Every Fast Hive VPS plan is unmanaged. That word does a lot of work, and misunderstanding it is the most common source of frustration with a VPS. This article sets out plainly where our responsibility ends and yours begins, what we will still help with, and what the managed add-on changes - so you know what you are taking on before something breaks.
What Fast Hive is responsible for
| Layer | Covered |
|---|---|
| Hardware | Physical hosts, failed components, capacity. |
| Hypervisor | The virtualisation layer your server runs on, and the dedicated vCPU and RAM allocated to you. |
| Network | Connectivity, routing, your dedicated IPv4 address, the port speed on your plan. |
| Storage | The NVMe underneath your disk, and its performance. |
| Platform features | Deployment, rebuilds, resizing, nightly off-server images, console access, the panel and API. |
What you are responsible for
- Operating system patching. Nothing updates itself unless you configure it to.
- Security. SSH hardening, firewall, fail2ban, user accounts, keys.
- The stack you install - web server, database, PHP, Node, Docker, anything else.
- Your application and its code, themes, plugins and dependencies.
- Application-level backups. The nightly image covers the machine; database dumps are yours.
- Certificates you install yourself, including whether the renewal timer actually runs.
- Monitoring, unless you buy the add-on or use an external service.
- Performance tuning of what you have installed.
What we will help with anyway
The line above describes responsibility, not willingness. In practice our engineers routinely:
- Confirm the platform is healthy, which rules out an entire class of causes in one reply.
- Tell you whether a problem is ours or yours - often the most valuable thing you can get at 2am.
- Restore a nightly image to a date and time you specify.
- Provide console access when you have locked yourself out over SSH.
- Point you at the cause when you send logs and symptoms, even when the fix is in your own configuration.
- Advise on sizing, and tell you when you do not need to upgrade.
If your question sits just outside the line, ask anyway. "Is this you or me?" is a perfectly good ticket.
What sits outside
- Writing, debugging or optimising your application code.
- Installing and configuring your stack for you.
- Tuning a database or web server you set up.
- Third-party software support - its vendor knows it, we do not.
- Recovering data you never backed up, beyond what the nightly images hold.
- Ongoing administration of the server as a standing arrangement - that is what the managed add-on is for.
The managed add-on
Managed patching and monitoring is available as an add-on to any VPS plan. It suits you if:
- You need root access and a VPS's flexibility, but nobody on the team wants to own OS maintenance.
- You want someone watching the server rather than finding out from a customer.
- You are running something commercially important on infrastructure nobody checks weekly.
Ask Sales & Solutions what it covers on your plan before assuming a particular task is included - scope is worth confirming in writing rather than at the moment you need it.
Which support department
| Question | Department |
|---|---|
| Server unreachable, network problem, suspected platform issue | Technical Support |
| Restore a nightly image, or console access | Technical Support |
| Suspected compromise | Technical Support, urgently |
| Plan sizing, resizing, the managed add-on | Sales & Solutions |
| Invoices, hourly billing questions, cancellation | Accounts & Billing |
| Abuse originating from a Fast Hive service | Abuse Complaints |
Getting a fast answer on a VPS ticket
Because we cannot see inside your server, what you include decides how quickly this moves:
- The VPS IP address and the distribution.
- When the problem started, and what changed just before.
- The exact error text, not a paraphrase.
- Output of
uptime,free -h,df -hwhere relevant. - Relevant log lines -
journalctl -p err --since today, or the service's own log. - Whether you can reach the server at all, and whether console access works.
Your side of the bargain
These are not conditions of support; they are what keeps a VPS worth having:
- Patch the operating system, or automate it.
- Keep SSH key-only, root login disabled, firewall default-deny.
- Take application-level backups and test a restore occasionally.
- Watch disk and memory before they run out.
- Take a snapshot before risky changes.
- Follow the Acceptable Use Policy.
Frequently asked questions
Why is unmanaged the default?
Because root access and someone else managing the OS are in tension. Unmanaged keeps the server genuinely yours - and keeps the price where it is. The add-on exists for when you want both.
My site is down. Will you fix it?
We will tell you immediately whether the platform is healthy, and help you find the cause from logs. If the fault is in your web server configuration or application, the change is yours to make - but you will not be guessing alone.
Will you install a control panel or a stack for me?
Ordering cPanel with the VPS is the supported route for a panel. Ad-hoc stack installation is not included - ask Sales & Solutions if you want that arranged.
Do you monitor my VPS?
We monitor the platform beneath it. Your server is monitored if you set that up, or take the add-on.
My VPS was hacked. What now?
Open a ticket immediately and do not rebuild yet. Rebuilding destroys the evidence of how they got in, which invites a repeat. We can help identify the entry point first.
Can I get help outside business hours?
Yes - engineers are on call 24/7, every day of the year, for the layers beneath your server and for helping you diagnose your own.
