Web Hosting Dedicated Hosting

Unmanaged dedicated server questions?

Hello, I am considering starting a website that will require a dedicated server the thing is that I would much much rather an unmanaged server to a managed one simply because a managed server is soo much more expensive. The problem I have is that I have never before administered a server of my own with such depth and control over it and the extent of my knowledge is an account with a shared host. The site will only be using a small php script and I couldn't imagine any intensive changes to the server ever being needed. My question is would you recomend me getting an unmanaged server? Are they difficult to administer? Can you learn how to administer one just by having one?(exerience) Are they as daunting as they sound? Are there any guides out there for how to manage a fedora core 6 server with WHM and Cpanel? (Links Please) How could someone administer a server without having a control panel(cpanel/whm)? Sorry I was not trying to compare dedicated to shared but to give an example of the depth of my knowledge, although I have run a webserver before on my own computer it isn't quite the same because i am using windows xp. The reason it needs to be dedicated is because the site will be cpu/ ram intensive. I dont want to go into detail about the site although I'm sure people can draw their own conclusion not that it is necessary. Also where do people learn this stuff without going to an education establishment and taking a course in it?

Public Comments

1. Comparing a shared host with an unmanaged server is like comparing the ease of use of a Nintendo vs a Desktop PC. If you've never worked on a linux server connected to the internet - and this will be a production server - you're setting yourself up to fail without learning a lot in a short period about a lot of complicated things like Apache configs, PHP ini files, firewall rules, and system patching. Most remote managed linux boxes allow SSH connections into the command line of the box. This is how you would manage a linux server remotely. You could go with webpanel, a utility that runs on your server which allows you to change a lot of settings on your server from a secure web page, but in my experience the options are as complicated as just using the command line and not nearly as easy as a cpanel. If price is your only reason for not going with a "managed server" maybe I can help you find a decent price on one that is managed. Or better yet, why do you think you'll need a dedicated server for your website instead of a managed shared server with a good reputation? Are you going to be using a lot of bandwidth or processing power?
2. Hi, I can help you answer your questions. I think you will be better off with an unmanaged server because it will be cheaper in general. When I purchased an unmanaged dedicated server, I didn't know anything about managing a server, but I found it very easy with WHM. You can't learn everything by reading it. You just have to get one and try bunch of things. The one I'm using has a big online community where you can ask questions. Most of the common questions are already answered with great detail, so you just need to search and find. That's how I learned to manage my server. (hosting more than 100 websites) I really didn't understand what would be the difference if I get a managed hosting account. I didn't have any problem with unmanaged one "yet". I guess if you want to administer a server without having a contrl panel, you should learn Unix/Linux. I found it useful to learn some simple commands. Definitly helps. Anyway, good luck with your search. I will include a link to the one I got my server. They have great reputation + specials. I don't know what they have now, but there are manuals there where you can learn managing the server.