How are the Dedicated Servers managed?
If we speak about the management of Dedicated Servers, there is no standard set that can clearly define Dedicated Server Providers' role about managing the servers. It differs from provider to provider and on their Standard Terms, how they defnie it. Each provider can define the management role differently. Few hosting providers define Fully Managed Dedicated Server as owning a web based control panel while few of them define it as to have System Engineers available 24/7 round the clock to handle all server and network related functions.
Which services are included in Server Management?
It can include the following services:-
OS updates
Application/Program updates
Regular Server Monitoring
Application/Program Monitoring
Antivirus Updates
Firewall Services
DDoS Protection
DNS Services
Intrusion Detection
Load Balancing
Security Audits
Restoration and Backup
Database Administration
User Management
Software/Application Installation and Configuration
Note: - All the above-mentioned services are Server side. In other words, all of them are accessible to the Dedicated Server Providers only. A server owner gets many other services, for e.g., root or remote access to the server.
With most of the providers, they do keep Administrative maintenance. This includes upgrades, daemon updates and sometimes its configuration, adding, creating and managing user accounts, email accounts, domains etc.
Different terminologies in Server Management:-
Hosting providers use few terminologies depending on the level of service they offer. Let us see what they are.
Fully Managed - Monitoring, software updates, reboots, security patches and operating system upgrades are included in this. Customers are free from any kind of "headache", if server goes down.
Managed - This includes medium level of management, monitoring, updates, and a limited amount of support. Customers can perform limited tasks.
Self-Managed - Only regular monitoring and some maintenance are included in this. Customers provide most operations and tasks on dedicated server.
Unmanaged - The uk web hosting / server provider is not at all responsible. The only responsibility is to offer Network connection and the resources depending on the plans. It is all customers’ responsibility to provide all maintenance, upgrades, patches, and security.