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gridit
A blog of comparisons, decisions, alternatives and criteria
13 October 2007
raB ooF?
Choosing a Hosting Provider
Comparing different web hosts
Tags:
Hosting provider
Web hosting
Host
Criteria:
Support
The best Support provides competent, accurate, and timely support, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. But there are all kinds of variations of excellent support, including 247/365 Toll Free phone coverage, Extended Toll Free Phone Support with 24/7 Live-Chat or Email, and more. The important point is that competent support is there when YOU need it. How does this company stack up? Aside from phone, Email, FAQ and Chat coverage, are they accurate? Fast? Helpful? Thorough? On a related note, does this company handle your billing account fairly?
Reliability
The best hosts have stellar up-times. Their bandwidth is consistent and generous. It doesn't slowdown during peak access hours. Their service is consistent. They do not have high personnel turn-over rates. Their service remains consistently high despite their increased client base. They also have a long history of reliability. Do they have a lot of downtime? If they had problems in the past, did they fix them quickly and place systems in place to prevent it from happening again? Do they display their network information online so you can monitor it?
Features
The best Web Hosts continually look for an edge over their competition. They add new product lines and services while maintaining their stability. They have the latest technology, the latest operating systems, the latest software add-ons, and the latest third-party goodies. They offer the features and services in convenient user-oriented ways that are reasonable in cost.
Value
There are Free Hosts, Budget Hosts and Hosts with low cost Web Host plans, but that doesn't mean they offer value. Value is a subjective concept, but it can be measured by experience and comparison shopping. Look at the product/feature sets and benefits of the Host and determine how it measures up against a similar company in terms of their offerings per dollar spent. A higher priced Full Service Host offers more than just a lot of features, they generally offer greater stability, better support and peace of mind. This could be considered real value when compared to other similar Hosts with lesser offering. A Budget Host may offer lower monthly costs and a minimum of extras, but it may have been operating smoothly, without complaint for several years. That would be an intangible that isn't readily apparent, but it would be considered a real value in most circles.
Required travel
Amount of work-related travel
Network Security
Some Hosts run their own Data Centers. Others have their servers tied into the Internet through mega NOCs like Exodus, and still others buy Reseller services from larger Hosting facilities. How does this Company stack up? Here are some questions to ask - Do they own their own Data Center? Do they Lease? Do they have the trained technical personnel onsite? What are their backbone connections? Do they have multiple connections to the Internet? What are their connection speeds? Do they display their network information online so you can monitor it? Do they have 24/7 Network Monitoring? Do they provide Tape Backups? Are they protected from power outages? Do they have generators and/or battery UPS Backup? Does their facility have secure access? Fire suppression systems?
Industry View
Because of the many factors that can affect your point of view, this is our most subjective question. Try to be fair and bring many factors into the mix, such as how do others in this industry (including customers, Web Developers and Host Finder sites) rate this company? Is this company well respected? Is the company successful and growing? In discussion groups, how do verified customers discuss the company? If the company is slammed or defended, is it by verified current or former customers? What kind of customer turn-over rate do they have?
Alternatives:
Dreamhost
No phone support - only knowledgebase & wiki & email support
Very good uptime - but not as good as WestHost
Full features, but not directly targeting resellers
Best value for money
Good enough
Good respect, but again not as good as WestHost
$~9/month
WestHost
Emergency phone support avaialble
Their VPS-like hosting should provide isolation
Full features AND focused on resellers
More expensive but still good value
Good enough
Slightly better than dreamhost
$~15/month
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