Managed VPS vs Unmanaged VPS

Choose the Right Management Level for Your Unique Needs

Choose Managed VPS Choose Unmanaged VPS

 

It's easy to see that virtual private servers (VPS) are the future of hosting. Not only is VPS hosting immensely popular, but it's also one of the most powerful platforms upon which to host complicated websites and apps that would easily exceed the demands of typical shared hosting. That's because as clients are piled up on shared computers, each starts to fight one another for the scarce resources available.

But VPS hosting flips the script. Instead of sharing resources with other sites and clients, you'll get your own dedicated resources under a virtual private server. And if you have a competent team and you don't need the assistance of managed hosting, you can get all the power of a VPS while also retaining control over all aspects of your VPS. It's known as unmanaged VPS hosting, and it's one of the best ways to save money on support that you don't need.

However, if you'd rather focus less on the technical aspects and more on the bigger picture, we also offer Managed VPS hosting to meet your every need.

Package Comparison

Managed vs Unmanaged Hosting: Pros and Cons

Managed and Unmanaged hosting plans both have their merits. It’s important to compare them so that you can determine which of these best suits your needs. 

Managed VPS Pros & Cons

  • PROS

    • A managed plan means you have fewer maintenance tasks to worry about.

    • Important website management tasks such as security and updates are largely taken care of for you.

    • Backups, CDN and other features are usually pre-configured.

  • CONS

    • Higher recurring cost

    • Less flexibility with regard to plugins and software versions

    • Limited access to account configuration options

Unmanaged VPS Pros & Cons

  • PROS

    • Low cost

    • Flexibility with regard to plugins and installable software versions

    • Full access to cPanel for account level configuration options

 

  • CONS

    • Requires high level of technical know-how

    • Limited support as the configurations were not done by A2

    • More prone to instability and human error

 

    Managed vs Unmanaged Hosting Top Features
    Managed Server Configuration
    • Unmanaged - We support the hardware and you take care of the rest! This option allows for the most flexibility and is a great option for users who require advanced administrative privileges. 
    • Managed - This is a more comprehensive approach to server management. Essentially you have user-level access and we retain all administrative privileges. We manage and maintain the operating system, the server hardware, the webserver, the database server, and make sure your server is running optimally. This way you can focus on your website and we take care of managing the server infrastructure.
    24/7/365 Guru Crew Support
    • Unmanaged - We fully support the server hardware including hard drives, CPUs, and memory. This is the most flexible option for advanced users. 
    • Managed - This is the most popular VPS option. With a managed server we fully manage and support the server infrastructure so you can focus on your website. You get full access to our support team. We even monitor your server on 15-minute intervals to ensure uptime. 
    Root Access - Learn More!

    "Root" gives you administrative level access to edit, install and configure all of the files on your server, including system-critical files. It gives you ultimate access to your server. This gives you the ability to configure your server to your exact needs. While root access gives you full control of your server, it is intended for experienced users, engineers and developers. That's because you do have the potential to misconfigure or delete those system critial files if you're unfamiliar or inexperienced with what you're doing.

    Additional Managed vs Unmanaged Hosting Comparison
    Managed Security

     Even when you’re away from your computer, your server is protected by our 24/7/365 monitoring and Smart System Notifier. We’ll make sure you have the latest OS security updates and you get unrivaled server hardening. Our Reinforced DDoS defense solution provides high scale capacity, instant attack detection and mitigation. This improves the likelihood that your site will remain online during even the most sophisticated distributed denial of service attacks.

    Installation/Upgrades for Core Software (Apache, PHP)

    Our automated cPanel and OS updates will make sure that you get the best version of Apache and PHP!

    Managed Hardware & Network

    We maintain and update all hardware for top performance. Our quadruple redundant network and RAID storage ensures ultimate reliability. 

    CloudFlare CDN Free
    cPanel Control Panel

    Offers an intuitive interface and makes it easy to manage your:

    • Domains
    • Software
    • Databases
    • Email
    Webuzo 1-Click Software Installer

    Use Webuzo, included free with your server, to 1-click setup the most popular software on your account! Webuzo makes it quick and easy to get up and running. Setup stacks, scripting solutions, web servers, databases and more with a single click. Just choose one of the operating systems from our cart that includes Webuzo!

    Choice Of Operating System

    Choose from multiple versions of Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, Slackware and more!

    Experience The A2 Difference!

    VPS Hosting FAQs

    Do you have VPS Hosting questions? A2 Hosting has all of the answers you could be looking for below!

    VPS is an abbreviation for "virtual private server". A VPS works by dividing a physical server into separate virtual machines. Each of these virtual machines, or virtual private servers, operate completely independently from one another. In other words, each VPS has its own operating system as well as allocation of resources like RAM, CPU and disk space. This provides you with an environment that closely mimics that of a Dedicated Server, without the costs associated with it.

    There are many advantages to choosing VPS Hosting over competing solutions. These advantanges include:

    • Improved Performance & Isolation - You don't share resources with other users meaning your audience will enjoy your enhanced website performance in a VPS environment.
    • More Control & Customization - Root access allows you to configure server settings to fully match your hosting needs.
    • Cost Effectiveness - You get to experience most of the benefits of a Dedicated Server, without the cost.
    • Highly Scalable - As your site becomes more popular, you can also easily increase your VPS' resources to keep up with growth.
    • Ability To Host Resource Intensive Software - Some software is not compatible in a Shared Hosting environment as it needs more resources to run properly. A VPS offers those additional resources.

    Shared Hosting is likely your starting point when launching a new site because it is the most affordable hosting option. With Shared Hosting, you are hosted on a server where you share the physical resources, like CPU, memory/RAM and disk space, with other users. The primary drawback of Shared Hosting is that it can be relatively inflexible for more advanced users looking for a fully customized server configuration. Also, you can outgrow a shared hosting account as your site becomes more popular and you need a service that can handle the increased traffic. This is when you should consider VPS Hosting.

    VPS Hosting is the perfect solution for when you need more power and flexibility than a Shared Hosting account, but are still looking for an affordable hosting solution. Unlike Shared Hosting, you do not share disk space, RAM or CPU with other users. You can almost look at a VPS like having your own "mini" Dedicated Server. This is what makes a VPS a much more powerful hosting solution. Our Unmanaged VPS and Managed VPS solutions also feature full root access giving you the ability to deep dive into your server and customize it to your specific needs. A VPS also allows you to run software more resource intensive software that is unable to run in a Shared Hosting environment.

    Of course if you have any questions about which hosting solution to choose our 24/7/365 Guru Crew Support team is standing by to help! Just contact them via live chat, phone or email!

    A2 Hosting's Managed VPS Hosting solutions are extremely user-friendly to use! That's because we include the same easy-to-use cPanel control panel, offererd in our Shared Hosting environment, on these VPS accounts. Easily manage your software, websites, databases, files, email and more within the intuitive cPanel graphic interface.

    If you are looking for an easy upgrade from your Shared Hosting account and want to continue using an intuitive control panel like cPanel, we recommend that you select a Managed VPS account. Our expert support team can even seamlessly migrate your existing website into a Managed VPS for free!

    If, on the other hand, you are an experienced developer who is comfortable working with command line and want root access so you can fully customize your server, an Unmanaged VPS would be a better option for you.

    The need to handle increased traffic as your site grows in popularity is probably the main reason why you're considering VPS Hosting. If your website has begun to experience a consistent increase in the number of daily visitors, it is the perfect time for you to consider moving into a VPS Hosting solution.

    However, there are a number of additional reasons to consider VPS Hosting including:

    • You are running more than one site and you want additional resources to power them.
    • You want greater control over your sites' privacy and security.
    • You’re have a revenue generating business or e-commerce website.
    • You want to run resource intensive software that is not supported on Shared Hosting plans.
    • You require root access for your server.
    • You want more control over your server and want to configure it to your specific needs.
    • You are developing sites for a number of clients.

    At A2 Hosting, our motto is "Our Speed, Your Success". That's for good reason too, because we understand that your site's page load speed has a direct impact on your success. Just a 1-second delay in your page load speed can have a severe negative impact on your bounce rate and conversion rate. Even if you're not running an eCommerce site, page speed also is correlated with visitor satisfaction level and your SEO rankings.

    Think of the last slow site you visited. You likely hit the back button on your browser before you even finished waiting for the site to load. While there are a number of factors that determine how fast your site will perform, one of the most important determining factors is choice of web host. Choose the fast web host! Choose A2 Hosting!

    What is really going to boost the performance of your site is our Turbo Boost option featuring up to 20X faster page loads compared to competing VPS Hosting options. Our Turbo Boost VPS solution:

    • Uses less CPU and memory than Apache allowing for increased performance
    • Handles your connections faster and more efficiently
    • Provides enhanced stability

    When you choose our Turbo Servers, you're also going to get the option to use our Turbo Caching solution. Turbo Caching further increases page load speeds by storing the entire HTML contents of your pages in memory. That means your pages can be served without having to run PHP, offering the ultimate performance boost!

    Turbo Boost is just one of the features included on our high speed, exclusive SwiftServer platform. Other speed enhancing solutions include:

    • SSD VPS - SSD, or solid state drives, is the next generation of hosting technology. Traditional, older hard disk drives (HDDS) use spinning disks and a read-write head to access your data. SSDs, on the other hand, use flash technology to access your data. This allows the SSD to quickly and directly access the data as opposed to waiting for the disk to spin to the location of it. SSD technology is found in smartphones and most laptops now because of its superior performance. In fact, sites hosted on SSDs offer up to 300% faster page loads compared to HDDs. Some VPS hosts claim to offer Solid State Drive Hosting, but they likely end up hosting only your OS or databases on SSDs. They don't use SSD to host your files. At A2 Hosting, we use SSD for everything, including your files, meaning you get the biggest speed boost possible That's why our SSD Hosting loads pages faster than our competition and why even we host our own site on solid state drives. You're going to love them!
    • Choice Of Data Center Locations - Another key factor in page load speed is how close your data is located to your visitors. If your data is located on one hemisphere, but your visitor is located on another hemisphere, it's going to take some time for your site to reach your visitor. That's why we offer multiple data center locations allowing your VPS to be located as close to your site visitors as possible.
    • Free CDN - At A2 Hosting, you get a free CDN, or content delivery network. While our choice of data centers allows you to host your site close to your visitors, our CDN gets your site to them faster. That's because our CDN determines the most efficient and fastest route to deliver your site from our data center to your visitor. This is done automatically through the use of the CDN's inter-connected, globally located servers.

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