Updates and patching
Operating system and package updates applied in planned windows, so security patches do not sit for months.
System administration
Server operations without hiring for it.
Routine maintenance, monitoring, installs, and urgent response. Planned work is $30 per hour, emergency response is $150 per hour, and monthly plans start at $100.
Available on anything we host — colocated hardware, bare metal, or virtual instances — and useful precisely when you do not want to be the person paged.
$30/hrPlanned, non-emergency work.
$150/hrUrgent incident and outage response.
From $100/moOngoing coverage for one server.
Scope
What the management layer actually covers.
Concrete work rather than a vague retainer: the routine maintenance that slips, and the incidents that cannot wait.
Monitoring and alerting
Availability and resource monitoring configured, with alerts routed somewhere a human will see them.
Backup configuration
Scheduled backups set up and a restore actually tested, because an untested backup is not a backup.
Installs and configuration
Control panels, web servers, databases, and runtime environments installed and configured properly the first time.
Hardening
Baseline firewall, SSH, and access hardening so a new machine is not exposed while you get to it.
Emergency response
Urgent incident work billed at $150 per hour when something is down and needs attention now.
Monthly plans
Ongoing coverage for one server.
Each plan covers a single server and its routine administrative work.
Lite
Routine maintenance and monitoring for a single server.
$100/mo
- One server covered
- OS and package updates
- Monitoring and alerting
- Planned change windows
Standard
Broader administrative coverage with faster response on planned work.
$175/mo
- One server covered
- Config and panel changes
- Backup configuration
- Priority planned response
Advanced
Hands-on operational coverage for a business-critical single server.
$300/mo
- One server covered
- Extended change scope
- Backup verification
- Fastest planned response
All plans cover one server. Additional servers, larger change windows, and broader operational scope are quoted separately.
Fixed-price work
One-time services with a clear deliverable.
Use these when the job has a defined end rather than open-ended hourly work.
Control panel install
Panel deployed and configured on a fresh server.
$20one time
Server hardening
Baseline firewall, SSH, and access hardening pass.
$35one time
Backup configuration
Scheduled backups configured and a restore verified.
$30one time
Work outside these fixed-price installs is billed at $30 per hour for planned work and $150 per hour for emergencies.
Pair it with hardware
Most useful on top of your own footprint.
Management is available on colocated hardware, bare metal, and virtual instances alike, so one team covers the whole stack.
- Works on hardware you own or hardware we own.
- Planned and emergency rates are both published.
- Direct access to the engineers doing the work.
Questions, answered
System administration questions
Scope, rates, emergency work, and how the plans are positioned.
What does Amherst Systems system administration cover?
Amherst Systems system administration covers small administrative tasks, config edits, panel setup, installs, backup setup, monitoring-related alerting, and planned server work for a single-server scope.
Are the managed plans limited to one server?
Yes. Managed Lite, Managed Standard, and Managed Pro are published as one-server plans. They can be applied to managed VPS or managed dedicated deployments, while multi-server environments and broader scope are custom quoted.
What counts as emergency work?
Emergency work is framed as urgent incident or outage response billed at $150 per hour. Amherst Systems does not publish a numeric public SLA on the page.