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A new trend, appearing in the Web Hosting industry,
is the concept of Managed Web Hosting. Web hosts have
been offering dedicated servers for a while now, however,
because dedicated servers can be difficult to operate
technically, there has been a demand for web hosts to
provide extra services such as: reporting and monitoring;
managed load balancing; managed security; managed storage;
and, managed databases. These extra services are referred
to as 'managed hosting'.
Do you need it?
Before you think about managed hosting you will first
need to decide whether or not you need a dedicated
server. You will need a dedicated server if you have
a high-traffic web site. If you only have a small
web site with low traffic levels then a shared hosting
arrangement should be fine. A dedicated server is
more expensive to rent and more difficult to operate
than a shared hosting solution but if your business
depends on a steady service then you should seriously
consider renting a dedicated server.
The only disadvantage with dedicated web hosting
is that you will have to do a lot of the server administration
yourself, and to do this you will need to possess
some technical skills; hence the demand for managed
hosting. If you fall into this category of needing
a dedicated server but you need your host to provide
system administration services such as security, firewalls,
monitoring and reporting services, and data backup
then most likely you will need managed hosting.
How do you find Managed hosting packages?
Many web hosts who once provided only shared and
dedicated web hosting are now beginning to offer managed
services too. A good place to start looking for managed
hosting is through web hosting directories and search
engines, by doing a search for managed hosting you
should receive a good list of managed hosting providers.
Another key place to start is by contacting hosts
who are offering dedicated hosting and ask them if
they can provide a managed hosting arrangement as
well.
Companies providing managed hosting will either offer
managed hosting per item or in a pre-configured plan.
Per-item managed hosting gives you the freedom to
pick and choose what services you need or do not need;
on the other hand, a pre-configured plan will include
the dedicated server and the managed hosting services
at a monthly fee.
What should I look for in a managed hosting provider?
When choosing a managed hosting provider it is a
good idea that your host provides the following qualities:
· Reliable and fast support - a good way to
find out the response rate and the quality of the
services offered by a web host is to send them an
email before you sign up with them. If you receive
a good response from your web host then this should
give you a good indication of the services they are
offering.
· Freedom - its important to have as much
freedom as possible and having the ability to choose
from a wide range of services is essential. With managed
hosting you might decide that you don't require firewall
support, its important that your web host will provide
you with the option of selecting exactly what you
need and what you don't need. Also having the ability
to pay monthly is a huge advantage. It will be less
of a drain on your budget and you can avoid any expensive
yearly contracts.
· Fast and reliable connection - You should
find out exactly what sort of connection the web host
has to the Internet. By asking the web host they should
be able to send you their network and connectivity
details, you might even be able to find this out on
their web site. Also find out where the web hosts
Network Operations Center (NOC) is located, it is
an advantage for the web host to have its NOC located
in the USA as the USA has the fastest and most reliable
internet connection in the world.
· Competitiveness - When searching for a managed
hosting provider it is important to do your research.
Each web host will be offering different managed hosting
services all at different rates, you might find that
one web host may offer one attractive managed hosting
service while another doesn't. However, as many more
web hosts are beginning to offer managed hosting,
a new competitive market is developing and the prices
for managed hosting are becoming much more affordable
with many more services being offered.
Managed hosting is ideal for the new online businesses
person, looking to build a large online business,
and wanting to avoid the extra time and resources
spent in-house on managing their dedicated servers.
In-turn, managed web hosting has provided a profitable
outcome to many online businesses by preventing a
waste of valuable resources spent on high skilled
employees; months of staff training; and, costs of
hardware and software.
About the Author:
Written by Candice Humbley
http://m6.net
Fast, reliable and affordable Windows 2000 web farm
hosting.
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