What is Managed Hosting?
Managed Hosting is for customers who prefer to have their web host provider maintain and monitor their dedicated servers, operating system and all supported applications. Companies or individuals who do not have the required system administration resources on-staff, commonly choose this option to augment their dedicated hosting service.
When do you need a Managed Server?
Managed Hosting is an excellent solution for mid to high level hosting needs. Designed to host busy e-commerce sites and dynamic, database driven Web pages, Managed Hosting offers small and large business owners a fast, powerful, reliable and professionally maintained Web presence. If you have a need for a dedicated server, and don’t have the IT resources, expertise, or time to manage your own servers, then Managed Hosting is for you.
What are the advantages of Manged Server Hosting?
Managed Hosting offers many enticing features such as:
| • | As you are the only client on the server, upgrade capacity is practically unlimited. Additional drives can be added, more memory and even cluster servers together when your web site requires additional resources. |
| • | Most Managed Hosting services include server backups for free. This service will ensure that your data is safeguarded from faulty hard drives and accidental loss by overwriting or deleting. |
| • | No technical expertise is required. |
What should be my main concerns when searching for a Managed Hosting Provider?
First, you need to determine whether or not your website is large enough to justify the cost of such an endeavor. That aside, the most common concerns are:
• The cost
• Security of Data and Equipment
• Bandwidth Availability
• The knowledge and integrity of the web hosting provider
• Technical support from the web hosting provider
• Uptime
• Site and Data Backups
What are some good questions to ask a Managed Hosting Provider before I sign up?
Some good questions to ask your prospective hosts are:
• What brand computers do you use?
• What kind of connection to the Internet do you have?
• What hours is your management staff available for problems and issues?
• How often do you backup the servers?
• In the case of a loss, how quickly can you restore from a backup and get me back up and running?
• What software typically is installed on my machine?
• Are there any software packages that you wont manage?
