Posted on February 24th, 2010In order to have your website online, it needs to be uploaded on a web server. A web server is just a computer that is connected to the internet, 24/7. It stores your website files and it provides them when there is a request from your domain or network. In order to get your own hosting plan, you should first buy one from a web hosting company. There are various sorts of plans you can choose from, but today we will be looking at managed web hosting. In simple terms, managed hosting is a type of hosting service in which the company manages everything. You have to do nothing on your part to manage the servers and controls. Managed hosting branches out to several types of plans, like part managed hosting and fully managed hosting. The type of service you receive depends on what you require for your website.
When you choose managed hosting, you will be put on your own server. You will not be sharing the server with another user, like in shared hosting. These servers will be dedicated to you only and your sites. By having your own dedicated server, it will be extremely beneficial since you will be able to install programs and software’s on it. When leasing a dedicated server from a hosting company, they will ask you if you want it to be managed or unmanaged. Unmanaged dedicated servers are entirely your responsible. If the server goes down or if it requires a replacement, you would have to fix it. Whereas, if you have managed hosting, the company is responsible for anything that occurs on the server. Your dedicated server will be monitored constantly by the companies’ technical staff. Large hosting companies will have backup servers, and if anything occurs with your server, they can just add in the new one. It saves you time and money by just letting the company handle all the aspects of the service.
If you are an IT professional, you would be better off by monitoring the server on your own. It can save you some money, but in the end it comes down to whether you want to manage the server. A fully managed hosting account will be in the company’s hands, as they will do everything and anything for you. If you operate a business, you can not spend time fixing server issues, so this is a good choice. Partly managed hosting gives you some of the responsibilities, but the bulk of it is still managed by the hosting company. The technical, operating and monitoring issues are covered by the company; you will need to worry about the other problems. If you have some basic knowledge of websites and server management, you can opt for this plan. By going for a fully managed hosting solution, you will have limited access to update and edit your website because some of the controls will be with the company. However by going for managed hosting, you are preventing any server issues, sudden crashes, or downtime.