What does fully managed mean?

At Umbra Hosting, we offer a fully managed service for our VPS and dedicated servers. We take care of the technical aspects of managing a server, enabling you to focus on your core business. This includes installing the operating system and cPanel, securing the server, performing ongoing maintenance, troubleshooting, and 24/7 server monitoring. For more information, see What is a fully managed server?

Why don’t I receive the root password for my fully managed server?

When we provide full server management, the root login credentials are retained by us. The reason we don’t provide the root password is so that we can ensure changes are not made to the server that may reduce reliability or ‘break’ certain features. Having root access to a server is very powerful and can allow for full control; however, this power can render a server unusable if used improperly. When an irreversible change is made to a server, many times the only recourse is rebuilding the server from scratch. This can be devastating for your business, especially if no recent backups are available. For these reasons, we don’t provide the root login credentials.

Why do other web hosts provide the root password for fully managed servers?

Other web hosts may provide root passwords when providing full server management, but many of them include a clause in their Terms of Service that states they will not be held responsible for changes that are made by a customer to the server. In many cases, if they are required to rebuild the server, there will be an additional fee involved.

What if I need SSH/shell access?

We will gladly enable non-root shell access for any of your accounts by request. Just open a ticket and we’ll be glad to help.