Hi,

What is the difference between dedicated and managed hosting? I know managed is more expensive, but what is the added value?

Jacco

A managed dedicated box usually means that they company that you are leasing from will offer more support.

Normally on a dedicated box you are responsible for the software, management etc and they (the company you lease from) are responsible for the hardware and network structure etc.

I hope that makes sense.

Frank

I good example of managed hosting would be rackspace.com . Managed hosting is usually a lot more expensive than un-managed hosting. A well know provider of un-managed dedicated servers would be rackshack.net . As you can see there is quite a price difference between the two. Basically you get what you pay for!! ;)

Is it hard to manage a dedicated server yourself? Or is it easy with a good control panel?

Jacco

Well if you have got some some Unix Sysadmin skills it is not to difficult but you can't rely on the CP to do everything for you as there is many things it cannot do. (install latest patches, keep server secure.. etc.)

If you don't have any sysadmin skills I would recommend a managed server as the provider will do anything that is necessary to keep the box working. On the other hand if you go with an unmanged server e.g rackshack you will be in serious trouble if you have any problems because they don't have to help you. ;)

Greetings:

"What is the difference between dedicated and managed hosting? I know managed is more expensive, but what is the added value?"

It's interesting you ask, because I just finished a newsletter article about this issue (posted below; modified by removal of sales plug <g>).

The bottom line of the article below is that sometimes there is NO difference. Sometimes the difference is very minimalistic.

Oh, my biggest kick lately are those stating "managed servers using cpanel for management." Sorry, that's self management as opposed to the provider actually managing anything <sigh and smile>.

===

Managed Servers, managed hosting, managed services -- what does "manage" mean?

A few years back it was very common to see "dedicated server" advertisements where the hosting provider stated they took care of the hardware and their network; and, you would be responsible for managing the box.

They sold you one or more servers, and handed you the keys (administrative - root / super user - access). You were responsible for the operating system and applications on the server.

Now, since last year, "managed hosting" is hot and everyone, their uncle, aunt, brother, and sister offer "managed servers."

Yet, most of them offer no more than what they did prior to last year. They take care of -- manage - their network and the hardware; and, you take care of the operating system and applications on the server.

So what changed? Only the use of "managed."

To be true, you will find more and more providers who will "manage" the operating system. To some companies this means just applying operating system patches. To others it also means upgrading the operating system kernel.

So what's this mean to you?

It means that you cannot take the word "managed" as part of "manage hosting, managed servers, managed services" for granted.

It means you have to get used to asking a lot of questions.

Since we are often the managed service company behind a hosting provider offering managed services, here are some questions we developed to help you get started when you are examining a managed hosting provider:

Network and hardware

* What is your network uptime guarantee? May I have a copy of your network service level agreement?

* What is your hardware repair and replacement guarantee? May I have a copy of your hardware service level agreement?

* Under what circumstances does these two service level agreements not apply?

Operating system

* Are kernel upgrades included in the package and pricing?

* Does the investment cover installing security patches and updates?

* Do you offer a patch service level agreement that states how quickly you will install a patch, and what happens if you break anything?

Monitoring

* What type of monitoring is included in the investment?

* Do you offer a service level agreement on your monitoring?

* Will your technical support team respond to alerts from the monitoring system? Is that included in the investment?

* What is the guaranteed response time from your team to an alert?

* Is that 24x7x365?

* Can your monitoring system grow with our company? Monitor common database engines? Monitor server performance?

Applications

* Does the investment cover installing patches to the applications that are on the server?

* Does the investment cover installing patches to applications that we install ourselves?

Server and database administration

* Does the investment include day-to-day and on- demand server and database administration?

* How many hours per month is included in the investment?

* What type of databases does your staff have experience in terms of installing and managing?

* Are there any times we would be charged extra for server administration or database administration? If so, what are they?

* And when would they occur?

* Will you provide server and database administration for software and databases you did not install? Is that included in the investment picture?

Advanced hosting

* Have you done server clustering? Server load balancing? When would you do one over the other?

* Have you set up a virtual local area network before for your clients? How did that work? How was it used?

* What type of Net-based network engineering services do you provide? Can you design one or more racks with all of the necessary communications and networking gear along with the servers I need?

* What's the most complex environment you've set up? What makes it complex? May I talk with this particular client in terms of a reference?

Security

* Does your solution include a managed firewall product?

* How many firewall policy changes may I make per month that's included in the investment picture?

* Does your solution include a managed intrusion detection system (IDS)?

* Do you monitor the IDS 24x7x365? Is there a service level agreement that I can see?

Yes, these are a lot of questions. However, we've found that in today's market place where the word "managed" is being overused, you have to be careful.

Dedicated hosting means that you get a dedicated server (a server for you only)

Managed hosting means that you get a server and the hosting company will look after it and do software updates and more such things.

All shared hosting (as opposed to dedicated) is managed hosting, basically, because the virtual server account on a box that you have to share with others doesn´t give you the admin rights to do many system management things, so the hosting company has to do it.

This means that talking "managed hosting" one usually refers to dedicated servers, which can be managed by the hosting company (managed hosting) or not.

So what´s the difference between dedicated and managed hosting? The right answer is: none. Managed hosting is a type of dedicated hosting.

:D

Greetings:

"Managed hosting means that you get a server and the hosting company will look after it and do software updates and more such things. "

Actually, mileage varies ;-)

For many providers managed and unmanaged are exactly the same --- they take care of the network and hardware..