Managed hosting servers are quite different from typical dedicated servers. They can be anything from shared hosting solutions to complete server suites that are managed by a third party hosting service. But in general, a lot of managed servers tend to provide lesser control compared to dedicated servers that are just using a rack in a data center. This may not mean a lot for some people but it can seriously affect your capabilities in case of server emergencies.
Contingencies are ideally planned out so organizations do not have to use them. However, a lot of dedicated and shared hosts still encounter unique cases that require quick and efficient contingency plan implementation. This is why it is important to contact a hosting company early on in order to find out the kind of backups that they have. A lot of hosting companies are experienced in dealing with such problems so they can help your organization with crisis prevention strategies which could mean weekly or even daily backup. Some companies will even allow you to request a backup in case your managed server encounters a virus attack.
One good thing about using managed servers is that a huge part of the contingency planning is done by professionals. You don’t have to do much because your host is expected to be experienced in addressing server failures of practically any kind. They should have a plan that will protect your server from serious downtime. Being tech savvy is not a reason to not contact them about their plans. It’s better to be on the same page, after all, and a lot of data centers feature redundant utilities so they can still continue supplying power into the servers in case of an outage.
March 3, 2010
Managed Servers as Part of Emergency Contingency Plans
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