Wednesday 8 February 2012

When Getting Server Hosting Should I Choose Managed Or Unmanaged?

For those of you who are tech savvy when it comes to using servers you might be tempted to go for an unmanaged hosting account which can give you full control of what is effectively your own server. With full administrative access you can do exactly what you want without restrictions but any and all technical issues have to be handled by yourself, hence the term unmanaged. 

The only exception to this is if the actual hardware at the server hosting company breaks down or is cutting out in some way. The issue would then lie with the server hosting company like ServerSpace are available to use technical engineers to fix the problem.

Unless you have the knowledge to be able to handle the an unmanaged server I would highly recommend you steer clear of them and just opt for a fully managed server hosting account instead. For those that lack the knowledge but have the funds, there is the option of hiring someone full-time to managed the server for you. Some of you may be asking why bother going to all that expense and the simple answer is versatility. 

With an unmanaged server you have the ability to install any software you wish so you can choose any user interface you want and tailor your server to fit needs of your business exactly by customizing it how you want. A lot of the bigger businesses do this because they need this kind of flexibility. So a fully managed server hosting account limits you to using what they have already pre-installed for you. You may be thinking that unmanaged is the way to go then but the real truth is that a fully managed server hosting account offers more than enough options and functionality for 99% of the people running websites on-line. 

Quite a number of companies choose the unmanaged hosting option not only because of the versitility it gives them but also for privacy which is tied in with security. Having your own server or set of servers run by your own in house administration team makes sure that anything the company is working does not go through third party support such as it would if the servers were managed by the server hosting company. The company could be working on the next technological breakthrough worth millions of dollars if success is achieved, so the last thing they want is to have any information leaked.

There may be times where you need to increase the size of the hard drive due to using up most of the space already available and with an unmanaged server this is easily achieved. In fact there are quite a number of companies who specialize in offering both hardware and software applications just for unmanaged servers.

Again though, don't be fooled into thinking this is a cheap option because it isn't by any stretch of the imagination. Apart from the overal cost of hiring technical administrators there's also the added expense of ongoing updates of software and upgrades of hardware to take into consideration.

If you still on the fence with this one I would suggest you speak with live support at any one of the major hosting companies and see what they have to say. Be warned though that some companies prohibit their employees from offering advice on certain matters but if you approach it in the way that you are planning on buying a server hosting package they should have no problem helping you out.

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