Managed vs Unmanaged

[Binx]

I thought it would be interesting to see some opinions on managed vs. un-managed dedicated servers. For example, how much support does the average customer expect to get with an un-managed server?

[allan]

I've seen this question asked before and it is always interesting to see the host's versus the customer's expectations.

From my perspective, I don't think of managed hosting in terms of configuration assistance. In other words, I don't expect my host to install software outside of their normal realm for me, or configure Apache for me, etc. Instead with a managed host I look for things like backups, extensive monitoring (not just ping), and security protection.

[101sales]

Yes, I agree.

Customer and Provider expectations are very different when it comes to dedicated hosting.
The customer believes he is signing up with a service that will give him 24/7 support on anything he wants to install, change etc.
The Provider believes the customer understands that no support will be given outside of the standard installation software - otherwise it is charged.

I've worked for a dedicated provider and this problem frequently comes up. How much is too much support and what is required to keep the customer happy. It really is a fine line.

From the providers perspective a managed server is one that is constantly monitored, protected by security, upgraded when required, and given more attention than a simple reboot when something goes wrong. They are not you 24/7 help line when you can't figure out how do to something on the server. If you want that kind of service you'll have to hire your own technician :D

^ This is the perspective i've taken and I believe the dedicated hosting industry has taken as well. You will find the odd customer who has had free support outside the scope of what technicians are paid to do. That kind of service is more about upping PR - especially if the customer is very vocal about the service.

[Binx]

Great answers! Another opinion I am interested in hearing is how a host can manage a dedicated server that has given the customer root access. Doesn't this defeat the purpose of fully managing the server? We avoid this problem by not offering root on our fully managed servers, but instead manage everything except the customer content or scripts. Here is an example of a potential problem. You give the customer root access who is on a fully managed server. The customer attempts to upgrade linux libraries. Doing this incorrectly will obviously cause certain programs to malfunction, IE mySQL, Apache etc. So now whose problem does this become? The hosts or the customers? Obviously it wasn't the hosts fault, yet they will be flamed if they do not fix the problem. I do notice some hosts offer semi-dedicated which may be what covers them in this event. As 101sales stated it is a very fine line.

[101sales]

The company I worked for didn't give root access to those who paid for the managed service. Now this is very limiting for the customer but if they're asking for a managed server then generally they won't be doing too much in root.

They also gave the option of allowing root to the customer however they were notified that any problems not caused by the standard software or hardware setup would be charged on a per hour basis to fix it.

It does defeat the purpose of a managed server however some people just want to poke around root to learn more so that they can eventually get away from a managed server (which costs more) to a server they can manage at a cheaper price.

[Binx]

Originally posted by 101sales:

It does defeat the purpose of a managed server however some people just want to poke around root to learn more so that they can eventually get away from a managed server (which costs more) to a server they can manage at a cheaper price.

Yeah I definitely agree. That is why we are pretty strict with our managed servers. I can understand the desire to learn, yet just not on a managed server. If they want to poke around I would suggest getting a un-managed server at one of these insanely cheap providers. ;) Perfect solution for something like that.