Technical Support for Cheap Dedicated Server : The key factor

Once the decision of renting a dedicated server is made, there are a few aspects to take into account before sealing the deal. Perhaps the most important of these aspects is the quality and level of technical support offered to you by your web hosting provider. Here are some pointers on how to choose the right cheap dedicated server based on the level of support provided.

Most web hosting companies offer different levels of support when it comes to the administration and management of your dedicated server.
The available offers may include the following:

• Fully managed dedicated server – With this option, the web hosting provider is completely in charge of your server’s administration. They take care of monitoring, software updates, reboots, security patches, operating system upgrades and all administrative tasks. Customers are completely hands-off.
  
  
• Managed dedicated server – This option includes medium level of management, monitoring, updates, and a limited amount of technical support. Customers may perform specific administrative tasks on their own.
  
  
• Self-managed dedicated server – This hosting support plan includes regular monitoring and some maintenance. Customers must perform most operations and tasks on their dedicated server.
  
  
• Unmanaged dedicated server – Cheaper than other plans, but the web hosting company is not involved with the administration. Customers must provide all maintenance, upgrades, patches, and security on the server.

Administration of a dedicated web server requires applying operating system updates; application updates; managing server software monitoring; hardware monitoring; setting up  firewall services; updates; performing security audits; managing backups and restoration; disaster recovery; DNS management; load balancing; database administration; performance tuning; DDOS protection and mitigation; software installation, configuration; intrusion detection; user management and programming consultation. So, if your staff cannot perform these tasks, you should choose to have the hosting provider taking care of them for you. It all depends on your needs, knowledge and budget.
 
Due to the different levels of server literacy of the clients, the support provided by the hosting company is essential but proportionally more expensive. The more you delegate to the provider, the more expensive it gets.

The advantages are many. A fully managed dedicated hosting plan ensures an adequate and regular maintenance of your dedicated server, and provides professional technical support while maximizing server uptime. Simply put, a managed dedicated server solution will give your website more flexibility, and thus more chances of growth, by providing you with a list of different options and possibilities.

With a managed dedicated web server hosting plan you can easily choose how involved will the hosting company be, so you can adapt the level of support you receive to your exact needs and requirements.
Anyways, managed dedicated server is not for everyone. If you own a small website with low traffic inflow, this option would be way over the head, not only for the services provided but also for the increasing cost.

But if you happen to operate a large company with an important demand on web services, you might think on choosing a dedicated server with technical support in order not to worry about security issues, backup, restoring, monitoring, reporting, deployment and scaling.

Depending on your business needs, purchasing a more expensive plan at first can ensure you are saving a lot of time, money and worries in the long run. Just make sure you consider all this before you choose!

Luca Hoffmann
Dedicated Server Advisor Team