Learn the Unique Differences Between Hosted and Cloud Technology

Learn the differences between hosted and cloud IT services, the advantages of each and how to select a hosting solution that is right for your company 

Many corporations are unclear on the differences between hosted and cloud computing and which is best for their operation.

DominionTech, a Burlington VT computer services company takes a closer look at the differences and advantages of each.

What Are Hosted Services?

Hosted services are provided by a third-party company that owns and maintains servers in an offsite location. The provider manages the infrastructure, such as the cabling, routers and connections to the internet and your business. They also own the software and are responsible for the maintenance and security of the location and equipment.

Hosting companies sell access to the servers and other equipment, with clients accessing the services via a direct network connection such as remote desktop software or a virtual private network (VPN). Via these connections, clients can access their software, network capacity and supporting equipment such as hardware, services, storage and networking components.

With managed hosting, the hosting company manages the technology on your behalf. This has several advantages for your business, including:

• No management and maintenance responsibilities for your IT platform

• Reduced need for dedicated IT staff. Retained IT staff can be reassigned to more pressing IT project work

• Customization of system configurations and solutions

• Dedicated security solutions that monitor and address any suspicious activity

• Automated updating of software

• Remote help-desk services

Colocated services are another, often less expensive option, at least on paper. With colocated services, your technology is stored offsite. Like with managed hosting, that eliminates the infrastructure costs of cooling, powering and securing an onsite data center. Your servers and other equipment are kept in secure facilities and access is limited to those with the proper passwords and physical access.

The difference is that with colocation, your company is responsible for the maintenance and management of the servers, routers, cables and other materials. Your company will continue to need to have the resources available to purchase, install, configure, customize and troubleshoot the technology. You will need to choose a colocation site that is nearby and accessible 24/7, hire and train IT staff to complete all the requisite tasks, and pay for any problems that develop.

What Are Cloud Services?

Cloud services are a subset of hosted services. However, your software, systems, applications and data are stored across multiple servers, often located in different parts of the region or world. Cloud solutions are web-based and -enabled, meaning they are hosted in a shared virtual environment.

This distributed hosting approach means there is little to worry about regarding hardware reliability or network downtime. Work and data are distributed, drawing on the power of multiple servers at any given time. Data is backed up on multiple servers, usually in different regions to mitigate the risk of natural disasters.

Cloud computing has two major advantages over other hosting options. For one, the cloud is cost-effective in that you only pay for the services and capacity you need. In addition, your hosting solution is fully scalable, allowing you to add or reduce required bandwidth, storage or hardware as needed. That's a significant contrast to hosting solutions when servers can be too large for your needs or too small, resulting in lag time before additional equipment is installed.

Choosing the right storage and hosting solution can be a complicated issue for many small businesses. Count on your managed IT services provider to help determine the right solution for your unique business needs.