Important Things to Consider before Purchasing A Managed Dedicated Server

Choosing the right dedicated server for you could be daunting, with so many available on the market. And you want the right server provider that is important for your business. Here are five different options to consider when choosing a server provider.

1. Fully managed Hosting

When you decide to purchase a dedicated server, you expect your web hosting provider to manage and take care of your server. Fully managed hosting means exactly that. They will manage the server for you
This is what is covered in the server's management.

- Server Monitoring
- Server security, and that covers firewall, virus scanning, spam filtering and safety audits.
- Storage Management
- Database Management
- Necessary Backups and more.

2. Data Centre Facilities

When purchasing a dedicated server, it is necessary to know in what area the server is located. The location of the data center is key and very important. Here are some of important factors regarding data center.
- Redundant Bandwidth
- Power redundancy
- On-site security
- Cooling systems

Make sure to check and see what Tier Data center facility it is: Tier 4 Data centers are considered to be the best. Below is the annual downtime numbers for different tiers of data center :
- Tier 1. Annual Downtime Approximately 29 hrs.
- Tier2. Annual Downtime Approximately 22 hrs.
- Tier 3. Annual Downtime Approximately 2 hrs.
- Tier 4. Annual Downtime Approximately 0.5 hrs

3. Remote Reboot Capability

As the name applies, you can reboot the server from a remote or different location, without the need to call the hosting company. It also gives you control over your server if you want to do software updates and maintenance on your side.

Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) is a good service that it can help you remote power management for your servers easily.

4. Content Delivery Network

A CDN is used for fast and efficient delivery of content for websites in its network. Users today lack patience and website owners need to show their data faster as possible to readers. A CDN can help achieve this.

With a CDN, a website is replicated over multiple different locations, like throughout Asia and Europe. So, if somebody from Korea accesses your website, a CDN server from Asia will deliver that request, and if somebody from Italy wants to look at your site, the server for Europe will serve that user. One popular CDN service is CloudFlare.

5. 24/ 7/ 365 Technical Support

When you are ready to pay for a dedicated server, you need a supporter to help you 24/7 in case you didn't know how to control. Make sure that the company offers 24/7/365 technical support either via phone or live chat.

Also, there should be documentation, tutorials and guides available for you to look at in order to learn to troubleshoot some errors yourself. Almost all companies say they offer 24×7 technical support, but when the need comes they are not there to help. Always check that you have a phone number and an account manager for your server so that you can call and talk in case you have any issues.

Conclusion

Before you pay for your new managed dedicated server, do your homework. Make sure that you will receive the services mentioned above, and make sure you know what their expectations are so that you can have a good relationship with the dedicated server company. Don't rush into this, take your time and examine all angles before you decide what you want, and what you need for your company.

Excellent guide, Rodney.

There isn't much more I could add to this other than be sure to ask if you can update rDNS yourself as it makes things easier and maybe ask the provider for uptime stats of their servers.

Also, there is a difference between "Managed" and "Fully Managed", and all providers have different SLA about exactly what each one means to them and so it is best to check this with the provider before signing up with them.

Also, I believe we must take seriously regarding the port speed. Some DC or dedicated server providers won't mention that but need to take it seriously. Some servers only have 100Mbps and it is not enough for a production server and most providers will give 1Gbps and that is fine.

Also, note number of cores inside your dedi server, because while you playing with your dedicated server , you will need that or will think if the server would have more cores(speed and server load)

excellent tutorial, also id like to add go for a server offering free IPMI/kvm this way you can install and reinstall your OS multiple times without even having to raise a ticket asking them to do so, do it urself approach serves better IMO...

Amazing article and I have never read a much detailed article about buying a managed dedicated server. Now I quite understand the things about dedicated servers. I am amateur in this field and this is very useful for me to learn more in an effective way. Thank you very much.

Nice article, explained with proper detailing.

It's always recommended to buy the dedicated server when you are known to hosting terms and server issue. If you are not familiar then go with managed service.