Deciding on
a web host is one of the most important decisions that you will make when
you decide to start an online business. Here is a set of questions that you
can ask before you sign up with any host.
by Terence L.
Contributing Author
Hosting companies operating in the U.S. are feeling pretty
confident about their business outlook in the year 2004. The
recovery in the global hosting industry is charging and there is
a wide spread confidence in the present internet connection.
(article continued below ...)
One of the reason for the upbeat mood is the growing confidence
among foreign web users in the operation of the U.S.'s data
center. Thousands of web users are relying hosting companies in
the U.S. to provide the level of hosting excellence required to
run their websites with minimal interruption. Nevertheless,
hosting plan on the web are getting very competitive and
features of each plan is comparatively the same among web
hosting providers. Whether novice or expert, you can find some
useful information in this article to learn about some of the
considerations to look at when you choose a web hosting service.
So how do you ensure you get what you ask for or if you are a
beginner, how do you choose which hosting companies to sign up?
Take advantage of your customer rights. Here is a set of
questions that you can ask before you sign up with any host. If
there is any information that is not shown on host's website,
remember to ask and get clarification.
General Questions
May I know the founder's name and a brief history of his
business engagements?
How long has your company been operating to provide
hosting services?
How many sites have you hosted?
Could you please send some URL of your customer's
website? I would like to determine the web page loading
time.
Network and Internet Connection
Questions
Is your data center equipped with redundant network
equipments, power grid or storage device?
Which Internet backbone carrier are you connected with?
I am very interested to host my website on your servers,
but my main concern is my website's uptime. I would be glad
if you can briefly explain how you manage your servers and
network in terms of speed, reliability and bandwidth
allocation?
How fast is your network, and what is your uptime
guarantee for this plan?
Security Systems Questions
If I were to host my website with you, how do you
protect my website from spamming, viruses and hijacking?
How do you secure your web servers physically?
Do you use any firewall systems?
Do you monitor site security 24 hours a day?
Web Servers Questions
Which brand of server do you use?
Do you use a high-speed SCSI disk drives on the web
server for this plan I intend to host?
How many sites do you host per web server for this plan?
Is your database server on an independent server?
Plan/Package Issues
What is the rate for additional disk space?
Can I switch to other hosting plan once I sign up this
plan?
Could you please let me know all the versions of the
software included in this plan?
Do you charge additional fees for hosting a secure web
site for this plan?
Can I install additional components and third party
software?
Domain Registration and Transfer
Issues
I don't wish to order the hosting plan yet, however can
I park my domain name on your web server before I order?
I am ready to activate the hosting plan. Can you
transfer my domain name to your host?
I am ready to activate the hosting plan. How do I
transfer my website content to your host?
I am ready to transfer my website to your web server.
How do you make sure there is no interruption during the
transfer?
How much do you charge for a domain pointer?
Reseller Questions
Do you provide reseller service? If the answer is yes,
am I qualify as a reseller by purchasing this hosting plan?
Is there any special incentive as a reseller?
Do you provide tools to keep your company anonymous to
my customers?
Technical Support Handling
How long does it take for you to answer support
requests?
How do you handle technical support?
Billing Management
Do you provide 30-day money back guarantee? If the
answer is yes, how does your 30-day money back guarantee
work?
If I want to cancel my hosting account, how long will it
take?
If my hosting account is suspended, how long does it
take to restore it?
About HostPulse.com
Founded in 2001, the HostPulse.com site was formed to focus
on the specific needs of web users who are looking for web
hosting services on the web. Today, the HostPulse.com has over
20,000 web hosting plans from over for users to browse and
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