Cloud has become a broad term used to describe various products and services, which is supposed to be utilizing the distributed computing model. Strictly speaking “Cloud Server” is just a virtualized computer instance, a Virtual Private Server. However the term “Cloud” should mean that a “Cloud Server” is a computing instance created on top of an IT infrastructure in which the processing power (processing nodes) – CPU and RAM for example – reside on different physical machines than the data storage (SAN or storage nodes).

Some companies define “Cloud Server” for example as “on-demand virtual machine, created to deliver customizable performance and reliability”, although this is pretty much marketeer’s language. Please also be advised that billing a any virtual server hosting service (whatever it is labeled) on per minutes, per hour or per day basis doesn’t make it “Cloud”. What makes it a “Cloud Server” is the ability to scale up the allocated computing resources on demand.

To understand term “Cloud Hosting”, please read article “What does a Cloud Hosting Mean?“

Managed Website is a web hosting service that comes with technical and system administration. Depending on its specifications we can call it “Out-of-the-box Website”. Unlike the Managed Hosting, which is a term that usually refers to a Dedicated, Virtual Private Server or a Cloud Server service which is delivered and managed by the provider, Managed Website does not mention any specific IT Hosting service niche.

However, “Managed Website” most often indicates that the customer’s website, which is managed by the service provider is probably hosted in a Shared Hosting environment. For that reason the service could be also called “Managed Website Hosting”.

What is include into a Managed Website service?

When it comes to technical and system administration “Managed Website” means that the web hosting company take over the full management of the customers account and provides services like:

• HTML editing
• Graphic Design support and maintenance
• Content Management System support, management and updates
• Search Engine Optimization of the web pages
• Software installation and maintenance
• Full Technical Support of all applications installed on the web hosting account
• Full Technical support of all services configured on the web hosting account
• Both Server-Side application and Client-side application support
• Resource Monitoring
• Website Uptime Monitoring
• Website Security management and hardening
• Troubleshooting and overall service improvements

Unlike that standard Self-Managed Web Hosting, the Managed Website (Hosting) service means that the owner of the website outsources the overall website management lifecycle to the service provider.