A managed host will assume the role of systems administrator for your dedicated server and perform the tasks necessary to keep your site fully functional.

Remember when you pulled into a gas station (a while back) and you gave the “Fill ‘er up, please’’ request, the attendant, in addition to fulfilling that request, popped the hood to check the oil, cleaned the windshield (front and back) and brought the credit slip with pen in hand right to you…and it was considered routine?

Trust me, it happened. If we stretched it a bit, we could borrow from this to understand the managed hosting framework. The attendant got you on your way and it required very little in the way of instruction from the driver.

Managed hosting borrows from this but the list of tasks to “get you on your way” is a tad more involved. Consider for a minute what is involved in running a dedicated server successfully: website reporting and monitoring; load balancing; security watch; storage and backup; ensuring the applications are running up to speed; making sure the network is performing optimally. And if any of these mission critical aspects needs “tuning up” you have the attendant look after it.

Granted, this costs money and indeed you need to evaluate the necessity of these services. Ask yourself:

• Is my website my primary source of revenue?
• Are my Internet applications critical?
• Do I need highly responsive 24x7 support, and guaranteed uptime?
• Are my current resources adequate in providing support in a timely way, on all hardware, software, and network functionalities?
• Can I focus on business issues and keep my servers up and running?
• Can I afford to hire, train, and retain the technical staff required to maintain my Web presence?

If you answered “yes” to the first three questions, and “no” to the last three - managed hosting may be the best way to maintain your Internet presence. A managed host will assume the role of systems administrator for your dedicated server and perform the tasks necessary to keep your site fully functional.

What Do Managed Hosts Do?

Managed hosts monitor and maintain all of the infrastructure issues that are integral in hosting a site or application on the Internet. A managed host procures, configures, installs, and maintains the necessary servers, firewalls, and other devices that the customer’s architecture requires, including the operating system, and any backend database and server support (such as Oracle and Apache for example) required to make the site functional .

Once configured, the managed host connects the server to the Web via its own network, where it is monitored on a 24-hour basis. In essence, a managed host takes on the responsibility for maintaining your infrastructure: if a hard drive fails, the host replaces it; if a server dies, the host swaps it; if there’s a spike in traffic, bandwidth is increased.

The Service Level Agreement

Once you’ve decided that the managed hosting option is the best fit, you must carefully read the Terms of Service or “the fine print.”

In this agreement between you and the managed host, are the details outlining the payment terms, level of service, uptime guarantees, what is included, what is excluded, penalties, extra charges, cancellation terms and remedies should there be a breach.

We can’t emphasize enough the importance of understanding all aspects of the SLA. If you’re not sure ask plenty of questions. So before ticking the checkbox make sure you agree to (and can live with) all of the terms.

Summary

Is it Time to Simplify?