Managed vs Unmanaged VPS Hosting: Core Differences
Go back in time and think, what it was like when you first started your business website. Most likely, you were just making your way in the business world with little or no knowledge of what was to come next.
A business like everything starts small, and in time grows with the right marketing and nurturing. Not only does your business grow in its clientele and income but also, the incoming traffic to the website. And increased traffic is directly proportional to slower website speed. However, there is a catch, the former statement is only true if your business has outgrown the hosting plan.
Like most new businesses, chances are you too must have started with hosting your business on a Shared Hosting platform. But as your business evolves so do its need and with that comes the time to switch to a different type of hosting. Out of the several hosting options available, VPS (Virtual Private Server) Hosting is one of the most preferred options available. The reason being, it is the perfect mix of Shared and Dedicated Hosting environment. VPS Hosting can be categorized into two main types viz. Managed and Unmanaged VPS Hosting.
In this article, my aim is to help you understand what these two types of VPS Hosting (Managed vs Unmanaged VPS) include, their advantages, differences and which should you as a business owner choose. Let us begin!
What is Managed VPS Hosting?
Managing a server requires time, effort and technical expertise. In Managed VPS Hosting, your service provider takes care of all the server related responsibilities like core updates, maintenance, software installation etc. so you, the business owner can concentrate fully on growing your business. Managed VPS Hosting in simple words, is a hands-free approach.
If you are a new business owner with little or no technical experience, then Managed VPS Hosting is your go-to hosting solution, as you need not worry about anything server related.
What is Unmanaged VPS Hosting?
As the name suggests, unlike Managed VPS Hosting in Unmanaged VPS Hosting you, the business owner, have to take care of all the server responsibilities and maintenance tasks, whereas, your hosting provider only takes care of the physical server and its availability.
If you choose to opt for Unmanaged VPS Hosting then you should have the technical expertise or dedicated in-house resources managing your server, operating system and other server related resources. Even if you are technically sound, Unmanaged VPS Hosting is better suited if you are an established business as opposed to an emerging one, because the main focus is establishing your business in the market.
Advantages of VPS Hosting
Be it Managed VPS Hosting or UnManaged VPS Hosting, the benefits are the same. Let us have a quick look at some of the top benefits:
- Root Access:
VPS Hosting is a bridge between Shared and Dedicated Hosting and as such it includes features of both. With VPS Hosting your server is isolated from other servers in spite of being hosted on the same physical server. Hence, you have complete root access to customize and manage your server and its resources. - Instant Provisioning of Resources:
Server resources like CPU, RAM, OS are provisioned instantly as soon as your server is up and running. These resources can also be scaled easily depending on your incoming traffic. However, note that the resources are scalable and not the hosting plan. - Security:
Since VPS Hosting is isolated like that of a Dedicated Hosting, it provides top-notch security to the website hosted on it. This is true even though all websites share the same physical server, as the IP addresses are dedicated to individual servers. - Performance:
VPS Hosting comes with both SSD and HDD hard drive, however, most businesses these days opt for SSD VPS Hosting as its benefits outweigh that of HDD. SSD VPS Hosting improves the website loading speed which, in turn, improves the performance of the website, as well as, the Google search ranking.
Core Differences
There are not many differences between Managed vs Unmanaged VPS Hosting. Let us have a look at the two most crucial ones:
| Managed VPS Hosting | Unmanaged VPS Hosting |
| Server maintenance and upgradation are taken care of by the hosting provider. | Your hosting provider only takes care of maintaining the physical server and its guaranteed uptime. |
| Slightly expensive cost-wise but the best choice for beginners. | Cheaper compared to Managed VPS Hosting but ideal for experienced users. |
What Should You Choose?
By now I’m sure you’ve figured out which hosting is the most suited for your business website between Managed VPS and Unmanaged VPS Hosting if you plan to switch to VPS Hosting. And just like choosing the right hosting is important so is the choice of the hosting provider. A good hosting provider can make or break your website as no matter which hosting type you choose, the availability and uptime of your website depends on the availability of the main server.
We at UnifyHOST offer VPS Hosting with a maximum of 99.99% uptime, 24*7 support, top-notch infrastructure, DDoS protection, and much more so that you can relax and concentrate on running your business while we manage the technicalities.
With this, we come to an end and I hope you now have a fair understanding of Managed vs Unmanaged VPS Hosting and which to choose. If you have any more questions, feel free to leave them in the comments section below! Until next time.