It may seem simple, but it is often overlooked. When it comes to choosing the right Internet hosting provider for their websites, the majority of business owners or companies know very little about making the best Internet / web hosting decisions.
What makes a good Internet /
host for a business website? What makes a bad one?
How bad Internet / Web
hosting can help / hurt your business?
What are the different
types of web hosting / web services? Which are best for industries?
Here are some tips to help
you make the right decisions:
1. Understanding the
differences between municipalities, collocation, unmanaged dedicated and
managed dedicated hosting so you choose the one that suits your business.
It is essential to
understand the difference between types of accommodation offered. As the
hosting industry has matured, hosting offers have split into two distinct
categories, each with its own strengths and weaknesses.
Shared hosting (sometimes
called virtual hosting) means that you share a server with a number of other
clients of this company. The host manages the server almost completely (though
you maintain your site and your account). They can afford to charge you little
since many clients pay to use the server. However, companies other than yours
are using the resources of the server. This means that the heavy traffic of the
other sites on the server can really hammer the performance of your site. In
addition, you are generally not able to install special software on these types
of machines, because the host will need to maintain a stable environment for
all clients using the server.
Means the collocated
hosting you buy a server from a hardware vendor, like Dell or HP, for example,
and you supply this server to the host. The host then plug your server into its
its redundant power and network systems. The host is responsible for ensuring
that the network is available, and you are responsible for all the support and
maintenance of your server. Good hosts offer management contracts to their
customers collocation so that you can outsource much of the support for them
and come to a similar arrangement to managed dedicated hosting. Most hosts
collocation does not offer this service, however.
Unmanaged dedicated hosting
is very similar to collocation, except that you rent a server from a host and
do not actually own yourself. Very limited support (typically Web-based only) is
included, but the level of support varies considerably from unmanaged dedicated
host unmanaged dedicated server. This type of server can be had for about $ 99/month.
Support levels are usually provided in general terms. Ask the host to go into
details on this support they offer - will they apply security patches to your
server? - Before signing. This service is usually good for gaming servers (like
Doom or servers Counter Strike) or amateurs servers, but not for serious
businesses that need responsive services at expert level.
Managed dedicated hosting
means leasing a server from a host and having that company provide a strong
level of support and maintenance on the server that is backed by quality
guarantees. This maintenance typically includes services such as the monitoring
server availability, hardware warranty, updated security patches and more. Be
sure to make sure your managed dedicated server is specific about its managed
services included so you can be sure they are not disguising an unmanaged
dedicated offering as a managed dedicated server. This has been the case
unfortunately, this is why it is important to do your homework and ask the
right questions.
2. Whether the network of your
potential host Ips blackholed.
Many hosts care little
about who is actually hosting on their networks, as customers pay their bills. This
means that many web hosts allow porn sites, spammers and servers that create
security issues on their network for the sake of the dollar. Even if you put
aside the ethical issues it wants to have a negative impact on customers in
general, however, when a network blackholed for spamming, for example. Get
blackholed means that other networks will refuse e-mail originated from IP
addresses that are blacklisted. Some hosts have a number of the class C (up to 256
IP addresses) of blackholed and redistribute these tainted IPs to new clients
networks. This means that if your business relies on legitimate closed loop opt-in
e-mail marketing to drive sales, being on such a network can severely cut
response to your campaign because your email may never reach its destination.
Check with the host that
you are considering to see if their networks are blackholed. Also, here is a
link to a third source following blackholed networks and lists [http://www.spamhaus.org/sbl/isp.lasso]
The following URL is a good
resource to help you understand what is labeled SPAM and it is not [http://www.spamhaus.org/mailinglists.html]
3. Do not confuse size with
stability.
Just because the web
hosting company is big, does not mean it is stable and secure. In fact, many of
the greatest sought bankruptcy protection or were saved by being sold to
another company, in some cases causing uncomfortable transitions in service for
their customers. How do you protect yourself? Ask some key questions:
How long was the host
business?
Current property is always
the same?
Are they profitable and
positive from the revenue generated by the operating cash flow?
4. Do not make price your only
priority.
The old saying "you
get what you pay for" applies to most things in life, and hosting is
certainly one of those things. When you have too prioritize price, you run the
risk of ending up with a host that gives you a connection to the Internet and
just about everything in terms of support (and this connection can be run at
full capacity or have problems uptime).
5. Make sure your host has
fully redundant data centers.
When dealing with smaller
vendors, make sure they have their own data centers and that these data centers
are fully redundant in terms of power and connectivity. Here are some questions
to ask:
How many lines do they come
into the facility?
What is the average
utilization of their connections?
(No matter the size of the
connection, if it works at maximum capacity, it will be slow.)
Do they have a redundant
power supply for servers?
Do they have an on-site
generator?
How many times did they
test their generator?
What kind of security
measures they put in place for the network?
What physical security do
they have?
What type of fire
extinguishing systems they put in place?
6. Find out if they have real
experienced system administrators on their support staff.
When you call for technical
support, it can be a frustrating experience to be stuck talking to a non-technical
representative "customer service" when you really need to talk to a
system administrator who can solve your problems. Discover the structure of their
support department, the speed with which you can access real when you need a
system administrator, and system administrators can help you when you need help.
7. Make sure the host is
flexible.
It is important that the
host understands how important quality servers for their clients' businesses. Even
the most dedicated hosts managed not go near supporting applications that are
not part of their initial server setup. Find a host that has a lot of experience
to support a wide range of applications, and one that can bring this expertise
to you through their services.
8. Find out what their former /
current clients say about them.
Your prospective host can
offer you successfully for clients with similar configurations to yours? Are
they able to provide references from clients who can tell you about their
experience with this company?
9. Ensure that the support of
the host does not include fees.
Make sure you consider all
hosts provides a complete list describing the support they offer so that you
can have a good understanding of what is supported for free, which is supported
at a price, and n ' is not managed at all. Many hosts will try to hide a substandard
level of free support behind non-specific statements of support of high
quality, so that make them accurate to earn your business.
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