Most medium and large businesses use dedicated web hosting services instead of the shared web hosting services. Having a dedicated web server means more bandwidth, more server space and more control. Dedicated web hosting is of two types – managed and unmanaged. Before we start the discussion on which one is suited for when, let’s quickly check what the difference between managed and un-managed hosting is. 

Some people think of unmanaged hosting as a web hosting service in which the web host just provides a dedicated server to you and the management/ administration/ maintenance/ support of the server is completely your (website owner’s) headache. However, this is not true. The unmanaged hosting service also comes with some kind of technical support and routine maintenance, albeit limited. Any kind of additional support or server optimization or application deployment activity is either out of scope for unmanaged hosting service or comes for a fee (which can be quite high).  On the other hand, managed web hosting service comes with a technical support team that takes care of all your server maintenance, customization and optimisation needs. Routine maintenance of servers and performing updates is the responsibility of web host (however, the responsibility of web application updates/ changes will reside with the website owner). Deployment of web applications on the server will again be the job of the web host. However, do not expect the web host to debug the web application for you.  

Clearly, managed web hosting is for those businesses who don’t want to get into the nitty-gritty of server administration but still want more server space, bandwidth, etc that dedicated web hosting brings with it. However, managed web hosting services cost a lot more than the unmanaged web hosting service. Hence, it’s imperative that you evaluate your requirements carefully before actually going for a managed web hosting service. If you don’t plan to make a large number of frequent updates to your website/ web-applications, you probably don’t need a dedicated technical support team for your dedicated server. In such a case, managed web hosting would not be cost effective for you. However, if you run an online business that is expanding and which needs regular updates that are quite complex, you would be better off going for a managed web hosting service. In such a case, unmanaged web hosting service would lead to unnecessary shift of focus and distraction from your core business.