A new trend 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 challenging 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 additional services are referred to as ‘managed hosting’.

Before you think about managed hosting, you must decide whether you need a dedicated server. You will need a dedicated server if you have a high-traffic website. A shared hosting arrangement should be acceptable if you only have a small website with low traffic. A dedicated server is more expensive to rent and more difficult to operate than a shared hosting solution. Still, if your business depends on a steady service, you should consider renting a dedicated server.

The only disadvantage with dedicated web hosting is that you must do much of the server administration yourself. To do this, you must possess technical skills, hence the demand for managed hosting. Suppose you need a dedicated server but need your host to provide system administration services such as security, firewalls, monitoring and reporting services, and data backup. In that case, you will most likely need managed hosting.

When choosing a managed hosting provider, it is a good idea that your host provides the following qualities:

Reliable and fast support. An excellent way to find out the response rate and the quality of the services a web host offers is to email them before signing up. If you receive a good response from your web host, this should give you a good indication of their services.

Freedom is essential, and having the ability to choose from a wide range of services is necessary. With managed hosting, you might decide you don’t require firewall support. It’s vital that your web host provides you with the option of selecting exactly what you need and 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 know exactly what relationship 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 website.