When it comes to choosing a web hosting company, the novice web owner may find himself perplexed about certain aspects related to web hosting services. In this article, the web master can find answers to the most common
frequently asked questions related to web hosting companies, their services and products.
Q. How do I ascertain the reliability of a web hosting company?
A. The company’s reliability can be determined by the uptime guarantee offered, their quality of customer and
technical support offered (99.9% is highly preferred), and their duration of services in the hosting industry.
However, it is advisable to read the fine print of their terms and conditions and service agreements in its entirety
before signing up for their hosting services.
Q. What kind of performance should I expect?
A. A professional and quality web hosting company has one or more T3 lines that are always connected to the Internet,
not going through someone else's network operations center. The servers should be fast, ideally Pentium Pro or Linux.
It is also a good idea to inform your web host if you would be using steaming audio or video on your websites, which
could actually be bandwidth killers. This will help you choose the hosting package that best suits your hosting
requirements.
Q. How important is phone support
A. Every discerning customer out there would look for quality 24/7 phone support with a live operator. In order to
determine the credibility of the claims, it is advisable to call the company on a weekend at late night hours. This
would give you a general idea about the quality of customer and technical support that the host offers. Remember, if
you are serious about web hosting, then 24/7/365 phone support by a live person is imperative for the success of your
website. Also, prompt action in terms of addressing any issues or queries cannot be overlooked when looking for a
quality web host.
Q. What about the pricing structures and affordability of the hosting packages?
A. The entry level hosting service with a single domain name, 20 - 30 MB (Mega Bytes) of hard drive space, email
services, and up to a 1 GB (Giga Bytes) of monthly bandwidth should cost you no more than 50 dollars. Some companies
would offer packages for as less as $4 to $10 per month that would include all functionalities, services and features
that would be required for running a website.
Q. How is Security handled?
A. The passwords to your website or domain should be required to control the host as well as management of the web
site. Every file on the server should also be backed up on a daily basis. You should always look for a host that
offers you secure transactions as well. This especially holds true for e-commerce enabled or business websites.
Q. How much bandwidth is required for data transfer?
A. On a rough estimate, 2GB of bandwidth should be sufficient for a small personal website. For a medium sized
website, features text and a few images, a bandwidth of 5 GB would be ideal. Larger sites on the other hand, require
30 GB of bandwidth.
