Managed Dedicated Hosting For Your Business (Ben Ingham)
Jul 17, 2009
If you business has outgrown shared hosting usually the next step in the upgrade is a managed dedicated server. This type of hosting allows you rent your own server. This hosting provider typically maintains a stock of servers and will operate its own network and data center. The important point is that this server is for your exclusive use only, you do not share resources with other users or websites.
You will need some technical experience with web servers or you may struggle to perform your own server management and admin tasks. If your company doesn't possess the in house technical experience, you could consider hiring a system administrator to carry out these tasks if you feel your your company requires a dedicated server. There are many freelancing sites such as elance where you could advertise for additional help and many business allow you to outsource your server administration work.
With Managed dedicated hosting the web hosting provider will provide ongoing technical support and basic system help. They should have engineers nearby on a 24 hour basis in order to carry out server reboots. You still have complete technical control over your dedicated server, and unlike shared hosting, this server is devoted entirely to your own use. Additionally you will also have access to optional managed services such as software upgrades, security patching, operating system hardening, firewalls, and backup services
Dedicated hosting providers usually offer a choice of operating systems which are usually Windows 2003 and Linux (Centos, Ubuntu, Fedora etc). Also to make management of the server easier the managed hosting provider will install a control panel. The most popular control panels are Cpanel (Web Host Manager) Plesk, Helm and H-Sphere. This makes managing your server and routine task such as setting up users and creating mail boxes much easier. A server without a control panel is sometimes known as a "root server." If this is a Linux server this will often require command line expertise.
Whether renting an unmanaged dedicated server or a managed server, try and explore all options before making a decision. Use online review sites and forums to research the various hosting companies and find out what each offers. Ensure that if they offer 24/7/365 support, make sure they can actually provide it. When choosing a dedicated server provider, always go for quality of service rather than price, as the old adage that you get what you pay for applies to dedicated server hosting, as with anything else.
About the AuthorBen Ingham is a Managed Dedicated Hosting Administrator with over 10 years experience in VPS Hosting.