“Dedicated” describes how a server is allocated; “managed” describes how tasks are divided between your team and the provider. These are separate decisions. When comparing services, examine both the resources available to you and the responsibilities defined in the agreement.
What is managed web hosting?
With a managed service, the provider handles agreed tasks for the environment concerned. The scope may include selected updates, monitoring or technical assistance, but it needs to be specified: applications, backups and support work are not automatically all included.
A dedicated server may be managed by the customer, by the provider or through an agreed division of responsibilities. A virtual environment can also receive management services. Hardware allocation alone therefore does not determine who installs patches or responds to an incident.
List the components that need administration: operating system, control panel, applications, databases, DNS and email. For each, record who has access, who authorizes changes and who verifies the result. This helps prevent missed tasks and conflicting changes.
What does “managed” mean?
The word “managed” should come with a written scope. Check recurring tasks, support hours and channels, how work is carried out, backup retention and exclusions. Also identify operations that require your approval or a maintenance window.
Important considerations
Compare the total cost of resources and administration work rather than the server price alone. Management services do not automatically guarantee human support around the clock; confirm the support hours, response targets and commitments in the selected offer.
Your IT department will be a major factor in deciding whether to use managed web hosting. Server management is an ongoing job that involves many areas of expertise, including architecture, configuration management, monitoring, backup technology and security. Security deserves particular attention, since it must be maintained at all times. Is your IT staff large enough to safeguard your server at all times?
Even if your team has the expertise to manage a server, it is essential to consider its capacity. Is it big enough to do its regular work with round-the-clock server management added to its responsibilities?
The takeaway
Choose according to your team’s skills and capacity, application requirements and the expected scope of work. No hosting model eliminates outages. Availability objectives, monitoring and recovery procedures must be defined and assessed separately.
To prepare your decision, explore our managed IT services or describe your environment to Nuagerie. We can clarify responsibilities and suitable options before developing a proposal.