Tips on choosing a good web host

[arunpattnaik]

Hi guys,

I suggest you to pay attention to the following details while choosing the right host for you.

1. Uptime - Look for atleast 98% uptime. People seldom come back to down sites.
2. Don't settle for low bandwidth. Look for at least 100 GB+ deal. You'll lose precious traffic if your site doesnt load at all!
3. Take care of your budget. Prefer hosting services which give you credit limits for payments.
   
4. BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP! Choose the ones which provide daily, or at least monthly backups for you entire site (including databases).
5. Look for active support. I personally prefer hosts which provide live support feature. But you might settle down for a support forum. But i wont recommend you to go for hosting options just with support tickets.
6. Double check their hosting platform. If your pages are in php, go for linux hosting (relatively cheaper), or if you're into asp , .net pages, go for windows hosting packages.
7. Make sure they offer web based site management - instead of just FTP. Make sure they offer Java, statistical reporting, real audio, real video, mail list management, and a search engine. If you use Microsoft's Front Page, make sure they offer Front Page extensions.

Hope it helps. Good luck.

Cheers!

 

[DanielEZPZ]

Some of your points don't make any sense.

1. 98% of uptime is too low. Anything less than 99.9% in a month is too much.
2. If you have a 2mb website, 100GB bandwidth isn't going to be a necessity.
5. Some of the most successful hosts don't offer phone support and only provide ticket support. As long as its managed well, its fine.
7. a search engine? What???

 

[arunpattnaik]

Hello daniel,

thanks for paying such close attention. I'll be glad to explain the points you've doubts on.

1. An "at least" is ALWAYS an "at least". i believe you know what i mean. I've seen people who dont even care for uptime at all! They are just flattered by the technical jargon like bandwidth, ssl, ftp, fantastico bla bla bla.
2. Well I would like to disagree on this part. What if your 2 mb website (2 mb?? u gotta be kidding me) gets a few million hits every month? If you're thinking about changing servers "after" getting famous, just cut that idea. It's never advisable to change your site from server to server. And why not to be prepared from the beginning?
5. Well, it's a matter of personal preference to be honest. I would never want to wait for several hours for an answer by the support ticket staff. And if you've more questions, wait for another few hours!! Why not just grab a host with live chat system and get your service right away?
7. YES, a search engine. For your information, some of the hosts, including my previous one , i wont name them obviously, DO NOT allow search engine scripts like google custom search or ajax search in their servers. And eventually your blog posts are pretty much a task to find.

Hope i've clarified your doubts

 

[babadorie]

98% of uptime is not too low in my opinion. There is no true guarantee in uptime. A NOC can have frequent DOS attack which may keep sites down for hours if not days. It may have router problem and so on. What I look at is how frequently my site goes down. If It goes down say once every 2 to 3 months, that is great.
Just my 2 cents!

 

[babadorie]

You do not have to agree with me. This is a forum and you are entitle to your view but that's my view. Everyone sees things differently.

 

[bamboo1986]

Thank you so much,i'm so appreciated!

 

[SolidShellSecurity]

Support is one of the biggest things to look for.

 

[LGClassifieds]

Support is definitely the most important point.

 

[jackdalson]

Re:

As of me you might be excited by hosts that offer 5GB of storage space and 1000GB (1TB) of bandwidth for very low prices, but you should at the very least be wary of such companies. Besides the con issue, ask yourself - do you even need such large resources? For most small companies and individuals starting up, a maximum of 500MB web storage space and roughly 5GB bandwidth will be adequate. Once your site is up and running, you will be able to see whether you do need more or not and if necessary, you can upgrade.

 

[tanya.dimple]

Hi

I accept the constraints mentioned above. We need to check those constraints and opt any provider.
And also check conditions of the offer selected.

Regards
Tanya
Technical Consultant

 

[reedhurst1026]

You should also look for the control panel softwares and security features as well.

 

[meochain]

The hosting package you choose should give value for your money. It is not worthwhile to sign up for a cheap service which gives a very bad service. Another thing you should keep in mind is that of overprice hosting. Therefore, compare and analyze the price and features that you get from a service before making a purchase.

 

[traxport121]

I agree with your points. Why go waste money on a bad host when you can search for a good host in the first place!

 

[reedhurst1026]

98% uptime is too low. you should update it to something more than 99%

 

[shubh82]

Now a days no one is good. Hackers can break the any type of security. Some days ago whcms is down and indian governemnt websites are down.