If you have a website or a piece of software running on a server somewhere then you should know the basics about what to look for in a web hosting company.
There are two basic types of hosting out there: managed and self-serviced. Most hosting companies that advertise $5/month hosting are considered self-service hosting. These companies sell you a tiny segment of their server with a control panel for you to manage your own website, email addresses and basic configuration. They are NOT designed for websites and software that are mission critical and where consistent performance is needed.
Managed hosting is considered a turn-key hosting solution where the client isn’t responsible for managing their own server settings. Managed hosting is also typically more reliable and better preforming since it is being updated and managed by IT professionals and priced higher.
Why managed hosting is usually the best option:
1. Performance. Reputable managed hosting providers do not oversell. This means there your website will have the resources it needs to run properly.
2. Setup. With managed hosting there is nothing to setup. You don’t need to be a computer whiz in order to get your website up and running – an IT professional will do it all for you.
3. Security. One of the greatest benefits of managed hosting is in the enhanced security. The security is often better because you don’t have inexperienced or malicious people interacting with the server settings and files. You also have the benefit of being less-targeted — generally, the large budget hosting providers are targets for hackers looking to cause mass amounts of trouble in less-time.
Why budget self-service hosting can be good:
1. Price. This service is cheap and generally offer many features for the money.
2. Control. This service gives the savvy user a bit more control over their website and host.
Companies like Tekniq only offer managed hosting. This helps to ensure that every website is running at top performance and allows the web host to tweak server settings for each site. Managed hosting also leaves the servers and settings in the hands of the professionals, which greatly reduces the occurrence of issues.
