VPS - Managed vs unmanaged?

citycm

citycm

citycm

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I currently have a VPS which is fully managed. It has 20GB hard drive space, 256MB Ram, and 500GB Monthly Bandwidth. With cPanel, I currently pay £24 per month.

I am finding that 256MB Ram isn't really sufficient for running cPanel so I am looking to upgrade, however, to get 512MB Ram with my current host, I would have to upgrade to 50GB hdd, 1TB bandwidth and 512MB Ram which would cost £44 per month.

I have been 'shopping around' and have seen some pretty good deals on unmanaged servers, so I was wondering, if I got an unmanaged server with cPanel on it, would it really be much different to the fully managed package I use now?
 
The first question I would ask is can you manage your own server? Fully managed means you don't have to worry about configuring the operating system and any faults found.

Are you familiar with Linux and cPanel? If so, go with an unmanaged server.

Finally, you will have an additional cPanel license cost with an unmanaged provider.
 
Rroff said:
Look at the other vps thread recently posted here - you can get much better deals for £24... decent VPS with 512Mb start around £15.

EDIT: For approx £24/m with my provider you'd get 768Mb RAM, 35gig HDD and 500gig transfer.
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That thread doesn't really help as it's just looking for VPS's in general. I've looked at the companies recommended in there but they all seem to be unmanaged. I just want to know if I could cope with unmanaged.

I have also looked at your provider and their £25/m package doesn't have cPanel and isn't managed.

JonRohan said:
The first question I would ask is can you manage your own server? Fully managed means you don't have to worry about configuring the operating system and any faults found.

Are you familiar with Linux and cPanel? If so, go with an unmanaged server.

Finally, you will have an additional cPanel license cost with an unmanaged provider.
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I have used Windows Server 2003 and 2008 briefly at university but never used a Linux Server. If I ordered an unmanaged server with centOS and cPanel, surely the company would set it all up for me? I have to pay a cPanel license cost now. My package is £19 + £5 per month for cPanel.
 
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I have had a look at Dedicated servers with my current host and they do seem to be far better value (i.e. Intel Dual Core 2.5GHz, 1GB Ram, 250GB Hdd, 4TB Bandwidth, cPanel for £84 per month which seems pretty good, but I'm nowhere near needing that yet).
 
Yes the provider may setup the server for you but what about ongoing maintenance, security patches, configuration changes?

It certainly isn't impossible to maintain but without any experience it would be risky for anything other than your own work.

I'm pretty familiar with Linux and would still edge caution on having my own cpanel server as I've not used cpanel.
What do you use the VPS for if you don't mind me asking?
 
JonRohan said:
Yes the provider may setup the server for you but what about ongoing maintenance, security patches, configuration changes?

It certainly isn't impossible to maintain but without any experience it would be risky for anything other than your own work.

I'm pretty familiar with Linux and would still edge caution on having my own cpanel server as I've not used cpanel.
What do you use the VPS for if you don't mind me asking?
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Yeah, I know where you're coming from.

I run a part time web development business and host client websites on the VPS. I'm only just starting out so only have 4 websites on there at the moment (including my own), but with 256MB Ram, my VPS keeps running out of memory (almost daily) which results in nothing working until I restart the server. This is why I'm looking for a better package.

Cost isn't really an issue if I feel it's value for money.
 
I would say you have two options.

Continue with a managed server and upgrade the package (not necessarily with your current host). Don't give yourself the hassle of having to worry about your hosting. Concentrate on your core business.

My second suggestion depends on what exactly you use your vps for. I.e. do you have anything custom on it. If not then a shared reseller hosting package would be perfect for you and a lot cheaper. For four websites it is hardly worth spending the money on a vps unless you need custom settings.

I used to do some hosting for an IT company (around 100 websites 200 domains) in which we had our own dedicated servers for etc. If I was to do it again I'd save myself the hassle and have it fully managed.
 
JonRohan said:
I would say you have two options.

Continue with a managed server and upgrade the package (not necessarily with your current host). Don't give yourself the hassle of having to worry about your hosting. Concentrate on your core business.

My second suggestion depends on what exactly you use your vps for. I.e. do you have anything custom on it. If not then a shared reseller hosting package would be perfect for you and a lot cheaper. For four websites it is hardly worth spending the money on a vps unless you need custom settings.

I used to do some hosting for an IT company (around 100 websites 200 domains) in which we had our own dedicated servers for etc. If I was to do it again I'd save myself the hassle and have it fully managed.
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Thanks for your suggestions.

I hadn't really looked at reseller hosting packages. I noticed Heart Internet do an unlimited package for £29 per month. Do you think that would be any good?
 
JonRohan said:
Don't use Heart Internet please. :p

Take a look at http://www.ochostreview.co.uk/

I've used register1.net, tsohost.co.uk and vidahost.com in the past and they are all excellent companies. Register1 don't do a traditional reseller package if that is a deal breaker for you.
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Yeah, I just looked at their T&C's and they don't sound very good.

Looked at those you suggested and I am beginning to think VPS/Dedicated server is easier to stick with.
 
Does sound like a managed service would suit you better.

Separately, you could always get a cheap unmanaged vps just to play with for a while. See how you find it and perhaps become a bit more familiar with the cli.
 
malef!c said:
Word of warning about WHT - if you find a company there you like the look of check around first, there are some real fly by nights on there!
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Some? I'd be very careful buying anything from there. Do plenty of research first. If you google the company's name, find out some details about them... WHOIS their domains, find out if they have hidden their details, check who they use for their network/datacenter. :)

Personally, I suggest not hosting client's websites on a system you're learning linux administration on.
 
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