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As my life is becoming more and more occupied by...IRL stuff, I haven't really had enough time to keep my VPS secure and functioning fully, I'm thinking of just forking out the extra money and getting a managed VPS; I haven't done much research at all but DreamHost looks like a great option, but I have a few questions before I go ahead and do it.

What is managed? Are they just providing the security of a VPS without all the hassle, I don't think I could handle having a full VPS and having what I can do with it being limited by a stupid control panel they are going to give me and/or they won't fix my stuff because I have manually changed some configuration files from the default or something. Keep in mind I am only doing this because I don't have the time to manage a VPS because I appear to have an IRL now; it isn't because I'm not knowledgable in the area and I don't really want to stick with the default settings that they are going to give me like most people might do with a managed VPS.

You would need to contact the prospective host and ask them. Each host is different. Generally though, all a managed VPS is is the host will provide 100% support for it as well as maintaining security updates, etc.

If you get root access you should be able to edit configurations, but, again, it depends on the host. So again, you would need to contact whichever host you plan on getting.

Dreamhost is a fairly good company. Their VPS appears to be pretty good but not 100% fully managed. Shoot them an email about updates and security.

Alright, thanks guys.

I emailed DreamHost, this is their reply if anybody is interested:

Basically, our take is that we install the os, apply patches as
necessary, and keep it running. We may employ automated techniques to
apply things we know work well that way, but we have to be very vigilant
about security, and when it takes a manual tweak, that compels us to act.
We have about 2000 servers.

I know that isn't real detailed, but that is what the sys admins say
about it.

If you have any additional questions, please let us know.

regards,

Gary S.

Yeah that's along the lines of what is reasonable and managed by most companies. Their VPS price is competitive too.

And what about hostgator VPS?

You'll have to shoot them an email and ask them. Each host is different. If you have questions about a specific host, email sales@hostname.tld

@Grizzly is spot on there - they're all different, and you may expect completely different things from one host to the next. If you're planning on spending a little bit more on a VPS, then I suggest you search round on forums such as WHT to see what offers there are out there - you may find a deal with a VPS company using an NY data center, which may feature better connectivity to visitors in Europe due to a shorter number of "hops" than a data center in LA.

What I'm trying to say is, consider the data center and network chosen by the company you're planning on using to see if it will serve your site's visitors in the best possible way. Run a few pings, download a few test files, and read the reviews - after you're satisfied, then go with the provider which seems to offer the best mix of value and good service.

I'm in Australia and my bandwidth is....pretty terrible, so I'm in no position to run any tests, unless I do it from an existing server.