Unmanaged dedicated server

Any business or service that is based online strives of getting their own website in order to be established. This is not actually very difficult to do with dedicated server around.

Dedicated servers or dedicated hosting is a way of hosting a website in the internet. These are basically powerful computers that are used exclusively as a network server. In other words, a dedicated server service refers to an internet hosting type in which the client, which can be an individual or an organization, rents an entire server for his own personal use only.


Dedicated hosting is more advantageous because the client has full control over the server including the choice of hardware, and operating system to name a few. Moreover, a dedicated server consists of the complete set-up including the operating system, web server, related software, and internet connection. While all of these seem very convenient for the client, it should be noted though that a dedicated server can be used only as a resource server, and not as a client.

There are two categories of dedicated hosting types which include managed hosting and unmanaged hosting. With managed hosting, the service provider regularly monitors and manages the server. As soon as the client leases the server, he will receive features such as software patches and updates, hardware replacements, end-to-end network management, internet connectivity, and security measures. This set-up is actually very practical and convenient since the software, hardware, and technical aspects of the server are all catered to by the provider.

With unmanaged hosting, the bigger chunk of server management falls on your shoulder. The updating of software, application of patches, and the booting up and shutting down of the server are all required of the client. For clients that have minimal skills in computer hardware and software, this set-up is not very favorable at all. The burden of daily maintenance and operation is not a joke at all. More than anything else, it needs skills, time, and patience.

Unmanaged server hosting is cheaper as compared to managed server. In this situation, the server is still owned by the provider and the user has an option of changing servers to a better performing one when the lease is over or negotiate on improved terms on the same one. The host will be responsible for customizing the server to meet the needs of the company and it will contain the necessary Operating system and other software. The client will remotely access the server and carry out the management on their own to ensure that it is kept clean and providing general maintenance to ensure it is always in working conditions.

Unmanaged option is ideal for those who have a technician who could carry out all the maintenance activities on the system.

Unmanaged servers are usually better for larger companies, who will need to free up their own disk space, and also for those in the engineering, geographical, science and multimedia fields. This is because these fields usually develop real time internet applications that require complete control of the hosting servers. The companies that need an unmanaged server are those that run in house web applications, with large disk space usage.

Unmanaged servers are definitely a high maintenance option in hosting. This is because they constantly need hardware and software updates, which land up costing a lot of money. There are some computers that sell physical servers configured just for unmanaged hosting applications. These are usually costly, and if you go down the route of choosing unmanaged hosting servers you should definitely sit down and work out the budget with your IT manager.

If you are a novice with dedicated servers and your web server is unmanaged by the hosting company then you should have some kind of control panel installed. It will make your server management easy and you will be able to spend the nights actually sleeping instead of trying to figure out why your apache server is returning “500 Internal Server Error”:)

With unmanaged servers it’s your responsibility to manage the server. Meaning that installing and configuring any software on the server falls on you. Unmanaged servers are usually much cheaper and if you do not have any “System Administration” experience it can be difficult to manage the server.

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