How managed Web Hosting better than going for unmanaged Web Hosting solution?

[Former Member]

What is Managed Hosting?
As the name implies, managed hosting refers to the hosting plans that are administered by the web hosting service provider. In the webhosting industry, you will find competitive prices as each company charges their hosting plans according to the level of managed hosting provided by them. There are lowest to highest pricing hosting plans in hosting industry staring from shared hosting to Dedicated server and different high end hosting solutions. If the price range is high, it is very important to understand the value of the services that you would be receiving from managed web hosting packages.

Fully Managed Hosting:
Many webhosting companies use “Fully Managed Hosting” term while promoting their plans and services. The term itself implies that the hosting accounts are fully administered by the webhosting company.

Company offers technical support of certain level. Higher the price of the package more will be the level of support that you will receive by the company.

In fully managed service, your website and server is monitored round the clock so you don’t have to be concerned about the uptime and technical issues.

You can contact the technical support staff easily via telephone, live chat or email and get any unresolved issues fixed in a real time.

Some hosting providers have “Partial Managed web hosting” packages in market in which technical support is provided by company but some administrative functions are to be taken care by customers. So, it is strongly recommended to contact hosting company and check the services included in fully managed hosting service before signing up for any plan.

Who use managed webhosting services ?
The two basic reasons managed web hosting is used. It is used by both individuals and businesses to minimize the amount of hands on IT work that needs to be performed on the server in order to keep it maintained:

Limited IT Knowledge –

Some websites are highly popular and need a more robust web hosting solution. However, the business owner or the staff may concentrate on the business as opposed to the hosting solution and simply do not have the knowledge to administer the server space properly. They can then rely on the web hosting managed services to ensure everything is set up properly.

Limited Time –

Even if there are available resources they may be dedicated to other tasks and hence, there may not be enough time to properly administer the server as needed. Instead of a need for knowledge there is a lack of time available to devote to it, thus managed services are a convenience.

What is included in managed hosting services?
If you are considering paying the additional cost for managed services you want to know what is included in that cost. All web hosts have various services that they consider managed. Some provide particular services as part of a package and then some are available a la carte and only paid for whenever you need them. You may find:

Server monitoring

Backup services

OS optimization

Trouble shooting

Security auditing

On call maintenance

Hardware upgrading

Software installation

Control Panel setup

Reboots

Advantages of Managed Hosting:
Managed hosting is recommended for individuals and small businesses as it will be very expensive to hire a full-time in-house technician and webmaster to administer and maintain websites.

Uptime is very important for small businesses to maintain reputation of company. So, with managed hosting you do not have to worry about uptime as it is taken care by the webhost provider.

Managed hosting services are costlier than normal hosting plans but you will save yourself a lot of resources and time on administration and maintenance of website.