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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Canberra - Australia
    Posts
    108

    What do you look for in a host?

    When you see advertisement of a hosts plans, what do you look for? Do you look for unbelievably large ammounts of space and bandwidth or an older company who is experienced etc...? Lets discuss on what you look for in the advertisement of a hosts plans.

  2. #2
    its quality of service and features provided.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    CA/TX USA
    Posts
    964
    When I was an end-user, I appreciated it when a host would "bend the rules" in order to help me. It can be frustrating out there for new users, or those confronting a new problem. The last thing you want to hear is that your host won't help you because your issue isn't covered by their tech support policy.
    ██ UBERHOST
    NEXT GENERATION HOSTING
    Managed dedicated & shared hosting

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    India
    Posts
    858
    Features, price, how long the host has been in business

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Darwin, Australia
    Posts
    1,339
    Uptime, servers not overloaded and having genuine 24/7 support
    Web Hosting Plus
    Premium Australian Web Hosting

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Posts
    154
    It was really confusing to choose a good host. as there are so many.. and really you won't know if that is the one for you until you try; altho good review really does help. I personally listen to my friends' suggestion for it tho.
    ResellerTemple.Com & CsIdea.US
    Marketing & Design & Programming for Competitive Price!

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    London, UK
    Posts
    1,635
    From experience, I've learnt to look first for the number of domains and disk space that can be hosted, and of course the price. Anyone that charges "per domain" (no addons) or with only a few hundred megs of disk space isn't going to allow me to expand or host small "community" sites or a photo album, which is what I want to be able to do.

    I also look for shared SSL, because dedicated certificates (and IPs) are too expensive for community sites. Bandwidth is pretty much irrelevant because I don't use much and even if I was "slashdotted" the allowable CPU usage would be the main problem and that's not usually quoted.

    That narrows the search down quite a bit - after that, it's all down to reputation really (support and reliability) and advertisements are useless for all that.

    I guess unusual features like clustered hosting or "eco" hosting, a user forum, SSH access and so on might sway me all other things being equal, but they're not show-stoppers for me.
    Phil McKerracher
    I do server maintenance and troubleshooting

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by dnki View Post
    how long the host has been in business
    If everyone thought like that, nobody would be in Business.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    CA/TX USA
    Posts
    964
    Quote Originally Posted by TetraUK View Post
    If everyone thought like that, nobody would be in Business.
    I know it may seem that way, but often it benefits the new host to start off slow. They can provide hosting for friends, seek business locally, and even give away a few accounts for a worthy cause. These initial clients help the new host learn his way around the server, the billing system, and support system. It's a means of debugging his service without losing his shirt.

    If the host provides good service, certainly there will be word of mouth referrals along the way. Before long, a reputation will build, and time in business will be sufficient to add confidence to those who ask. Every customer has a right to know how long their prospective host has been in business.
    ██ UBERHOST
    NEXT GENERATION HOSTING
    Managed dedicated & shared hosting

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    2,357
    Depends on what service I am using under the host, such as Shared, Reseller, etc..

    Shared Hosting, I'd like to know that my data is secure and safe. Should there be an accident, I'd like to know that my data can be recovered.

    Under a mutli-offer host (shared/reseller etc..) Superior support offered to all tiers of hosting, not just to the ones who throw more money at them.

    Great customer service, uptime as I am paying for them to have my website online. It is a waste if it's going to be down the majority of the time.

    Fast services. I'd like to know that I can hit my website up at any hour or minute of the day and not have to wait a few hours.

    A lot of things, but the majority here really.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    London, UK
    Posts
    1,635
    Agreed, but you can't really tell any of that from an advertisement, can you? The original question was about advertisements (presumably including their website).
    Phil McKerracher
    I do server maintenance and troubleshooting

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Sweden
    Posts
    1,061
    Mainly in how solid the company is and how long they've been in business, although I don't avoid new companies, I just keep taking backups more frequent from them
    -Mr Bister

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    India
    Posts
    349
    Server and connectivity speed

    Uptime

    Courteous, friendly and prompt customer support

    Cost

    Space and bandwidth

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Copenhagen, Denmark
    Posts
    12

    Thumbs up

    The 24/7/365 Support time with Live Chat !!!

    that's why I worked with Brinkster, but the servers are full of users and they have a lot of downtimes ...

    but they have a "6" star Support

    I do also look to the Components installed in order to use them, like PDF, EMail and Image components and the time for "money back warranty" in order to know that I can get my money if I did not like the service.
    Last edited by balexandre; 01-06-2008 at 07:19 PM.

  15. #15
    Uptime and support are most important for me, don't accept less than a 99.9% uptime guarantee!

    What's a website if it can't be seen?

    Also, very very few people will ever exceed their storage and bandwidth quotas.

  16. #16
    Customer Support 24/7 key.
    Europe Internet Services www.snappedstick.com

  17. #17
    My favourite form of support is live chat, not only because calling my US host from UK is expensive, but I'd also much sooner spend 10 minutes waiting for a live chat rep to respond on my PC than wait 10 minutes in a call queue!
    Last edited by jacobuk; 01-06-2008 at 07:52 PM. Reason: typo

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    3,587
    That he keeps my site online, so I won't need support and just carry on with what I do best

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    DFW & BCS, TX
    Posts
    82
    I look for on that is fast & reliable first. Then I look for one that has good support (only times I have used it is when the host is having problems though) and that could fix a problem within a reasonable amount of time. I don't normally like to go with a host that offers to big of packages. My first experience I had was with godaddy and it wasn't good so I learned.

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Posts
    50
    i look for

    Network
    Bandwidth provider
    uptime
    support

    remember you get what you pay for.

  21. #21
    need to make sure that the hosting provider has good power. Also need to check on how much the bandwidth is and if its speed matches the price. Also see if you can find out if the network gets DDoS a lot.
    <<Please see rules for signature setup>>

  22. #22

    What Makes A good Host

    They should give you personal service


    They should offer a secure hosting facility


    Their servers should be reliable


    They should never have additional charges

    They should offer references


    They shouldn't be hosting spammers or pornographic sites

    Shane Anderson
    Green Frog Hosting
    Website Marketing -Website Hosting-Website Development
    www.greenfroghosting.com

  23. #23
    Support, quality, uptime, bandwidth, features and cost. pretty much in that order

  24. #24
    Looking at the ad alone; price (with reasonable services added to this of course). Then I do research on the company, talk with their sales-reps etc.

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