Your Most Important Online Business Decision
Your web business depends on your site's uptime around the
clock. When you want to make a purchase online, you most likely
take the time to check the credentials of that business. Yet,
how many of you actually bother to check out the credentials and
competency of a web host, which is absolutely the stronghold of
your web business?
I've been in the hosting industry as a reseller for almost 5
years. It's become a zoo out there. With so many hosts coming
and going, or sites constantly going down or getting cracked
into from lack of security measures (very common), how can you
really know for sure if you're going with a reliable and
competent host?
Emailing to test their support response is NOT a good indicator
of their response time. Some will be very fast for pre-sales
questions, but extremely slow or non-responsive for support once
you are a customer. On the other hand, sometimes very slow for
pre-sales and fast for customer support.
Here are a few important tips to keep in mind when shopping for
a web host:
First of all, be sure they have a phone number posted on their
site. There's no reason why they shouldn't be reached easily via
phone.
Phone them and ask questions. It's preferable to get a
technically savvy person to call for you. You need to be assured
that the host's staff is competent and security conscious. There
are so many variables in securing servers. Only a competent
technical person would know the key questions to ask, but
importantly, can also tell by conversing with the host how
competent they really are. I may sound redundant, but you'd be
surprised at how many hosting providers wing their way i.e. they
learn as they go along, thus, causing downtime and/or slowing
down the speed of your website.
Also, discuss with them what your needs are for your business.
If you need any of the following, it's vital that you find out
if the host can accommodate you:
Streaming Media - for live audio and video feeds
SSH (secure shell) - SSH is a secure telnet - Some programs need
telnet access for installation. Also, if you want to add more
data to the data base that may be too large to install using a
web-based data base system like phpMyAdmin (a common program
provided by most hosts), it will require telnet access. If a
host provides unsecure telnet, run the other way!
SSL (secure sockets layer) Certificate -This is needed if you'll
be using a merchant account to take payments from the web.
If you use an SSL Certificate, it is mandatory that you get an
IP based account, whereby you get your own IP number instead of
sharing the same IP number with several other accounts on the
server.
Mailing List Accommodation - Many hosts are not equipped to
accommodate large mailing lists on their email servers. So, if
you have a large list and use your own list software, get the
specifics on this.
Data Bases - Think about how many data bases you'll need to
start with. For instance, if you'll be running a forum using php
software, it will require one data base. You may decide to use a
program to make your site data-base driven, that will be yet
another data base needed.
CGI and PHP -They should already have this enabled on the
server. If they don't, then they aren't keeping up with the
latest technology.
Be sure the host can upgrade your account as your business
grows.
I don't recommend that you get a dedicated server unless you
know how to administer one or can pay for a system administrator
to handle your. A lot goes into managing a server. When a host
offers 'managed' servers, it doesn't necessarily mean that they
take care of everything on your server. You are responsible for
maintaining it, otherwise the average tech fees are $95 per
hour.
Find out how many backbone providers they have. A good host
would have a minimum of 2, preferably more. That's a very
important factor. A few years ago, I was hosted and also was
hosting sites from a popular large international hosting
provider. All the sites went down for two days due to a problem
with their backbone. That's when I discovered that they only had
ONE backbone provider. That could have been avoided had they
another provider. Had I did my homework more thoroughly, I could
have avoided a full day of downtime!
In the event you go over your bandwidth limit, does the site go
down or do they just send you a bill with the extra costs,
accordingly? You need to know this from the very start, so you
don't get surprised if your site goes down from exceeding your
bandwidth limit.
Also, there are hosts advertising 'unlimited bandwidth'. There's
no such animal. Even backbone providers couldn't guarantee such
a thing. That's impossible. Most hosts who advertise unlimited
bandwidth have a disclaimer attached to their sites, usually
stating that your site will go down or you'll be charged for
extra bandwidth if you exceed 4 gigs.
Do they have daily backup? This is very important! However, be
sure to do daily backup of your own sites and any important info
to your hard drive for safest measures. Also, download your
sites to cd or zips and keep them in a fireproof safe-box along
with your other important biz docs.
Word of 'Very Reliable' mouth from someone who has been with a
host for at least a year, with minimal or no problems is another
good factor. From time to time, problems can occur with the best
of them. Importantly is the efficiency of the host, in handling
the problems.
You can find out if a host is a reseller by using the tools at
either http://www.Samspade.org or http://www.DNSstuff.com.
There's nothing wrong with going with a reseller if they are
very competent and manage their business well. Actually, many of
the cream-of-the-crop resellers don't even advertise their
services, since they get plenty of business via word of mouth.
The advantages of going with a very competent reseller are that
you get more personable attention and some will even give you
extra services. A reseller should tell you up front that they
are a reseller.
If your bread and butter is dependent on your online business,
you'll go the extra miles in doing your homework when shopping
for a host, less you don't mind losing business and/or moving
your sites from host to host.