Managed Servers: What to Look For
Hosting has come a long way since the early days of the worldwide web. There are thousands of companies providing all types of hosting options. A small one-page blog needs hosting, the same as enormous websites with millions of web pages. Within each hosting choice there will be a myriad of options.
Managed Server Hosting is a popular provisioning model. This hosting allows a customer to lease a physical server from a hosting company. The managed server, and related hardware is maintained by the hosting company.
Companies who run significant portions of their business online, should consider a managed server for their hosting needs. Associated costs should go into your calculations to see if this configuration is right for your business. Companies would need dedicated IT personnel, to make sure the software on the server is being operated the right way. Managed servers are particularly cost effective for medium to large corporations.
Do not confuse a shared server with the services of a dedicated server. Shared servers rent out portions of the memory space on a single server. The costs may be lower on a shared server however, customers should consider other concerns. If security is a main aspect of your business, a shared server may not be the best choice. A managed server will allow the customer the most amount of resources available for that configuration.
One advantage to renting a managed server for your hosting needs is the physical maintenance aspect. The server itself is managed and maintained in secure server data centers set up to handle enormous amounts of servers. These data centers are climate-controlled buildings with the best cabling and security built in.
Other advantages for using a managed server for your hosting needs are plentiful. The customer can configure the server exactly the way they want. Hosting companies usually limit the operating system to Microsoft server and a few different variations of Linux. After the operating system there are plenty of different software applications available. Each software offering differs from company to company.
Unless you have requested, no root access to the server itself will ever be given. The hosting company’s responsibility is to maintain the physical server. If a hosting company allowed direct access to the server, problems could arise. This is the best way to safeguard the hosting company and the customer.
Most hosting companies will base their offerings on the amount of web traffic or use you will need. As an example, server companies will base their minimum configuration on 500GB of traffic. Traffic requirements can go to unlimited, with the server having all options available.
Hosting companies will also offer plenty of add-ons for their managed server customers. Custom software packages and upgrades in specific pieces of hardware should also be made available.
Make certain when you look at managed servers, study guarantees that come with the hardware. Such as uptime and the amount of support you will receive. Support is the most important add-on you can receive from the hosting company. Make sure the techs know their stuff.
