Managed and Unmanaged Dedicated Hosting
With large and complex website that receives a lot of traffic
you may find that shared hosting is not for you. It could be
limiting your growth and the capacity to serve your customers.
If you find yourself in this situation, it may be time to move
on to dedicated hosting which offers many advantages over shared
hosting.
Dedicated web hosting is much more expensive than shared hosting
because the cost of operating the server is not divided between
various accounts. Paying the higher price, however, lets you use
all server resources as you please.
There are many different dedicated hosting packages available.
Their prices depend on the physical setup of the server computer
- faster processors, mome memory and bigger hard drives cost
more.
Managed hosting
Another factor influencing the price is whether or not the
server is managed. Keeping a server running in top condition can
be a time consuming task requiring certain technical skills.
A managed hosting service offers the support and expertise to
maintain your server and to perform routine maintenance without
your involvement. This can be a viable alternative to hiring
your own staff to maintain your servers.
The drawback of managed hosting is that it can be a lot more
expensive than unmanaged hosting. Whether the price is justified
depends on the complexity of your website and whether you
already have people who can look after the server operations.
Unmanaged hosting
Unmanaged hosting, despite its name, does not really
leave you entirely to your own devices. Most hosting companies
offer a certain level of support for all their dedicated hosting
packages. This support includes hardware maintenance with extra
technical support available if you need help with configuration
or software installation.
You likely will have to pay for this extra support, but it may
be cheaper than going with a full managed package.
Check to see how much control you can have over the server
hardware with unmanaged hosting. You should be able to reboot
your server when you need it or to expect someone to do it for
you with a minimum of delay.
The value of a dedicated hosting package depends on the
reliability and integrity of the hosting company. If your
website needs dedicated hosting, you need to use a hosting
provider that you can rely on to keep your site online.
The choice between managed or unmanaged hosting depends on the
technical requirements of your website and your ability to
manage a server and keep it running at peak efficiency. If you
prefer to have highly trained professionals looking after the
server, go with managed hosting. If you can handle most of the
maintenance yourself, choose an unmanaged server.