Server hosting has become the new in thing for every business, due to the amount of costs they can cut within their company. By placing their servers into a dedicated warehouse they are cutting many of the costs down and also making their data more secure.
Cutting The Costs
The costs of running an IT department are exponentially high, especially with our economy right now. There are actually two types of server hosting and they are:
- Managed – This is where the support staff at the data centre will be on hand for you and your server 24 hours a day, some will even migrate your server from your office building and fit it into the warehouse for you. This managed service can also include free backups of the data on your server at specific times and also includes system monitoring, should anything go wrong.
- Unmanaged – This is where the server gets placed into the warehouse and your or your IT staff manage the server. The warehouse is open 24 hours a day and is accessible by the use of key cards and key codes to gain access through doors and security checkpoints. You are able to carry out any maintenance work on your server whenever you want to, this could be anything from software to hardware upgrades, or just general maintenance.
It is not just the cost of the IT department you are cutting, you are also cutting down on electricity costs for your business. Just one server running all day, everyday will cost £3 for 36-kilowatt-hours-burned, add this up over the month and that would be approximately £90, over the year you are looking on £1080!
The Prices Of Hosting Your Server
The prices can vary depending on the managed or unmanaged service. You are able to get a basic managed Linux package from just £15, now think of the savings from the IT department and the savings on the electricity. You would save £115 just on the electricity!
What Are My Options?
What you should do here is simply shop around and get as many quotes as you possibly can, as you want the best price you can get for the best savings. You can get quotes from using the Internet or business directory books. Call at least 5 companies and tell them exactly what you require, write those prices down and see which one would best suit you and your company.
Bio: Tim Pat Dufficy is the managing director and founder of Server Space Limited, which provides managed and unmanaged server hosting services for various sectors. In 2012, Deloitte positioned Server Space Limited as the tenth fastest growing tech company in the UK. Since 2006, its services have allowed IT managers to sleep at night knowing their servers are located in a secure, custom-built data centre with 24/7 monitoring.