By Virtual private servers are a hot commodity these days — you can often find telecoms, healthcare organizations, and retail businesses taking advantage of different VPS solutions.
The standard VPS plan offers much better performance and security than shared hosting while keeping prices significantly lower than dedicated servers. When you add the enhanced scalability and advanced customizations in the mix, you already have a solution powerful enough to handle pretty much anything.
Not everyone can be a techie or afford to hire a dedicated admin to manage things. The average business owner naturally prefers to concentrate on growth and development while leaving the technicalities to the professionals.
What is a Managed VPS?
Managed VPS platforms are the perfect choice for startups and SMBs that don’t have an in-house IT team. Reliable hosting providers already have the workforce — experts in the field that pass through rigorous training processes.
In the standard scenario, your host supplies the physical server, sets it up with a default OS and control panel, and hands all control over to you. But what about all the software installations, updates, technical questions? There are just so many things that can go wrong.
Managed virtual private server clients have nothing to worry about, though — trained professionals handle all these delicate operations for them.
Let’s see just how deep the scope of the managed support services can go.
What do Managed VPS Services Include?
Different hosts can give you a different answer to that question.
Some will say that server maintenance, and software updates are enough to call a VPS service “managed.” Others believe that security audits and malware removal should also be part of the service. There are even those who are prepared to assist in development requests.
The only way to be sure exactly how much your host can assist in managing your VPS server is to contact them beforehand. A pre-sales conversation can shed light on all uncertainties.
What is the scope of the support team? How can you contact them? Do they work 24/7? Who is responsible for software installations and updates?
Getting these details beforehand is the only way to be completely sure of what to expect.
By default, most of the common managed VPS plans include the following:
- Uptime guarantee
- Server provisioning and initial setup
- Control panel and server management tools
- Security software installation
- Regular updates and vulnerability patches
- Offsite server backups
- On-demand malware scans
- Hardware and software issue resolution
- Round-the-clock support availability
As you can see, a reliable virtual server provider can take a significant load off your shoulders, especially security-wise.
You can check our detailed review on managed VPS security for more information.
Realizing the need for prompt and well-supported services is a great first step, but the market is swarming with hosting providers, and they all want your business. You need a careful research to guarantee you pick the right one.
How to Choose a Managed VPS?
Finding a trustworthy partner to help you with your VPS venture is essential. Don’t just rush into the first lucrative deal you see — there are a few other factors to consider first:
Features
Go through each host’s list of features and see which will directly help with your project. Analyze the rest as well — many times, there are future needs you might have not even considered.
Resources & Scalability
Start with the RAM and CPU as they are the core that powers your VPS machine. Check if you have enough storage space and monthly bandwidth as well. Utilizing SSD drives is highly recommended.
Make sure you have room to grow. The best managed VPS providers all scale easily, letting you add or remove resources on a per-need basis.
