Normally I don't do too much fiddling with my servers, but in the last 3 weeks I've set up 3 servers from scratch. Installing an OS, adding web hosting packages, the full bit. It was a little annoying, and setting up each server from scratch took most of 1 day to do, but the end result is a beautiful, comfortable server environment where I can get a lot of work done.
Managed hosting is great if you don't have technical skills to set up a server (setting up a server is as hard as it sounds though) or if you're wanting to pay somebody else to look after things like updates for you, but it usually means you have less access to fix things when they go wrong too.
If you're unsure about setting up your own web server, read through these guides to see the steps required. If you can type a few commands to install things, and edit a few text files, that's about all you need!
I followed these guides for a Linode server and a non-Linode server, so the same instructions are good for all web servers, just replace 'Linode' in the articles with whatever provider you are working with :D
While I chose the first option, because I already have dedicated servers, I don't think that it's very practical for someone who does not have the experience or just wants to put a small application online. In that case, given I had no servers, I'd rather choose the second option and look for managed hosting (which is what I usually do for customers).
Tommy Hodgins
CSS & Element Queries
Saquib Rizwan
Laravel Developer and Community Manager
Jason Knight
The less code you use, the less there is to break
The only real reason in my mind to go dedicated -- or even VPS which is often as powerful yet cheaper -- is to have FULL control over everything. As such I prefer letting the host bring it up just to the point I can SSH into it (usually I go debian, but freeBSD is also on the table)... and I take EVERYTHING from there.
If the project and/or traffic is big enough to warrant a dedicated, I typically NEED to customize enough of the settings and to have enough control over what is and is not installed from the start. That's part of WHY I would choose one in the first place.
If you're going to put on the big boy pants, do it yourself instead of having mommy help you into them.