Managed hosting services are type of web hosting where the hosting supplier takes care of fundamental software and settings. Managed hosting is an extension of dedicated hosting where the required hardware is acknowledged by the hosting provider. It is most appropriate when anyone need powerful hosting without taking any pain about the routine maintenance and management tasks.

Costing to Managed Hosting:

Moving data to managed server hosting takes time and resources as moving from one hosting provider to another. Some tasks may take longer like user may need to request a reboot of server. The upfront costs of managed server hosting is much lower than in-house server whereas ongoing costs are constant. There is a limitation of software in managed server hosting so user has to choose the software according to the requirements of the server which is right for the long-term.

Some top managed hosting provider companies are:-

• GoDaddy
• LiquidWeb
• SingleHop
• Inmotionhosting
• 100tb

Managed hosting provider:

Managed hosting provider is very important to business. There are no official guidelines for managed hosting provider as each offers different packages at different prices, with different levels of security and support. User need to know what level of support can expect from managed hosting provider. These are as follows:-

1. What support has to be offered?
2. Who should take responsibility for backups?
3. What is hardware replacement policy of this hosting?
4. Will they provide support for the software?
5. Who restores the data and gets the server running correctly?
6. Whose responsibility is there to reinstall all the software?

How does it benefit your customer?

There are some points on which managed server provide benefit to the customer:-

1. Customer support: It should provide 24/7 technical support with their core focus being hosting.
2. Better cost profile: There should be moving costs from capital to operational budget for economies of scale.
3. Control: There should be full control over IT solutions to be maintained.
4. Reduced risk: Business data centers should be more secure with full redundancy. It provides managed security offerings including load balancer, intrusion detection and prevention, platform monitoring and management.

Who should take Managed Hosting?

Users need to look for industry and business related qualifications to choose managed hosting provider which are as follows:

1. ISO27001 Information Security Management.
2. ISO20001 IT Service Management.
3. ISO9001 Quality Management Certification: It explains quality throughout the business.

User also wants to see some specific software and security qualifications such as:-

MCSE, RHCE, LPIC, Ethical Hacker

What Managed hosting includes ? 

Managed Hosting includes the following:

1. Server Monitoring: This is the process of scanning the servers in search of any potential failures; these failures can be removed before they convert into major disruption.
2. Security: This includes virus scanning, firewall configuration and OS updates in addition of data centre security measures.
3. Full Back-up & storage: A company losing data can cause a loss of money, time and customer trust. All reliable and personal information is stored securely.
4. Server Configuration & Maintenance: Managed hosting providers offer expert staff to ensure that hosting solution is configured to meet the customer’s requirement.

Some Risks:

There are some risks using managed server hosting:-

1. Sensitive data:  Although hosts guarantee safety of data on user’s site, but they cannot guarantee about their employee violation of trust and access sensitive material.
2. Fraud: There have been cases of customer’s bills with hidden charges by hosting providers. User should take time to research of hosting provider before signing a contract.

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