Hey, I am just getting ready for my first dedicated server and I need to know what to watch out for and what I need to look for. It is going to host web hosting for my clients and that is all really, nothing major. Please don't post advertisments for your own servers, I just want to know what to look for and such. Thanks!
Managed support is when they "Manage Your Server". For instance, I know linux in and out I've been a senior unix architect for years so I can manage my own server install my own packages, setup my own backups and do my own monitoring, if you can't do this then you probably need managed. Check out this site, I swear by them cari.net. I would watch out for the following: 1) PRICE 2) Hardware you receive for that price 3) Bandwidth 4) In general look for a big company cari.net, rackspace.com etc.. call them and ask them about their datacenter, google them and look for reviews, check on their managed services, so think hmmm what happens when: - my server crashes - my server gets hacked - who secures the server - what web hosting management software do they give me if any? - who performs backups and how long are they kept - what is the responce time if my system does crash, is hacked, or data is corrupt? - Do you charge me to investigate server downtime? Security issues? hardware replacement? What are these charges? - that should get you started
I'd also recommend cari.net. They've been really helpful apart from one incident. This is something I'd like to add to linsys's list. Make sure you understand the acceptable use policies and can secure the server against abuse. My hosting was suspended for almost a week after a spammer abused my services. Took lots of emails and phone calls before I even had the chance to find out what happened and fix it.