What does fully managed mean?
Fully managed hosting is an expanded dedicated hosting service where the web host manages server(s) for their clients.
Host Tornado offers managed services on our entire product line of linux servers and specific windows server. It is important to stress the fact that we offer managed servers. Many companies out there offer servers but fail to notify the client of the unmanaged server they will be buying. Selling an unmanaged server greatly reduces the overhead cost of a dedicated server provider!
In simple and straight-forward terms terms, you may be able to find a cheaper hosting from another company but chances are they fail to inform you of what you are actually NOT getting. Common issues with unmanaged servers and hosting providers includes 1-2 days before support tickets are replied to, and leaving the customer all on their own!
To give you a better example between unmanaged and managed servers here is an example:
John Smith started his own hosting company, Host Company, he has 30+ clients and business is going great. Suddenly at 4am on a Tuesday morning John's email server crashes and none of his clients are able to send or receive email. Now, if John had a fully managed hosting provider (like Host Tornado), all he would have to do is submit a support ticket and one of our 24/7 on-site technicians would diagnose the problem and fix whatever the issue is. Normally problems like this can be fixed immediately because all of our staff has very extensive knowledge on how all our servers work. So by 5am John's email should be back up and running without any problems.
So now say John has an unmanaged server, he submits a support ticket to his hosting company and probably won't hear back from them for another 12-24 hours, being as though he has an unmanaged server John is also responsible for diagnosing and fixing the problem with his server. If John does not know how to fix the problem his customers will be without email for a lot longer period of time and he might actually lose customers due to his companies lack of being able to fix the problem.
So the real question is, how imporant are your customers to you?
Host Tornado does offer unmanaged servers and they are cheaper than our managed servers; however, we stress to each and every customer that if you are not experienced in working with Linux, cPanel, Apache, or the hosting server enviroment, that it is a VERY important to go with a fully managed server. Even if you want to learn yourself we strongly suggest that you purchase a fully managed hosting account and then we will be more than happy to explain exactly how we fix any problems that arise with your server.
There have been MANY hosting companies that have gone under due to the fact that they purchase an unmanaged server (knowingly or uninformed by their provider) and lose their clients when the server crashes. We want to help your business succeed and we will do everything we can to help you, including giving you this information so you do not make the same mistake other individuals/companies have.
Managed hosting is ideal for companies that don't have an internal IT staff, or want to free up their IT staff to focus on other tasks. Many companies are skeptical about turning the management & hosting of their servers over to a web hosting provider, but those who utilize managed hosting services are finding that IT outsourcing can save money and time while letting them focus on core business initiatives.
For those who offer managed servers, it is important to try and clarify exactly what is covered under managed services. We will try to outline what we cover. This outline is not concrete as many times clients need different things and we will try our best to accommodate those needs.
- Kernel Upgrades, OS patches
- Backups and restoration help if needed (only on servers with 2 or more drives)
- Cpanel/whm Updates
- PHP updates
- Mysql updates
- System pre installed services updates. ( we do not update 3rd party scripts installed)
- WHM/Cpanel assistance includes but not limited to, creating, deleting, setting up, email and dns
- PHP compilation
- MySQL optimization
- SSL configuration and installation
- Custom DNS configuration
- Email troubleshooting
- FTP troubleshooting
- High Server Load troubleshooting
- Best Effort Third Party Application Support
- Hardware Replacement SLA 2-6 hours
- Compromised Server Recovery
- Software Firewall Installation and Configuration
- Failed Drive service restoration, we will assist in restoring of all accounts to our ability
- Database corruption assistance
- Assistance with system alerts or warnings
- Hands on help with preinstall system settings
- High Bandwidth consultation needs
Server upgrading assistance and guidance so you're not left behind.
With such a broad range of services we give please be advise the list above is only a guidance to the many services which are included with our servers. We will provide any level of help within reason to the best of our ability.
Note: Custom Script installations are not covered by our managed services. Such installations which have an approx. time of more then 30 minutes of admin time to be installed will be required to be given a install quote prior to being done. You are then free to reject or accept the installation quote. Please contact us if in doubt.
