Server Management Services

Many hosting companies who sell VPS plans and dedicated server plans ask whether you want a managed plan or an unmanaged plan.

A managed hosting plan is where the hosting company handles everything. They will set up the hosting control panel for you and help you manage it. For example, the hosting company will install software for you and configure server settings when required. Many hosting companies will also help you with general website related questions such preventing spam and website optimisation.

In contrast, an unmanaged plan requires you to do almost everything yourself. You usually have to install the hosting control panel yourself (though some companies will do this for you if requested) and it is your responsibility to administrate your server and ensure it is configured correctly and secure. Support is normally limited to hardware issues and responses to downtime.

Who Needs Unmanaged Hosting?

You may assume that unmanaged servers were created specifically for technical customers who want full control over their server. That is not the case.

Firstly, let’s look at it from the hosting company’s point of view.

Many hosting companies only offer unmanaged services as they do not want to get involved with customer support and administration related tasks. Companies that offer managed and unmanaged hosting services recognise that customers who purchase unmanaged hosting plans are not taking up their time. This is why unmanaged plans are cheaper than managed plans.

From a customer’s point of view, purchasing an unmanaged hosting plan allows you to hire someone else to handle the configuration of your server and provide support when needed. It is easy to see why many website owners go down this route as many hosting companies that offer reliable hosting plans are not known for providing good support.

Choosing a different company to help you manage your hosting account means that if support is not to the standard you desire, you can simply hire another service management company.

The Role of Server Management Services

I used managed hosting services for fifteen years. On a few occasions I moved to a different hosting company because of a poor level of uptime, but the most common reason I changed host was poor customer support.

In 2015 I decided to purchase an unmanaged server from OVH and use the server management service Server Surgeon to set up my server, secure and configure my server, and administrate it on a monthly basis.

I have been incredibly happy with this setup so far.

Should I ever have a problem with OVH, I will look for another hosting company to provide me with an unmanaged server.

Should I ever have a problem with Server Surgeon, I will look for another server management service to help administrate my server.

Server Surgeon helped me a lot in the beginning. They configured the server to my liking and transferred all of my websites over to my new hosting plan.

Server Surgeon only charges $65 per month for their services. On their website they advise that this plan includes website monitoring 24 hours a day, however they have never alerted me to any downtime. Despite this, I have been very happy with their service.

There have been months where I have no had to ask for help from them and I have questioned whether their fee is justified, but whenever I have had any problems they have resolved the issues quickly and effectively. That is exactly what I want from a support company and knowing they will always help me resolve hosting related emergencies in a timely manner gives me peace of mind.

If you are looking for a new hosting setup, I encourage you to consider hosting with an unmanaged hosting plan and using a server management service to handle support and administration of your account.

This kind of set up is obviously not for everyone; but I have no doubt it will suit many of you.

Please drop by Rise Forums if you have any questions relating to using a server management company.

Server Management Companies

Below is a selection of server management companies you may want to consider for managing your server.

	Assistanz A support company that has offices in India, Malaysia, and the USA. They offer a range of support services for cloud hosting, website hosting, and infrastructure management. Their cPanel server management plans start from $26 per month.
	BobCares BobCares offers a dedicated server plan that provides 24/7 maintenance and technical support. Plans are constructed based on your own needs and the number of people you need to monitor your server. Due to this, no prices are stated on their website. You therefore need to contact them for a quote.
	Platinum Server Management Based in New Jersey, USA, Platinum Server Management have been operating since 1998. They offer server management for only $19 per month per server.
	RDO Servers RDO Servers is a website hosting company that offers shared hosting, VPS hosting, reseller hosting, and dedicated hosting plans. They also offer server management plans. Their VPS management plan retails at $21.99 per month gives 24/7 support and a thirty minute average guaranteed response time. Their dedicated server management plan costs $60 per month. All control panels are supported under their plans.
	Server Adminz A large support company that is based in Kerala, India. They offer a wide range of services including web hosting support, server management, infrastructure management, and cloud management. Server administration starts from $25 per hour.
	Server Surgeon Server Surgeon offer a range of management services including 24 hour support, emergency ticket response, and ongoing patching and security updates. They charge $65 per server per month for their services.
	SparkSupport SparkSupport provide a range of support and server administration services. You can hire a dedicated engineer for Linux, Windows, and Cloud based servers. The cost of hiring their services depends on how many hours of support you need and what type of server you need maintained. You therefore need to contact them for a quote to get a price.
	SupportPro SupportPro offers a wide range of support services. You can hire a full time or part time support engineer for your company. You can also hire a complete team. Cloud management, node management, and server support services are available too. Their server administration pricing starts at $100 per server.
	Support Resort The bizarrely named Support Resort is an outsourcing firm that allows you to hire IT related staff from as little as $4 per hour. Staff can be hired on a weekly or monthly basis. You can hire programmers, designers, mobile developers, system administrators, and virtual assistants.
	Touch Support Based in the USA, Touch Support offers server administration from $44.99 per month for four hours of support. Their service offers website monitoring, performance checks, and a human response to downtime alerts.
	U&D Square An Indian based support company that offers server monitoring and server management. You need to contact them about a proposal in order to get up to date prices.