What all services would be included in managed hosting? I am still toying with the idea of doing managed dedicated cpanel hosting :) and what makes it different then dedicated hosting

JDT

It all depends; "managed" will vary depending on who you are using to manage your servers and what you pay them. There are a ton of good threads in these forums about managed services when you search for "managed".

Here is one...

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=74050&highlight=managed

Andrew

That thread is helpful- thanks for reply

It seems the term "managed" is becoming more and more loose, and basically comes down to how much you're paying. Rackspace.com's managed is obviously different than another company's, for example. Like "99.9%" uptime guarantee, I don't really take it seriously at face value anymore.

This is our definition of our managed dedicated Windows 2000 servers -


Hardware: We provide all hardware and are responsible for maintaining the hardware. Should any piece of hardware fail, we replace it at no cost to you.

Software: All of our servers come with equipped with a completely secure version of Windows 2000. Your server will utilize IIS for Web and FTP servers, Microsoft’s DNS Server, and a shared version of iMail server for POP3 / IMAP4 / SMTP services. We are responsible for the initial configuration, ongoing maintenance, and we proactively will install any vendor patches, updates and security workarounds as they are released. We will also assist you and in troubleshooting any issue related to Windows 2000, IIS or iMail.

Security: Initially, we configure your server to be as secure as possible. Additionally, we also ensure that your server remains secure by installing any vendor security fixes as soon as they are released and by using Microsoft’s URLScan to detect and reject and malicious requests to IIS.

Monitoring: We monitor the health of your server and the individual software components running on it (DNS Server, IIS, etc) every 60 seconds. When we detect a problem, technicians are emailed immediately and paged if the problem isn’t resolved within 8 minutes. Upon being notified, our technicians begin working immediately to fix the problem. We provide this level of service on a 24x7 basis, 365 days a year.

Backup: All of your data files are backed up on a daily basis. Should you ever need us to restore a file, there’s no charge! Currently all files are backed up to a server that has a 110GB mirrored array for redundancy By Fall 2002 we will have a new tape backup system implemented that will increase are storage capacity to 330GB - 660GB and enable us to store copies of our backups offsite.

Other Services: We also provide a number of additional managed services, including log file rotation and providing you with real-time data transfer information for your server. Additionally, we are always more than willing to provide you any advice you need!


I do have to say though, it seems that every company has their own definition of managed services, and the word managed can mean any number of things - from simple software upgrades, to ping monitoring, to service level monitoring and notifcation, etc.

Some companies go so far as to say "Your server is managed, you only get access through a control panel. If you need something done that can not be done through the control panel, you HAVE to contact our support people because you have no other access to your server"

I think that this is such a touch question, that the only answer is on a per case basis, however the hosts define their managed offerings is fine, as long as they stick to it. :o