What Is The Difference Between Hosting And Managed Services?

The rapidly evolving IT scenario coupled with the complex and ever-increasing demands of clients has led to a variety of hosting options to choose from. Right from basic Hosting Solutions and Managed Services to Cloud Service and Hybrid Solutions, you can go with plenty of alternatives. 

Based on your precise requirements you can go with any option. For more complex requirements you can opt for hybrid services that combine the advantages of two or more kinds of hosting options to suit your needs. 

Let’s delve deeper into the hosting and managed services alternatives…

What Is a Hosting Service?

With a Hosting Service, your server is hosted in a particular place - it can either be your own data center or the provider’s data center. The server is maintained at an optimum condition by the provider. They take care of infrastructure, hardware, all kinds of equipment, and even the cooling system regardless of the place of hosting. 

This server is dedicated to your use only and it is a rather traditional alternative. However, with a hosting solution, you would need a team of dedicated staff and system admin for all the software-related jobs. No software-related task is covered under a hosting solution. 

Hence, you are responsible for monitoring and managing the software side of things. This includes maintaining and troubleshooting the server as well. So, if you have a team with the right set of software skills and expertise then you should go with hosting solutions. 

Advantages Of Hosting Solutions

1. Elite Server Resources

The server is important for reasons related to speed and security. With an elite server, you can be sure that your website isn’t being slowed down due to faulty scripts running on other websites on a shared server. Likewise, you get the most out of your server’s CPU and RAM. This leads to an optimally running website which is all you need.
 

2. Improved Security And Optimum Performance

A dedicated hosting solution ensures optimum uptime for your website. Especially when you have large web traffic. A dedicated server will not just make sure that your website doesn’t share a space with a malicious website but will also offer enhanced stability and increased reliability. 

Similarly, you can keep potential spammers away from your website. This is especially needed for companies dealing with sensitive transactions of high-profile information transfer. 

3. Cost Efficiency

Although many organizations need a dedicated server, they don’t have the resources to procure, manage and maintain a dedicated server. With a hosting solution, such companies can reap the benefits of a dedicated server without incurring any extra charges. 

The hosting provider is responsible for maintaining the server equipment, the cooking arrangement, the server space and even enhancing their return on investment. Thus, your resources and money can be free to be used elsewhere.

However, a dedicated server comes at a cost. It doesn’t come as cheap as shared hosting. Hence, if you deal with a lot of traffic regularly then the cost efficiency of a dedicated server is something you can achieve. Moreover, the customizations and security options of a dedicated server make it all the more appealing. 

4. Exclusive IP Address

Each server has its own exclusive IP address. A dedicated server means you don’t have to share your IP address with any other website. This is especially beneficial when you want to rank up your website. The content on other websites on a shared server may severely affect your website’s ranking. 

For instance, you require to process credit card details and SSL, then a unique IP address is the best way to ensure the best for your website. 

5. Flexibility

One of the most prominent benefits of a dedicated server is the ability to customize it according to your specific needs. This kind of flexibility can never be achieved in a shared hosting environment. You can opt for software and a platform that you actually require. Instead of stealing with limited functionalities, you can be flexible with your configurations in the case of a dedicated server. 

What Are Managed Services?

Managed Services refers to outsourcing maintenance, security operations, and data management to experts. A premier Managed Services Provider will offer you a wide range of functions including but not limited to data backup, IT support, communications, network security, network administration, performance monitoring, application updates, operating system updates, FTP configuration among others. 

Managed services deploy a dedicated server at a remote location just like a hosting solution. However, the major difference lies in the fact that with an MSP, you get a plethora of resources and IT support, unlike a hosting solution. With an MSP, your IT staff and resources can be used elsewhere, instead of managing the mundane task of maintaining the server and it’s related IT operations.
 

Unlike hosting solutions, managed services offer a lot more options in terms of data backups, system and software management and even operating system and applications management.  Here are some differentiating benefits of Managed Services to help clear out the difference between a hosting solution and Managed Services… 

Advantages Of Managed Services

1. Low Cost 

Apart from lowering your IT costs, managed services make your expenses more predictable. This means that you can budget and prioritize your expenses accordingly. Moreover, with managed services, the expenses are divided on a monthly basis, this makes it even more affordable as compared to paying a lumpsum amount upfront. 

On the contrary, an in-house IT team requires unexpected and frequent expenses that can hamper your budget considerably. With managed services, you don’t have to worry about such costs and that too without compromising on the quality of the IT operations and management services. This leads to improved financial stability for your organization. 

2. Reduced Downtime

One of the nuisances of IT operations is downtime. Servers fail and hardware malfunctions at times. This leads to hampered business processes and in some cases may incur losses if not corrected on time. At such times, backup is of utmost importance. 

Managed services not only reduce your downtime due to redundant equipment issues but also manage auto backups to save your valuable data. 

3. Expert Touch

Hiring an in-house team of IT experts is both time-consuming and costly. Moreover, you don’t get to know their actual expertise until they face a real issue. Experimenting with an IT team and their expertise is not something that you can do every now and then. However, managed services providers usually have an expert IT team that has extensive experience in tackling all kinds of problems that may arise. 

Additionally, an MSP has a preventive approach to things. Having dealt with numerous scenarios, they are well aware of the problems that may arise. As a result, they are not just well prepared for it, but also implement measures to prevent such issues from happening. 

Data compliance, data security, 24/7 support, and the latest technology are some of the other benefits that you get with a managed services provider.