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Reliability and Uptime
Not only should the web host be reliable and fast, it should guarantee its uptime (the time when it is functional). Look for a minimum uptime of
99%. In fact, even 99% is actually too low - it really should be 99.5% or higher.
Our Uptime on our Basic and Professional Hosting plans is 99.8% or better.
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Data Transfer (Traffic/Bandwidth)
Data transfer (also referred to as "traffic" or "bandwidth") is the amount of bytes transferred from your site to visitors when
they browse your site.
Don't believe any commercial web host that advertises "unlimited bandwidth". The host has to pay for the bandwidth, and if you consume
a lot of it, they will not silently bear your costs. Many high bandwidth websites have found this out the hard way when they suddenly receive an exorbitant bill
for having "exceeded" the "unlimited bandwidth". Always look for details on how much traffic the package allows and the policy for
overages. Some web hosts will hit you hard on overages while others will force you to upgrade to a more expensive package.
We offer up to 500Mb on our Basic Hosting plan, which is adequate for most simple sites unless they are graphically intensive or exceptionally
popular.
Our Professional hosting package provides up to 2Gb, which in our experience is more than majority of our hosted normal sites. Additional
bandwidth can be purchased for $3 per gigabyte.
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Disk space
For the same reason as bandwidth, watch out also for those "unlimited disk space" schemes. Most sites need less than 5MB of web space, so
even if you are provided with a host that tempts you with 200MB or 500MB (or "unlimited space"), be aware that you are unlikely to use that space, so
don't let the 500MB space be too big a factor in your consideration when comparing with other web hosts. The hosting company is also aware of that, which is
why they feel free to offer you that as a means of enticing you to host there.
We offer 15 Mb on our Basic Hosting plan and 100Mb on our Professional Hosting plan. Additional space can be purchased in 50Mb amounts at a
cost of $3 per month.
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Technical support
Most web hosts claim to provide full 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (24/7) technical support. The sad reality is that most fail to
deliver. I have also noticed that the pre-sales technical support response does not necessarily reflect what a normal client can expect.
The reality is that many web host companies are staffed by young people with little understanding of business needs, and who often lack
inter-personal skills. Other companies are run by sales orientated people who know how to sell but not fix problems.
We view ourselves primarily as a service company. Our focus is on long term relationships with clients based on good communication and
personalised service. Providing excellent service is our specialty.
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Control Panel - FTP, PHP, Perl CGI-BIN access, SSI, .htaccess, telnet, SSH crontabs
If you require anything more than simple hosting then you will need the ability to access and configure various add-on features.
A Control Panel,
called various names by different hosts, allows you to manage different aspects of your web account yourself. Typically, and at the very minimum, it should allow
you to do things like add, delete, and manage your email addresses, and change passwords for your account.
Some web hosts do not allow you to install PHP or CGI
scripts without their approval. This is not desirable since it means that you have to wait for them before you can implement a feature on your site.
".htaccess" is needed if you are to customise your error pages (pages that display when, say, a user requests for a non-existent page on your site) or to
protect your site in various ways (such as to prevent bandwidth theft and hotlinking, etc). Telnet or SSH access is useful for certain things, including testing
CGI scripts, maintaining databases, etc. Cron jobs may be needed for programs that you need to be run periodically (eg once a day). Make sure your package
comes with all the features you will want. Some web host will want to charge extra for features that should be included standard.
Our Professional and
Enterprise / Custom packages come with a Control Panel that includes a complete set of features.
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SSL (secure server), MySQL, Shopping Cart
If you are planning on doing any sort of business through your website, you might want to look out to see if the host provides these facilities.
These facilities normally involve a higher priced package or additional charges. The main thing is to check to see if they are available at all before you commit
to the host. You will definitely need SSL if you plan to collect credit card information on your site.
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Email, Autoresponders, POP3, Mail Forwarding
If you have your own site, you would probably want to have email addresses at your own domain, like sales@yourdomain.com, etc. Does the host provide
this with the package? Does it allow you to have a catch-all email account that allows anyname@yourdomain.com to wind up being routed to you? Can you set an email
address to automatically reply to the sender with a preset message (called an autoresponder)? Can you retrieve your mail with your email software? Can it be
automatically forwarded to your current email address?
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Multiple domain / Subdomains
For those who are thinking having multiple domains or subdomains hosted in your account, you should look to see if they provide this, and the amount
extra that they charge for this (whether it is a one-time or monthly charge, etc).
Subdomains are standard with our Professional Hosting package
Multiple domain hosting is available with our Enterprise / Custom hosting package
Internet Connection
The type of connection to the Internet is perhaps the most inporatant consideration as it determines so many other aspects of service.
We use the Network connection services of HE.net, a top ranked, Tier One Provider. Dual OC3 (155Mbps) connections to several major exchange
points, helps to provide a self-healing network architecture; virtually eliminating any single point of failure. In addition to the backbone, backup transit
from multiple providers in multiple locations ensures that data will arrive via the shortest possible route. Utilizing the Border Gateway Protocol Version 4 (BGP4)
over Cisco 12000 series GSR routers, ensures that Data Transfer is routed through the best available carrier. Peering is done with networks that are connected
to one or more common exchange points. This allows us to provide our Clients with seamless and stable, fiber connectivity.
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Server Hardware
The server hardware should be professional rack mounted server with built in redundancy. You don’t want to hosted on a old PC in
someone’s garage no matter how good the deal is and how competent you think the host is. Our hosting is all on professional rack mounted equipment. The
current server for our Basic and Professional Hosting packages was commissioned in October 2003.
The Operating system should be stable and robust with extensive built in security. We have selected the feature-laden Unix based Apache server
for all our hosting. This is regularly updated and patched to provide new features and keep up emerging security concerns.
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Hosting Environment
Your host should be located at a professional data centre that is; guarded, monitored, and staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our hosting
environment includes:
- Raised floors
- Individually locked cabinets
- Advanced climate control
- HVAC environmental systems
- Back-up power
- Conditioned uninterrupted power
- Video surveillance of cabinets
- On-site security measures
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Price and Payment Plans
You often get what you pay for, although it's not necessarily true that the most expensive hosts are the best. Set an amount you are
prepared to pay for hosting based on an average price range (after viewing a dozen or so hosting offerings you will know what this is), and then as long as the
price is within that range focus on all other aspects.
The majority of web hosts seem to require monthly billing. Many allow you to select an annual payment plan that gives you a cheaper rate than
if you were to pay monthly. Be wary of locking yourself in for 12 months or more with a new host until they have proven themselves.
We actually prefer to bill quarterly but we are flexible on this and will try to fit in with your preferred terms. We can also offer a discount
for annual payments in advance.
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