When hiring a Cloud Server, the type of service to hire is a critical decision, perhaps even the most important. It’s about how much money you’re willing to invest in exchange for convenience.
It also involves the amount of work you intend to allocate to your server and the control you will have over its functioning. When choosing between a Managed or Unmanaged Cloud plan, you must understand the differences in each approach and the needs of your business. Otherwise, you could avoid making the wrong choice. So let’s clear up some issues in this article to ensure that doesn’t happen.
What’s The Difference?
Let’s use an analogy here, it could be a better one, but it’s enough to understand our purposes. Imagine that you have to choose between two car rental companies:
The first offers you a car that you can customize and modify; the vehicle has a more attractive price, and the only condition is that you will be responsible for keeping it running. They will only help you if something goes wrong, day-to-day maintenance and upkeep is also entirely your job, and it’s up to you to determine if something has gone wrong – a difficult task if you have no automotive knowledge.
The second rental company takes a different approach. Like the first one, they let you customize the car in whatever way you see fit – but this time, the company will do all the work for you. They will also handle all the technical effort to keep the vehicle running and get you where you want to go. Although this one has a higher cost than the first company, this service allows you to concentrate entirely on your destination – you also don’t have to worry about car maintenance and overhaul.
An unmanaged Cloud Server is like the first company in this analogy. You have root/admin access to the server and the freedom to configure it however you like – a perk you’ll generally pay less for. But unfortunately, if you don’t have any server administration experience, it can be almost impossible to work successfully in an unmanaged cloud. And even if you have experience, do you want to take on this service? What if there is a problem on the weekend or at dawn?
The managed Cloud Server would be like the second rental company. Although you say how the server will be configured and customized, the applications that will be installed, and the operating system to be used, no action or advanced technical knowledge is required on your part. This option tends to cost more, but it means you can focus entirely on your business without spending time configuring, maintaining, or monitoring your server.
What’s The Best Option?
Now that you know the difference between the two models, you are the one who needs to define which one is best suited to your business. But to help you with that decision, here are some suggestions:
You Should Choose Managed Cloud If:
- You have a company with a limited IT department or little experience administering servers;
- You can spend a little more for convenience;
- You’re not confident that you can devote enough time to caring for the server;
- You prefer to focus on your business without worrying about the server.
You Should Choose An Unmanaged Cloud If:
- You or your IT department have extensive server administration experience;
- You know you have time to maintain a server;
Now It’s Easier To Choose!
If you’ve concluded that an Unmanaged Cloud is better, you must ensure you have the technical expertise and time to maintain it properly. Administering a server is a challenging task. If you don’t have the time or technical skills to dedicate, you should purchase a managed plan.
Likewise, there are better choices than a Managed Cloud if you need root/admin access and complete control of the server. With unmanaged servers, you will have more freedom and full access to the entire environment.
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