Good, fast, cheap. Pick two! This popular phrase is often used throughout agencies when client expectations unrealistically want all three. Unfortunately, getting all three is not possible 999 times out of a thousand. That one in a thousand case is truly a miracle — a unicorn project by a unicorn agency. We have a similar trio in the hosting world — support, access, control. Pick two! These pertain to fully managed support, unconditional root access, and choosing to use a control panel or forego one entirely.
For several reasons, most hosting providers will avoid offering root access and managed support. In rare cases where a provider offers both, you are typically restricted by a limiting proprietary control panel. RoseHosting is the unicorn that uniquely provides the singularly most beneficial hosting service. Support, access, and control!
Table of Contents
What is root access?
Root Access offers the highest permission level, allowing you to view, edit, and delete any file on a system. In short, it refers to access to the root user, a user account on all Linux operating systems. That user is all-seeing and has all the power – it can see, modify, or destroy any file on the server and run any command with no restrictions of any kind. As such, many hosting providers disable root access and create a limited user account for each customer. This means you can only do what the hosting provider allows you on your own server.
What is managed hosting?
Managed hosting combines server hosting and support, where the provider handles physical equipment and software management. This can include anything from migrations and setup to management, administration, and server optimization. Fully managed hosting is a term describing managed hosting without any arbitrary limitations. It includes unlimited migrations, PageSpeed optimizations, plugin updates, backups, recoveries, and so much more — without additional fees!
What is a control panel?
A control panel is a management tool that provides an easy-to-understand visual interface for server, website, and email management. The main control panel benefit is access to an interface that is visually more user-friendly than command-line code. It allows individuals with little technical knowledge to set up and run their websites. While it is simplified, website hosting, even through a control panel, still requires a degree of technical competence. Moreover, installing a control panel doesn’t magically optimize your server or set up automatic backups. It’s a tool the user still needs to know how to use appropriately.
Why do hosting providers avoid offering all three?
Unrestricted root access allows you to change whatever and wherever you wish. This also means that you have access to sensitive files and can very quickly make critical mistakes. A mistake such as this by anyone on your staff can create chaos and significant work to recover from.
On the other hand, managed support exists to simplify the process of running a server as much as possible. It is the ultimate feature for those lacking the technical expertise or time to spend a few weeks learning. As such, managed hosting is typically more expensive to cover the cost of highly technically knowledgeable support staff. While system administrators run through these tasks daily and can flawlessly repeat them, they still require time. Many hosting providers restrict root access or withdraw managed support to minimize staff costs. This puts you in a position to choose between access and flexibility or support and convenience.
Finally, this brings us to the third pillar of control, or at least the illusion of control. A handful of providers offer root access and managed support at a premium price. Unfortunately, they require that you use their particular control panel. The issue is that these control panels limit your control. Even though you have root “access,” your options are limited to what their control panel allows you to click. You can only click on a particular set of options, ensuring customer support has less work. Unfortunately, this means you lose much flexibility in running whatever you wish.
So why do hosting providers avoid offering all three benefits simultaneously? They don’t want to deal with the added support load of their users’ unique setups and clean up messes customers may make on their servers. Unfortunately, no provider will offer managed hosting and root access with or without a control panel — except for the Saints of Hosting.
What are the benefits of root access, managed hosting, and no control panel?
Simply put, you have no limitations and white-glove support every step of the way. You have access to a team of experts who can install, backup, update, and optimize whatever you need at your request. Even if something goes wrong during the weekend or on holidays, you won’t have to wait until Monday morning for your IT team. If you’re a tech novice, you’ll have someone to do all the confusing technical work. Installing software and setting up accounts so that it just works. You’re covered if you and your team have some technical know-how but are new to Linux or open source. Even in cases where someone on your team accidentally deletes a crucial file and brings down your entire site, there’s someone to restore a backup quickly. Having root access, with a lack of experience and knowledge, can lead to such issues.
This is why we always recommend asking tech support to make any installs and optimizations unless you’re confident about what you’re doing. In either case, you’re also covered with regular weekly backups. No other hosting provider wants to touch this access workload with a ten-foot pole, yet they gladly continue to charge you for “managed support” each month.
In some instances, unrestricted root access will be mandatory for your business, especially if you require custom software installations that require root permissions. Root access may also be mandatory if you need or want particular software installations that must play nicely with other software. Losing out on managed support because you require specific software is unfair. This can be particularly disheartening if the software is necessary for compliance, as is often the case in the healthcare or education industries.
Bringing it all together
If you’re after the ultimate hosting service with premium equipment, fully managed hosting, and unrestricted root access, look no further. We’ve scoured the Internet and couldn’t find anyone with this unique combination, so we’ve offered it ourselves. Even if you don’t require specific software requiring root access, we feel it’s only fair to allow you to install what you like and use your server as you see fit. You might need this access down the line for your second, third, or tenth website or email software. Get the best-value managed Linux VPS hosting and future-proof your business.