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  1. #1
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    Hosting Questions and Potentially Looking for a Great Hosting Company

    Hi all,

    Okay here I go...

    I know it's hard for people to be object if they own hosting companies already, but PLEASE try & be as honest as possible when answering my questions.

    1. What makes a good hosting company?

    2. How can a hosting company guarantee 99.9% uptime?

    3. Can an SSL from one server be moved to a new hosting company b4 it is up for renewal with no extra charge?

    4. I have a front panel on my hosting company that allows me to pretty well do everything from changing my p/ws, adding on new users, adding on all my e-mail addresses, it gives me good web stats, I can add on the DB in the middle of the night if I need to & much more.

    Should I expect this as the "norm" when it comes to hosting these days?

    5. What kind of backbone should I expect from a good hosting company in order for it to be up 99.9% of the time?

    6. Should I expect a spam program like Spam Assasin to be already implemented?

    7. Does anyone know of a hosting company that already has Urchin in place?

    8. How many techis are there usually in a good hosting company?

    9. Should they be available 24/7?

    Okay that's about it for now.

    I'm seriously thinking about switching hosting companies b/c of the problems I've been having with me not being up 99.9%. My next site HAS to be up 24/7, not that this one doesn't have to be up 24/7, but the next one is even that much more crucial.

    I like the people at the hosting company I'm at now & they give me a great price, so I'm reluctant to leave, but for a couple of reasons I feel I may have to consider it.

    I don't want to have to keep moving hosting companies every year. It's nuts. I want to grow with one hosting company, get GOOD prices & excellent technical & customer service, be able to refer my customers to them & get a referral fee etc.

    I would be looking for a Unix server with unlimited or at least 30-50 e-mails, PHP, CGI bin & MySQL all included & some of the other features I mentioned above.

    My site is not adult, but has adult material on it. I won't pay extra for this.

    I also want a hosting company that won't charge my "adult" customers an arm & a leg for hosting fees. I already know the max they should be paying monthly.

    Thanks so much for your help.


    Michelle

  2. #2
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    "My site is not adult, but has adult material on it. I won't pay extra for this."

    That right there takes out a lot of good hosts.

    2) Not sure what you mean, why not? Read their TOS however, they may say that they don't give anything if they go under.
    4) Never heard of "front panel" look for hosts that offer CPanel and WHM (reseller account) to do the things you list.
    6) If your host has CPanel (which is norm), it does have Spam Assasin so...
    9) If you thing you will need lots of help then look for 24/7 support, else its not 100% needed.

    For your other questions I'm not exactly what you mean or I don't like the question Hope I helped.

  3. #3
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    First, lets just clear up the whole "99.99% uptime guaranteed" myth. Has ANYONE ever collected on that for anything less than a server crash and burn? In the event of a server blow-up, it would be ludicrous for a host NOT to offer you something as compensation.

    Now, back to the 99.99% uptime thing. For hosting accounts, its next to impossible to collect on that because generally the host is going to tell you "The server was up...even though you couldn't reach it." That pretty much excludes Apache failure, network congestion, problems with the routers/switches, their upstream and on and on.

    Personally, I think 99.99% uptime guaranteed is just a way for hosting companies to make you feel all warm and fuzzy about signing up with them. I'd rather see a report on their last 12 months performance!

    --Tina
    ||| 99.999% Uptime SLA!!!
    Plenty of space and bandwidth to fit your needs!
    www.AEIandYou.com - - (WP Friendly - Premium Reseller Hosting and Cheap Dedicated Servers)

  4. #4
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    Re: Hosting Questions and Potentially Looking for a Great Hosting Company

    Originally posted by ep2002
    Hi all,

    Okay here I go...

    I know it's hard for people to be object if they own hosting companies already, but PLEASE try & be as honest as possible when answering my questions.

    1. What makes a good hosting company?

    2. How can a hosting company guarantee 99.9% uptime?

    3. Can an SSL from one server be moved to a new hosting company b4 it is up for renewal with no extra charge?

    4. I have a front panel on my hosting company that allows me to pretty well do everything from changing my p/ws, adding on new users, adding on all my e-mail addresses, it gives me good web stats, I can add on the DB in the middle of the night if I need to & much more.

    Should I expect this as the "norm" when it comes to hosting these days?

    5. What kind of backbone should I expect from a good hosting company in order for it to be up 99.9% of the time?

    6. Should I expect a spam program like Spam Assasin to be already implemented?

    7. Does anyone know of a hosting company that already has Urchin in place?

    8. How many techis are there usually in a good hosting company?

    9. Should they be available 24/7?



    Thanks so much for your help.


    Michelle

    What makes a good web hosting company is they put their clients before the $$$$. Plenty of resources for you to get fast support and reliable uptime. Someone on the other end of the phone also works wonders. Getting familiar with each client and understanding their needs.


    99.9% is not that hard to accomplish. Most hosts offering this will either refund your money for the month or give you free web hosting. You need to read the TOS as updates and reboots most likely will not count. You have to expect this with any hosting company.

    Yes a SSL certificate can be moved as it should be for the domain name.


    Most control panels will let you do what you have stated. Just make sure before you sign up.


    What kind of backbone for 99.9% uptime? Well a world class data center would help but like I said before it is the hosting company as well.

    Spam assassin and box trapper as well as a spam box you can get with Cpanel. I believe the box trapper is on Cpanel Pro but someone might confirm this as it just showed up in my Cpanel after an update.


    Urchin web statistics is an excellent stats program and their seems to be a lot of hosts adding this as a feature.


    Does not matter how many Techies you have it is the caliber of the ones who are working. You can get a small hosting company that may out perform a larger hosting company when it comes to support. They may not sleep much but they always seem to be there when you need them.

    24/7 support is really up to you. If you work late at night and expect someone to be on the other end then yes 24/7 support you will need.

  5. #5
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    Personally, I think 99.99% uptime guaranteed is just a way for hosting companies to make you feel all warm and fuzzy about signing up with them. I'd rather see a report on their last 12 months performance!
    The voice of experience and knowledge. I agree with you Tina. (This seems to happen quite often. )

  6. #6

    Re: Hosting Questions and Potentially Looking for a Great Hosting Company

    Hello Michelle,
    Let's see if I can answer your questions to your satisfaction:
    A great hosting company is one with fair pricing, solid uptime and great customer support IMO.
    99.9% uptime allows for about 45 minutes per month of downtime for server maintenance. Also, certain issues wouldn't fall under the guarantee. And yes, as Tina stated, some hosts can wiggle out of these guarantees. I completely agree with finding out what their uptime HAS BEEN for the last few months rather than what they say it will be.
    Yes, an SSL from one server can be moved to another. SSL is issued to the domain, not IP so moving is no issue.
    Yes, all hosting accounts, well most, come with some form of control panel such as cPanel that easily allows for all the things you specified.
    Also, any account with cpanel, which is most, will feature SpamAssasin.
    There are a few companies that offer Urchin, just Google for it. You'll find a bunch that include it with your plan.
    The number of techs in a hosting company varies from 1 to ???. As long as they answer quickly and efficiently, it's of little matter.
    And yes, support should be available 24/7/365 by email or support ticket. Phone is nice too but shouldn't be expected as a first line have a problem with some hosts with adult content, depending on what it is. Just email their sales dept and ask. They'll have no problems telling you.

    Hope this helps. Best of luck
    BliksemHosting.com || WEBHOST MAGAZINE & BUYER'S GUIDE Editors' Choice for Reseller Hosting
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  7. #7
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    but... 99.3 / 99.4% is pretty much normal I think. So you should
    least try for hosts with 99% uptime.

    anyway, to me hosting is service however we all sell it as
    product with "package" but still to me after sales support is
    what makes hosting business a real business.

    TheStarKillers gave most of your answers, I want to add one
    thing else that is... 27/7 support is just a marketing term for
    most of the companies out there. So better ask them pre-sale
    questions with "Tricky" technical information. Take their response
    time with care, and good luck
    Affordable cPanel Hosting Solution
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  8. #8
    Join Date
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    So some of the staff work in another dimension for 3 hours?
    Patron: I'd like my free lunch please.
    Cafe Manager: Free lunch? Did you read the fine print stating it was an April Fool's joke.
    Patron: I read the same way I listen, I ignore the parts I don't agree with. I'm suing you for false advertising.
    Cafe Owner: Is our lawyer still working pro bono?

  9. #9
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    Originally posted by dualnic
    but... 99.3 / 99.4% is pretty much normal I think.
    Normal for who?!?

    --Tina
    ||| 99.999% Uptime SLA!!!
    Plenty of space and bandwidth to fit your needs!
    www.AEIandYou.com - - (WP Friendly - Premium Reseller Hosting and Cheap Dedicated Servers)

  10. #10
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    Hi Tina,
    I think 99.3% uptime should be maintained by any host who
    claims to be "good". Well to be honest I never found the big
    boys using uptime as gurantee.

    3rd party uptime monitors could be ticked because those check
    your site every 10 mins or even 60 mins! Your site could be
    offline while http server is running and those checkers will not
    take it as "server down"

    But after all I think its pretty normal for any good hosts to provide
    a minimum 99%

    and more to add who got several servers... talking about uptime
    means you have to provide 70 uptime report for your 70 servers.
    So that could be one reason big hosts do not care about uptime
    that much.

    I'm almost new here... so I should ask "Normal for whom not"
    as I think you people know ofcourse better than me
    Affordable cPanel Hosting Solution
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  11. #11
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    Originally posted by dualnic
    Hi Tina,
    I think 99.3% uptime should be maintained by any host who
    claims to be "good".

    That is an absolutely horrible uptime percentage. 99.9% is a horrible uptime percentage as well (are you comfortable with 45 minutes of downtime per month????).

    As I said...uptime guarantees are generally there to make you feel like you're getting a great deal.

    --Tina
    ||| 99.999% Uptime SLA!!!
    Plenty of space and bandwidth to fit your needs!
    www.AEIandYou.com - - (WP Friendly - Premium Reseller Hosting and Cheap Dedicated Servers)

  12. #12
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    ouch!!! 99.9% is not enough? :-S

    I mean... we are all talking about server uptime or network
    uptime :O :-?

    Well... 100% server uptime is also possible. If you keep a mirror
    with redu auto alteration. :-S but I don't know even technically
    possible things may not liked by many because commercially how
    many people need that kind of uptime... Is really a question
    Affordable cPanel Hosting Solution
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  13. #13
    1. What makes a good hosting company?

    Great, friendly and organized customer support, serious plans and packages (no over selling), and nice prices with atleast a 14 day money back guarantee.


    2. How can a hosting company guarantee 99.9% uptime?

    My personal opinion - check a few websites for the hosts uptime.

    3. Can an SSL from one server be moved to a new hosting company b4 it is up for renewal with no extra charge?

    Im not too sure about this, but I would say so....

    4. I have a front panel on my hosting company that allows me to pretty well do everything from changing my p/ws, adding on new users, adding on all my e-mail addresses, it gives me good web stats, I can add on the DB in the middle of the night if I need to & much more.

    Should I expect this as the "norm" when it comes to hosting these days?

    Most hosts offer CPanel and other account control panels which offer the same if not more features, so yes.

    5. What kind of backbone should I expect from a good hosting company in order for it to be up 99.9% of the time?

    I agree with Sandee's answer to this..

    6. Should I expect a spam program like Spam Assasin to be already implemented?

    You shouldn't expect it, but it is an almost "norm" program.

    7. Does anyone know of a hosting company that already has Urchin in place?

    I don't really know much about other hosts, concentrate on my own to much...

    8. How many techis are there usually in a good hosting company?

    Depending on the amount of customers really. Every host has there own ratio.

    9. Should they be available 24/7?

    Yes, you should always have some type of contact which allows customers to speak to someone 24/7 or as near as possible to that as you can get.
    Web Host ZERO - Pro, and Reseller Hosting.
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  14. #14
    Join Date
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    Originally posted by AH-Tina:
    First, lets just clear up the whole "99.99% uptime guaranteed" myth. Has ANYONE ever collected on that for anything less than a server crash and burn? In the event of a server blow-up, it would be ludicrous for a host NOT to offer you something as compensation.

    Now, back to the 99.99% uptime thing. For hosting accounts, its next to impossible to collect on that because generally the host is going to tell you "The server was up...even though you couldn't reach it." That pretty much excludes Apache failure, network congestion, problems with the routers/switches, their upstream and on and on.

    Personally, I think 99.99% uptime guaranteed is just a way for hosting companies to make you feel all warm and fuzzy about signing up with them. I'd rather see a report on their last 12 months performance!

    Tina, at the start of this thread you had a little rant about 99.9% uptime being for webhosts to comfort their customers but you also offer 99.9% uptime on the front page of your website
    Last edited by DesignBear; 08-15-2004 at 11:43 AM.
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  15. #15
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    Originally posted by TheAlanFella
    Tina, at the start of this thread you had a little rant about 99.9% uptime being for webhosts to comfort their customers but you also offer 99.9% uptime on the front page of your website

    No, I don't. I say we've had above 99.9% uptime over the last 12 months.

    --Tina
    ||| 99.999% Uptime SLA!!!
    Plenty of space and bandwidth to fit your needs!
    www.AEIandYou.com - - (WP Friendly - Premium Reseller Hosting and Cheap Dedicated Servers)

  16. #16
    Originally posted by dualnic
    ouch!!! 99.9% is not enough? :-S
    Never aim below 100% uptime if you want to be a quality host. Always aim higher, that way you will always try your best to maintain the best uptime possible.
    YourCheapHost.com - Low cost multi domain hosting solutions. [Legal adult content friendly]
    Reliable web site hosting is our motto. We have Alertra stats to back that up.
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  17. #17
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    Originally posted by AH-Tina
    No, I don't. I say we've had above 99.9% uptime over the last 12 months.

    --Tina
    I have to agree, SLAs are useless. PROOF is where it counts. Third party non-bias uptime statistics.

    To those who say 99.3% is good...I feel sorry for your customers

    I'd say 99.95% is acceptable. Nothing less.
    Nick Nelson
    Sr. Director & GM, VAS
    Demand Media
    425.298.2282 nn@demandmedia.com

  18. #18
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    Originally posted by net-trend
    Never aim below 100% uptime if you want to be a quality host. Always aim higher, that way you will always try your best to maintain the best uptime possible.
    Aim higher than 100% uptime? Exactly how much higher?

    You need to account for kernel upgrades, and other neccessary reboots. Stuff is going to happen, you won't have 100% uptime. 99.99% should be aimed for, I'd say 99.97% and more should be acceptabled as OK.
    Nick Nelson
    Sr. Director & GM, VAS
    Demand Media
    425.298.2282 nn@demandmedia.com

  19. #19
    Originally posted by nickn
    Aim higher than 100% uptime? Exactly how much higher?

    You need to account for kernel upgrades, and other neccessary reboots. Stuff is going to happen, you won't have 100% uptime. 99.99% should be aimed for, I'd say 99.97% and more should be acceptabled as OK.
    It's all a metaphor really. I have to say I worded that sentence wrongly as well.

    Sure stuff is going to happen, but my point was, try your best and don't start out aiming low. Same rules apply in life.
    YourCheapHost.com - Low cost multi domain hosting solutions. [Legal adult content friendly]
    Reliable web site hosting is our motto. We have Alertra stats to back that up.
    Proven provider of high quality shared and reseller accounts since 2002.

  20. #20
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    100% of what, exactly? As I said, most places exclude so many different things from counting against their 100% uptime guarantee...that it becomes a joke.

    I say we've had ABOVE 99.9% uptime over the past 12 months...but what does that really mean?

    We've had 100% network uptime...not one outage at all.

    We have dozens and dozens of servers...almost every single one of them have been 100% problem free (no unplanned outages). The vast majority have only been down for less than probably 10 minutes in 12 months due to being reboot during kernel upgrades, etc.

    My point? The reason I say above 99.9% uptime over the past 12 months is because there is no standard measure/guidelines. I don't want someone on the one server that crashed 10 months ago and was offline for four hours to accuse me of lying. On the other hand...if you add up all of our servers and all of our network uptime, its probably closer to 99.999999%.

    As I said earlier...the 99.XX% uptime thing is almost worthless. It means different things to different people and can be interpretted and things can be excluded until it has no real value.

    --Tina
    ||| 99.999% Uptime SLA!!!
    Plenty of space and bandwidth to fit your needs!
    www.AEIandYou.com - - (WP Friendly - Premium Reseller Hosting and Cheap Dedicated Servers)

  21. #21
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    LOL, okay thanks to everyone for posting even though there were several things I didn't understand.

    Questions...

    1. What do I ask the hosting company for to get their uptime stats?

    2. Can't they fudge these?

    My hosting company now has been down a few times in the last several months. Just last night in fact I couldn't even send a ticket b/c they were down although I seemed to be up.

    You are telling me they should be have basically 24 tech support yet they do not. I can reach the owner if I really call his cell all the time, but he can't answer techi problems that have nothing to do with uptime issues. Also they aren't really around on the weekend if I want to ask a question or two.

    3. Other than Sandra saying a data centre, no one else answered that question if I'm not mistaken.

    What is a data centre & do most hosting companies have one?

    4. What is the average price for 1, 2 & 3 domains?

    5. Do hosting companies usually charge a low rate & then have add on charges like extra bandwidth, MB, DBs etc.?

    If any person's hosting company here has all that I need, pls. PM me w/ more details.

    Thanks so much & I hope everyone is having a good Sunday


    Michelle

  22. #22
    1. What do I ask the hosting company for to get their uptime stats?

    You don't need to ask them really, just take a look at a good uptime checking website. There are a few I just can't remember what they are - sorry.

    2. Can't they fudge these?

    No, as these stats aren't from the webhosting company itself yet from a total different business/company.

    3. You are telling me they should be have basically 24 tech support yet they do not. I can reach the owner if I really call his cell all the time, but he can't answer techi problems that have nothing to do with uptime issues.

    no, 24/7 support means you can receive support on any related issue 24 hours 7 days a week. If you can't get that then it's not 24/7 SUPPORT, yet 24/7 call time...

    4. Other than Sandra saying a data centre, no one else answered that question if I'm not mistaken.

    What is a data centre & do most hosting companies have one?

    A data center is a structure, building or placement where servers are situated and stored and are looked after whilst being used.

    (Quite hard to explain)

    4. What is the average price for 1, 2 & 3 domains?

    I don't understand this question...

    5. Do hosting companies usually charge a low rate & then have add on charges like extra bandwidth, MB, DBs etc.?

    All hosting companies have set plans then extra fee's if you want to upgrade your bandwidth or space...


    Hope this helps you
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  23. #23
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    Thanks for that.

    So I should be aiming for a data centre then right?

    Does anyone else know the uptime checking web sites?

    The question you didn't understand was "the cost of hosting for 1, 2 & 3 domains."

    Thanks & take care



    Michelle


    Originally posted by Wapture
    1. What do I ask the hosting company for to get their uptime stats?

    You don't need to ask them really, just take a look at a good uptime checking website. There are a few I just can't remember what they are - sorry.

    2. Can't they fudge these?

    No, as these stats aren't from the webhosting company itself yet from a total different business/company.

    3. You are telling me they should be have basically 24 tech support yet they do not. I can reach the owner if I really call his cell all the time, but he can't answer techi problems that have nothing to do with uptime issues.

    no, 24/7 support means you can receive support on any related issue 24 hours 7 days a week. If you can't get that then it's not 24/7 SUPPORT, yet 24/7 call time...

    4. Other than Sandra saying a data centre, no one else answered that question if I'm not mistaken.

    What is a data centre & do most hosting companies have one?

    A data center is a structure, building or placement where servers are situated and stored and are looked after whilst being used.

    (Quite hard to explain)

    4. What is the average price for 1, 2 & 3 domains?

    I don't understand this question...

    5. Do hosting companies usually charge a low rate & then have add on charges like extra bandwidth, MB, DBs Thetc.?

    All hosting companies have set plans then extra fee's if you want to upgrade your bandwidth or space...


    Hope this helps you

  24. #24
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    So I should be aiming for a data centre then right?

    Not really. A datacenter is where a host keeps his/her servers (rather than putting them in their homes or offices). The reason for this is because a datacenter has multiple redundant data connections as well as power backup with both battery and generator (for longer lengths of power downtime).

    Does anyone else know the uptime checking web sites?
    A host generally picks one and uses it for thier servers. These generally cost some money, but reflect to current and potential customers that they are indeed up as much as they say.
    You can find uptime monitors by googling "uptime monitor" but I'm sure some of these guys have better recomendations.

    The question you didn't understand was "the cost of hosting for 1, 2 & 3 domains."
    Generally speaking, this can run you from 3-5 dollars to in excess of 40-50 dollars depending on what exactly you require for bandwidth and space as well as other features such as IP addresses, and the hundreds of other things hosts generally offer.
    The flip side to this coin is you will generally only need one hosting plan for multiple domains (this isn't always true, but it's a good rule of thumb). So in this case, your three domains could be hosted under one plan at (taking the above prices for an average) about $20-30 a month.

    Your milage may vary, and some hosts won't let you have any adult material, while some are less picky as long as your site isn't adult in nature, if you know what I mean.
    Todd

  25. #25
    Originally posted by dualnic
    3rd party uptime monitors could be ticked because those check
    your site every 10 mins or even 60 mins! Your site could be
    offline while http server is running and those checkers will not
    take it as "server down"
    Keep in mind, however, that if your server is down for 1 minute and the system happens to perform a check during that 1 minute, then it's marked as being down for 10 minutes. Ovevrall, I think it works out to being pretty accurate if you've got 5 minute intervals setup. I wouldn't base an uptime guarantee on anything less often than that.

    Matt
    Matt Lightner - http://www.mattlightner.com/
    - First initial to the last name at the mail service provided by the world's largest search engine
    - Founder and CEO (Former) Site5.com, sold in 2008
    - Really honestly wants to be a good WHT citizen but can never remember all the correct etiquette. Mods, sorry in advance

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