Often times, many consumers are left wondering whether their web hosting service is unmanaged or managed – or what the differences between these two are.

RackNerd is going to explain some of the basics in this article – that way, on your next purchase, you know what is best for you and can make an informed decision.

We will define managed hosting below:

As an example, lets talk about managed VPS – and how opting for a managed VPS comes with great benefits – especially for those who are not tech savy but have the requirements of the added horsepower so they’ve opted for a virtual private server versus something less powerful (such as shared hosting). A managed virtual private server means you can open support tickets, make support related calls, requesting system administration without having to know Linux commands. Although you may have some abilities to administer your virtual private server, not all times are you interested in filling the role of a system administrator, and your budget allows you to let the professionals handle the management task that way you can focus on what you’re good at. This is an ideal solution to provide you with peace of mind at all times. Imagine operating system related updates, third party software installs, troubleshooting, permission issues, webserver issues, core service issues, and so on that could happen – and inevitably do. You can rely on your provider to fix them quickly and professionally without added surprise cost. 

Now let’s talk about unmanaged hosting:

Unmanaged hosting, commonly sold by default by many providers, is a service in which you self manage. Support is handled by yourself (or your team) and in exchange, your service with your hosting provider is often times provided at a discounted rate when compared to managed hosting rates. Unmanaged hosting is ideal for consumers who are tech savvy, who are interested in solving their issues without the help of others. These types of consumers usually rely on or educate themselves with tutorials, hosting provider knowledgebases, YouTube, and other kinds of tutorial-based assistance.

Whether you’re experienced with the command line or not – your ability to determine what type of management level you’d be most comfortable with should be your deciding factor. Managed or unmanaged, you can’t go wrong, because with an unmanaged server with a hosting company just like RackNerd should offer you the ability to opt for management. Management can be purchased at $79/Month. With RackNerd’s management plans you can open a ticket 24×7 with their support department, and receive professional support right away!

Have questions? Want to know more? E-mail sales@racknerd.com