Web Hosting Reviews & Ratings

October 08, 2008

Popular Myths About Managed Hosting

Managed hosting has become a popular option for many businesses primarily due to the cost-efficient, hassle free service.  Just as with most services relevant to the internet, there are numerous myths circulating about managed hosting, some of which can weigh heavy on your decision.  In this article we will separate fact from fiction and set the record straight about managed hosting.

The Managed Hosting Provider Takes Care of Everything

This all depends on the package you sign up for.  A fully managed service definitely provides you with more server maintenance and support than the outright dedicated hosting plan.  However, the level of service varies tremendously among different vendors and especially pricing tiers.  Even when buying a managed hosting plan with the highest level of service, you will likely be required to provide the software, build your own site and tend to various other tasks.

Managed Hosting is More Expensive than Dedicated Hosting

Although managed hosting is initially more costly than a dedicated hosting plan, things tend to balance out over time.  As you do not have to worry about server administration or keeping the system updated with security patches, you will eventually enjoy cost savings and more time to focus on other aspects of the business.  This often results in lower costs in terms of staff and office space, making the managed solution a greater value than dedicated hosting over the long haul.  If you want to refer to shared hosting as a managed service, then it is undoubtedly cheaper than a dedicated server.

Managed Hosting is For Beginners

This is perhaps one of the biggest misconceptions.  Although managed hosting can be considered as invaluable to someone who lacks technical logic, it also preferred by companies with highly skilled IT staffs in place.  Such organizations usually choose managed hosting because it gives the benefit of having professionals to handle server maintenance and the cost savings mentioned above.

Managing Hosting is More Secure

In most cases, a managed host will provide you with solid security.  The key here is to read the fine print of the contract that binds you with the provider.  When reading it over you may find that the company is not responsible for protecting your content under every condition.  For instance, if something physically happens to their data center, servers and backups could all be destroyed, possibly leaving you out of business.  This is why its always a good idea to keep recent backups of your website data just in case a terrible disaster strikes.

Managing Hosting Assures That Your Site is Always Running

Of course the responsibility of the managed host is to make sure your website is accessible, but you should keep in mind that things do happen.  This is another instance where you need to finely comb that contract as some companies will try to elude liability in the event of situations beyond their control.  While many providers advertise an uptime guarantee of 100%, there may be some instances where your site is down from minutes to hours.  Remember that a web server no matter how powerful it may be, is still a man-made computer.

Tags: server administration,  managed hosting plan,  Managed Hosting,  dedicated hosting