What is managed vps hosting, and how do I know if I need it?

Hi, Pamela,

Great question. It's not immediately clear to me if you know what managed hosting is, so I will assume that you do and respond to the question directly.

A Virtual Dedicated Server (VDS), also referred to as a Virtual Private Server (VPS), enables you to share a server with other clients of the same managed hosting service. A method known as “virtualization” partitions a single physical server into multiple “virtual” servers, each of which can then function as its own dedicated machine. A step between low-cost shared hosting and dedicated server hosting, VPS hosting provides you with all of the same exceptional software and technical talent of a dedicated server hosting plan—but on a shared server.

And, when you are ready to grow your “slice” of the system resources, your managed hosting provider will grow with you, enabling your organization to configure and deploy new servers in a rapid, cost-effective manner.

As for knowing whether or not you need VPS hosting, I would naturally need to know more specifics about your current situation. From my perspective, as the co-owner of a 17-year-old managed hosting company, one of the best benefits of managed hosting is that you no longer have to deal with the hassle of buying and supporting your own servers. An expert does that for you and you have the benefit of knowing that your mission-critical applications and data are located in a disaster-resistant, secure facility with 100% up-time, guaranteed. Of course, there are many other benefits too, but I think the "no more in-house servers" benefit is the best.

If you would like to take the conversation offline and send me some specs to review, please don't hesitate to email me at laurie.head@aisn.net. We have data centers all over the US, so location is not an issue.

Good luck and best regards,

Laurie Head
Vice President of Marketing Communications
AIS Network

Hi Pamela,

Layered Tech offers two cloud-hosted Virtual Machine/Virtual Private Server implementations:
•The GridLayer, Linux based Virtual Machines/VPS, which are hosted on a massive grid of dedicated servers
•Hyper-V, Microsoft Virtual Machines/VPS, which are hosted on a redundant cluster of dedicated Microsoft Server 2008 servers

Our Virtual Machines:
•Eliminate single points of failure and resulting hardware emergencies
•Allocate separate resources for each client or application
•Eliminate the worry and cost of managing a dedicated environment
•Run virtually all software, applications, control panels and resources, with the same compatibility as a dedicated server.

Scalability and Redunancy are the keys to a VM/VPS.

Let me know if you would like to discuss your requirements either by email or by phone.

Thank you.

Erin Yore
LayeredTech
erin.yore@layeredtech.com
312-962-2420

Hi Rachel,

There are two aspects to this query. Firstly managed hosting is when a company takes care of the server solution for you, taking the responsibility out of your hands. A good host will guarantee uptime of the server and manage the technical side - as well as putting you on a platform that suits the needs of your business/project. A VPS is a Virtual Private Server - which is a type of hosting platform. It is a physical server that is partitioned into multiple servers and as such acts as a mid-point between dedicated and shared hosting platforms.

You can find reviews of virtual hosting providers at http://bit.ly/bQRcdT

The size of the hosting platform required is based on what you're looking to host and what you're looking to achieve from the project. Please feel free to message me your requirements and I can advise on the platform that would suit the needs of your project best.

Alternatively you could view a range of different hosting options at http://bit.ly/clJkW6

Managed VPS or Virtual private servers are shared hardware on a virtual platform. you will get access to a virtual machine to install an operation system, and the hardware, bandwidth and Virtual Server will be manged by your Hosting provider. This isnt much different from Amazons EC2 or AWS cloud service. Now whether or not you need it is dependent on your business requirements. One can always make a sales pitch but the logical conclusion is based on your principle business requirements.

With all the insight on the VPS Hosting another answer may not be required but in my view as a business professional there is nothing virtual about your need to have business systems supporting your operation. It may be somewhere in a virtual server, virtual network or to make it even more clear - in the cloud.
The basics are, you can be offered a service where your business application is being hosted by someone for you. What technology they use, and how cloudy it is, does not really matter as long as you can use the solution 24/7 and it fills your need for running your business. There has always been technologies for doing computer tasks for you and it was what made IBM grow to a really big company. Microsoft started off by making, on IBM PCs, personal computing where you had control of everything yourself. Now of course it is all difficult to say where it happens, you have a PC or Mac and you access resources around the internet as well as in your own business application or not and at time it can become a bit cloudy what is happening where. That is when having a provider of your system that takes care of all of it makes sense so you can go on an think about your own business without having to learn a lot of IT stuff.

Hosted, yes it always is, weather on premise or in a hosting center or somewhere in the cloud.
Virtual, that is just a technological description of having a server available in a shared hosting environment, you get your necessary share of the pie and hopefully remains a happy user!

Have a sunny day!

Stein

If you're trying to decided between managed and unmanaged hosting - here's a good blog post that breaks it down for you.

http://www.atum.com/blog/managed-hosting/managed-vs-unmanaged-whats-the-diffe...

Decide what level of service you need first... do you have the personel or expertise to run and manage your server, perform upgrades, handle patching and updates? Do you require back ups, firewalls and support?

But it also depends on your business and what you are using the VPS for. If you are running a simple site, and you have some experience, you could likely handle an unmanaged VPS. But if you are looking to run various applications, and look forward to growing and expanding your business... it would probably be a good idea to look into the services offered in a Managed VPS package.

Hi Pamela.

What sort of business are you running?

Please take a look at this information:

http://www.atum.com/what_is_vps_hosting.php

Hope this helps. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me marnaout@atum.com