Virtual Private Server Hosting

A big deal is often made of managing a virtual private server. After all, there are a lot of people out there who need the disk space, processor usage, and bandwidth that a VPS offers them, but don't actually know anything about managing a server. Short of relying on shared hosting plans that may not fit their needs, what can users do? That's where managed and unmanaged VPS hosting comes into play.
 
The biggest question users need to ask themselves when they're deciding between a managed or unmanaged VPS hosting plan is pretty simple- who do they want to manage their server? In a managed hosting plan (also sometimes called a 'fully managed' plan), the hosting company handles all of the server management tasks. In an unmanaged hosting plan (also called a 'self managed' plan), the user is expected to do that on their own.
 
So, why would anyone choose a unmanaged hosting plan if a hosting company is willing to manage their server for them? The primary reason is price. When users pay for their managed hosting plan, a good chunk of that cost is covering things like software, techical support, and paying someone to sit there and keep an eye on their server. Without these things, the cost of hosting drops dramatically. This might be a real concern to a business or other operation that's trying to keep their overhead down, but isn't likely to affect most individuals.
 
The next reason is freedom. When you manage your own server, you can get it to perform in exactly the way you want. You fully control what resources are allocated to which task, what tasks are running, what software is installed, and everything else, down to the most minute details of your virtual private server's operation. This might be important to a developer who is using their hosting space to create new applications. Although you can do this in fully managed solution, some things may get messed up.
 
Taking all of that into consideration, why would anyone choose to pay for managed hosting? The best reason to pick managed hosting over unmanaged hosting has to do with the user's level of expertise. When it comes to unmanaged hosting, the hosting provider assumes that the user knows everything they need to know in order to keep their server running smoothly. Since the user isn't paying for tech support, if anything goes wrong with their software then they are liable for correcting the problem by themselves. Therefore, anyone who isn't an expert on server management who really wants to save money is most likely better off going with a managed hosting plan. Even though these plans don't offer quite as much freedom as an unmanaged plan, they do offer far fewer headaches. People who just want to be able to put their site up on a virtual private server and go on about their business are likely to benefit the most from a managed hosting arrangement.
 
When it comes down to picking between a managed virtual private server, or an unmanaged one, the biggest thing to consider is how much experience the user has with managing their own server. In a lot of cases, people who want to have their own VPS might still not have all of the technical knowledge they need to make it run trouble-free, so choosing a managed VPS is a good idea. This is a great way for them to enjoy the benefits of their own server without having to worry about learning how to take care of it. For those people who already know the ins and outs of managing a server, then an unmanaged VPS can help them save money and have the freedom to run their server however they please.

blog comments powered by Disqus