When I first heard about managed Hosting, I thought it was more or less the same thing as dedicated hosting. In both forms of hosting, you have a server with your web host that is completely dedicated to your web site. Keep reading to find out why that’s almost the only thing they have in common.

Dedicated hosting has long been an option for companies whose web presence is such that they can’t put their web site on a shared hosting plan without someone taking a big hit. Maybe their web site is really huge, with lots of interactive elements; or perhaps they get a lot of traffic, especially ecommerce. There might be any number of reasons a company needs a dedicated server.

While a dedicated server can provide a growing company with the space, bandwidth, and reliability it needs, there is a potential downside (other than cost). With most dedicated hosting plans, the server is effectively yours – which means you handle most of the server administration tasks. For those who are technically knowledgeable (or willing and able to become so), this might not seem like a large hurdle. But the fact of the matter is that the skills required to create and run a successful online business are not the same as those required to be a decent server administrator.

Managed hosting sprang up as an additional option for companies with a strong enough online presence to require a dedicated server. With managed hosting, most of the server administration is handled by the web host rather than the company that owns the dedicated server. The service has been described as “a glorified dedicated server armed with extended features and support.” As with a dedicated server, you get your choice of operating system, routing equipment, network connectivity and complete administrative control. But a web host that offers the option of managed hosting also takes care of much more than that for its customers.