There are a great number of factors that make a first rate server hosting company, but what about the main ones? A brilliant looking website is surely a big plus, however is it the be all and end all? Will your whole experience fall apart if customer service don't ring once a month to find out how you are? While it might add to a nice experience, is it necessary? The following is what really makes a good server hosting company tick.
A brilliant server host will have excellent uptime and reliability. I was tempted to put support first, however if you have a host with great uptime and reliability, you shouldn't need support. For first rate uptime, a number of practises need to be followed. The first is to use business grade hardware. I am talking about branded rack-mount servers. You might not believe this, but some websites are hosted on desktop dedicated servers. Give these companies a wide birth! Next the network should have high end capacity to cope with large amounts of traffic both when it is quiet, and more importantly during peak times. The company's organisation skills are of utmost importance. A well organised companies runs into less issues. Whereas a badly organised server host can end up rebooting the wrong server, or worse still, formatting it!
Technical support only just comes in at second. Managing expectations of support is very important. You have some customers who expect instant responses. Then there are other customers who wait for days for a reply. Let's be realistic, if the query is trivial, a same day business response is more than acceptable. However, should it be an emergency, you should expect an immediate response. You should find a company that is able to meet these expectations.
The best server hosts also stand out on pricing. That might be hard to believe, given you normally 'get what you pay for'. However, this point seems very relevant given the current economic climate. A great many firms are trying to cut their budgets. IT is normally one area that is culled first. Thus if you can find a server hosting company that is competitive on price, as well as delivering on the points above, you are onto a winner. Don't be fooled into thinking you have to pay ten times the going rate for the privileged of being looked after. Many companies vastly over charge, while the best offer great value for money.
One final word- make sure you do your research. Try and avoid being tied into contacts. Pay month to month, never annually. If a company disappears you'll need your data to move. There are a great many reliable and affordable server hosts out there- a quick google for server hosting will start to reveal some of the best.
A brilliant server host will have excellent uptime and reliability. I was tempted to put support first, however if you have a host with great uptime and reliability, you shouldn't need support. For first rate uptime, a number of practises need to be followed. The first is to use business grade hardware. I am talking about branded rack-mount servers. You might not believe this, but some websites are hosted on desktop dedicated servers. Give these companies a wide birth! Next the network should have high end capacity to cope with large amounts of traffic both when it is quiet, and more importantly during peak times. The company's organisation skills are of utmost importance. A well organised companies runs into less issues. Whereas a badly organised server host can end up rebooting the wrong server, or worse still, formatting it!
Technical support only just comes in at second. Managing expectations of support is very important. You have some customers who expect instant responses. Then there are other customers who wait for days for a reply. Let's be realistic, if the query is trivial, a same day business response is more than acceptable. However, should it be an emergency, you should expect an immediate response. You should find a company that is able to meet these expectations.
The best server hosts also stand out on pricing. That might be hard to believe, given you normally 'get what you pay for'. However, this point seems very relevant given the current economic climate. A great many firms are trying to cut their budgets. IT is normally one area that is culled first. Thus if you can find a server hosting company that is competitive on price, as well as delivering on the points above, you are onto a winner. Don't be fooled into thinking you have to pay ten times the going rate for the privileged of being looked after. Many companies vastly over charge, while the best offer great value for money.
One final word- make sure you do your research. Try and avoid being tied into contacts. Pay month to month, never annually. If a company disappears you'll need your data to move. There are a great many reliable and affordable server hosts out there- a quick google for server hosting will start to reveal some of the best.
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