I have a couple of "hobby" sites (that I just do for the fun of it) that have outgrown the hosting I have now. I was advised to look into a dedicated server, so I've been doing some research, but I have a few questions:

What is the difference between a managed DS and one that isn't? Are there other alternatives to managed/not managed (not sure if there's a term for it)

If a plan features 3 IPs, does that mean I can only put 3 different domains on it? If not, what is the point in having 3 IPs?

Is it normal for plans to include limited support? For example, a couple of plans I've seen allow you 2 support tickets a month. Is that pretty standard?

What is co-location hosting?

Another feature I cam across was "Switch port: 100 mbps, burstable". What does that mean?

My apologies if I'm not asking these questions in the right place. I'm *totally* new to dedicated servers and don't know anything about them. If I'm asking the wrong questions in the wrong place, please let me know where I should go. Many thanks!

Originally posted by emills01
I have a couple of "hobby" sites (that I just do for the fun of it) that have outgrown the hosting I have now. I was advised to look into a dedicated server, so I've been doing some research, but I have a few questions:

What is the difference between a managed DS and one that isn't? Are there other alternatives to managed/not managed (not
sure if there's a term for it)


http://www.internet-marketing-research.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=105
Originally posted by emills01

If a plan features 3 IPs, does that mean I can only put 3 different domains on it? If not, what is the point in having 3 IPs?

You really only need 1 IP address for a server unless you plan on doing SSL or something that *requires* an additional IP address. Most people never use more than 1 IP address, so giving away 3 IP addresses by default is wasteful.
Originally posted by emills01

Is it normal for plans to include limited support? For example, a couple of plans I've seen allow you 2 support tickets a month. Is that pretty standard?


Not quite standard, but understandable for unmanaged providers.
Originally posted by emills01

What is co-location hosting?

Colocation means that you supply the hardware and the datacenter supplies the power and bandwidth. Some allow 24/7 physical access to your hardware.
Originally posted by emills01

Another feature I cam across was "Switch port: 100 mbps, burstable". What does that mean?

The only way to burst over 100Mbps would be if you're on shared GigE that is throttled to 100Mbps.

You really only need 1 IP address for a server unless you plan on doing SSL or something that *requires* an additional IP address. Most people never use more than 1 IP address, so giving away 3 IP addresses by default is wasteful.


How many domains can be assigned to a single IP address? Do hosts usually put a limit on it, or do they really only care about limiting bandwidth usage?

Thanks for the helpful info, BTW!

Originally posted by emills01
How many domains can be assigned to a single IP address? Do hosts usually put a limit on it, or do they really only care about limiting bandwidth usage?

Thanks for the helpful info, BTW!

There's really not an 'estimated' number on how many domains you can put on one IP...you can put a lot on one and I know of no hosts who limit that. The number of sites depends on your web server, not how many IP addresses you have. I mean, you can host 1000 sites on 1 IP address or 1000 sites on 1000 IP addresses. :)

Thanks...that helps a lot. I'm sure I'll be back with more???s as I look around more...