Managed Hosting - What's it all about?
A new trend, appearing in the Web Hosting industry, is the
concept of Managed Web Hosting. Web hosts have been offering
dedicated servers for a while now, however, because dedicated
servers can be difficult to operate technically, there has been
a demand for web hosts to provide extra services such as:
reporting and monitoring; managed load balancing; managed
security; managed storage; and, managed databases. These extra
services are referred to as 'managed hosting'.
Do you need it?
Before you think about managed hosting you will first need to
decide whether or not you need a dedicated server. You will need
a dedicated server if you have a high-traffic web site. If you
only have a small web site with low traffic levels then a shared
hosting arrangement should be fine. A dedicated server is more
expensive to rent and more difficult to operate than a shared
hosting solution but if your business depends on a steady
service then you should seriously consider renting a dedicated
server.
The only disadvantage with dedicated web hosting is that you
will have to do a lot of the server administration yourself, and
to do this you will need to possess some technical skills; hence
the demand for managed hosting. If you fall into this category
of needing a dedicated server but you need your host to provide
system administration services such as security, firewalls,
monitoring and reporting services, and data backup then most
likely you will need managed hosting.
How do you find Managed hosting packages?
Many web hosts who once provided only shared and dedicated web
hosting are now beginning to offer managed services too. A good
place to start looking for managed hosting is through web
hosting directories and search engines, by doing a search for
managed hosting you should receive a good list of managed
hosting providers. Another key place to start is by contacting
hosts who are offering dedicated hosting and ask them if they
can provide a managed hosting arrangement as well.
Companies providing managed hosting will either offer managed
hosting per item or in a pre-configured plan. Per-item managed
hosting gives you the freedom to pick and choose what services
you need or do not need; on the other hand, a pre-configured
plan will include the dedicated server and the managed hosting
services at a monthly fee.
What should I look for in a managed hosting provider?
When choosing a managed hosting provider it is a good idea that
your host provides the following qualities: