Hello all...
I have worked in the managed hosting industry for several years and I felt like giving you all some insight and tips on what to look for/consider when putting together a plan to use a dedicated/managed hosting service.
The Bucks...
How rapidly is the project/company/whatever going to grow? How much can you spend and how much do you feel comfortable spending? Both are really important things to consider before you start searching. Come up with a realistic max spending point. "I can spend $299 on good service, but amazing service might be worth spending $499 a month." Factor these decisions into your plan for your budget before you even call for a price quote. Most "good" managed hosts will provide custom quotes. Pre-determined prices to me seem like it doesn't consider all the needs of a customer on a per-situation basis. Don't just jump cause you see an ad that says "$99 PER MONTH NO SETUP FEE OMGWTFBBQ!?!@#!@#" That guy might be offering you a really cheap server but may end up charging you something insane for a reboot. Be smart, don't think "cheap" this will only lead you to choosing a sub-par product.
The Bang...
What are you expecting out of a host? Are you just looking for a 100% SLA and a person who can help you install some stupid blog software? Or are you looking for someone to ensure your business is in safe hands? Read reviews, ask around and most importantly when speaking to a sales person, ask if you could talk to someone in support. Most support people are happy to give you an idea of what they know. If you are planning on working with a complex application or something you are not fairly comfortable on your own with, then make sure that the support the host provides you makes you feel safe. Ask your sales rep to connect you to support, come with a list of questions and ask for some feedback regarding what they can do for your specific solution to improve it. Learning the competence of a support staff is extremely important. You want to feel that the people on the other end are going to get you an answer, and quickly, if you run into a problem. Get a good feeling for that first.
The Guts...
When you choose a server solution, specifically leasing equipment, be knowledgeable of the popular brands of hardware that are available. Look for HP, Dell, Supermicro and the like. Stay clear of "black box" hosting companies. When dealing with providers who purchase quality hardware from major manufacturers you typically have a high volume available to you with less time for missing parts/replacements than if everything is being custom built from the 1U case up. Most of these major boxes like the Proliant HP class hardware are extremely beefy now a days and can provide a lot of room to scale. Consider things like "Why should I have a RAID?" "Is it worth it for me to use an IDE disk?" and the like. If you skimp on this stuff, you will have problems, Period. Using an IDE disk on a high I/O solution is just screaming for problems. Considering which type of RAID for a heavy Write MySQL db or an Oracle solution might be a good thing to ask when you are working with support. Be smart, be understanding of costs as well. There is no such thing as "Cheap and Good" hardware. It just doesn't exist.
"The Tubes..."
When it comes to the network, READ READ READ. Investigate everything you can, check newsgroups messages from network admins who might work at this company. Get a good idea that the people who built and maintain this network are knowledgeable and capable of maintaining that 100% uptime network SLA you scream about having.
"The Bells and Whistles.."
If you don't have 24/7/365 support available to you with the choice of hosting solutions, then don't bother. People are important, especially if you are still in a planning stage. Make sure you can talk to someone, make sure you understand all the parts of their support system. Don't forget about the important parts of your solution that are outside factors. Just because you have RAID doesn't mean you don't need backups. You do need backups. Your RAID can fail, I don't care if it's a RAID 2534893, it could fail. Get some form of backups that are with your host, make sure they can get you a quick turnaround on restore and get all the data you feel is crucial. Firewalls are important, consider them but also remember that most OS's that are worth their salt have a free and easily configurable kernel level filtering. Make sure you are prepared for the costs associated with load balancing and only use it if you are in a HA solution right away. You can always load balance at a later date if you don't might doing some form of DNS change, but don't overspend right away if you are still in development.
"Ask about everything..."
Ask every possible question you can, don't feel embarrassed if you repeat yourself. It's your money... spend it wisely.
Good luck out there.this is a damn good "confession" you posted.. bookmarked, gotta let my buds read this since their thinking of going dedicated.Id +rep you if the rep system was in use. Thanks for the insight.happy to help... that's what I do for a living, so that's what i will do here
happy to help... that's what I do for a living, so that's what i will do here
Welcome to WHT.
That was a gem of a confession, I must say a great article.
Hopefully we will be getting more of similar knowledgeable posts form you.Thanks great post ... I still am gun shy for now with only a couple of customers... just running off a reseller account..Thanks, awesome post. I especially like the username, reminds me of my tech support days.. "Well, it works on my computer"...This is a dam good post worksonmycomputer :agree: , Help me out a bit too .Hey man, good stuff, always appreciated by all of us! Thanks!Just putting in a good word _b - very nicely done!good post, it shows an aspiring host what they have to try to achieve to be high qualityMy friend and I have started a new hosting business, thanks for the tips Thank you. This is very helpful.Very useful post. Hand down for you!Thank you very much!Should be required reading for anyone looking for managed hosting!
I have worked in the managed hosting industry for several years and I felt like giving you all some insight and tips on what to look for/consider when putting together a plan to use a dedicated/managed hosting service.
The Bucks...
How rapidly is the project/company/whatever going to grow? How much can you spend and how much do you feel comfortable spending? Both are really important things to consider before you start searching. Come up with a realistic max spending point. "I can spend $299 on good service, but amazing service might be worth spending $499 a month." Factor these decisions into your plan for your budget before you even call for a price quote. Most "good" managed hosts will provide custom quotes. Pre-determined prices to me seem like it doesn't consider all the needs of a customer on a per-situation basis. Don't just jump cause you see an ad that says "$99 PER MONTH NO SETUP FEE OMGWTFBBQ!?!@#!@#" That guy might be offering you a really cheap server but may end up charging you something insane for a reboot. Be smart, don't think "cheap" this will only lead you to choosing a sub-par product.
The Bang...
What are you expecting out of a host? Are you just looking for a 100% SLA and a person who can help you install some stupid blog software? Or are you looking for someone to ensure your business is in safe hands? Read reviews, ask around and most importantly when speaking to a sales person, ask if you could talk to someone in support. Most support people are happy to give you an idea of what they know. If you are planning on working with a complex application or something you are not fairly comfortable on your own with, then make sure that the support the host provides you makes you feel safe. Ask your sales rep to connect you to support, come with a list of questions and ask for some feedback regarding what they can do for your specific solution to improve it. Learning the competence of a support staff is extremely important. You want to feel that the people on the other end are going to get you an answer, and quickly, if you run into a problem. Get a good feeling for that first.
The Guts...
When you choose a server solution, specifically leasing equipment, be knowledgeable of the popular brands of hardware that are available. Look for HP, Dell, Supermicro and the like. Stay clear of "black box" hosting companies. When dealing with providers who purchase quality hardware from major manufacturers you typically have a high volume available to you with less time for missing parts/replacements than if everything is being custom built from the 1U case up. Most of these major boxes like the Proliant HP class hardware are extremely beefy now a days and can provide a lot of room to scale. Consider things like "Why should I have a RAID?" "Is it worth it for me to use an IDE disk?" and the like. If you skimp on this stuff, you will have problems, Period. Using an IDE disk on a high I/O solution is just screaming for problems. Considering which type of RAID for a heavy Write MySQL db or an Oracle solution might be a good thing to ask when you are working with support. Be smart, be understanding of costs as well. There is no such thing as "Cheap and Good" hardware. It just doesn't exist.
"The Tubes..."
When it comes to the network, READ READ READ. Investigate everything you can, check newsgroups messages from network admins who might work at this company. Get a good idea that the people who built and maintain this network are knowledgeable and capable of maintaining that 100% uptime network SLA you scream about having.
"The Bells and Whistles.."
If you don't have 24/7/365 support available to you with the choice of hosting solutions, then don't bother. People are important, especially if you are still in a planning stage. Make sure you can talk to someone, make sure you understand all the parts of their support system. Don't forget about the important parts of your solution that are outside factors. Just because you have RAID doesn't mean you don't need backups. You do need backups. Your RAID can fail, I don't care if it's a RAID 2534893, it could fail. Get some form of backups that are with your host, make sure they can get you a quick turnaround on restore and get all the data you feel is crucial. Firewalls are important, consider them but also remember that most OS's that are worth their salt have a free and easily configurable kernel level filtering. Make sure you are prepared for the costs associated with load balancing and only use it if you are in a HA solution right away. You can always load balance at a later date if you don't might doing some form of DNS change, but don't overspend right away if you are still in development.
"Ask about everything..."
Ask every possible question you can, don't feel embarrassed if you repeat yourself. It's your money... spend it wisely.
Good luck out there.this is a damn good "confession" you posted.. bookmarked, gotta let my buds read this since their thinking of going dedicated.Id +rep you if the rep system was in use. Thanks for the insight.happy to help... that's what I do for a living, so that's what i will do here
happy to help... that's what I do for a living, so that's what i will do here Welcome to WHT.
That was a gem of a confession, I must say a great article.
Hopefully we will be getting more of similar knowledgeable posts form you.Thanks great post ... I still am gun shy for now with only a couple of customers... just running off a reseller account..Thanks, awesome post. I especially like the username, reminds me of my tech support days.. "Well, it works on my computer"...This is a dam good post worksonmycomputer :agree: , Help me out a bit too
.Hey man, good stuff, always appreciated by all of us! Thanks!Just putting in a good word _b - very nicely done!good post, it shows an aspiring host what they have to try to achieve to be high qualityMy friend and I have started a new hosting business, thanks for the tips Thank you. This is very helpful.Very useful post. Hand down for you!Thank you very much!Should be required reading for anyone looking for managed hosting!