of the server - not the Web host. For this
reason, unmanaged servers are only recommended for individuals and
companies with extensive server administration resources or expertise,
as well as a significant amount of time available to take care of the
server.
If you are unsure about which service to choose, give serious
consideration to choosing a
managed server.
While taking the managed route is more expensive, it is also much more
reassuring for the inexperienced administrator. Remember, you can always
downgrade your account to an unmanaged service later, once you have
acquired some expertise in server administration. Though once you opt
for the personal attention you will receive through a managed host, you
might think twice of turning into an unmanaged service later on.
|
