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Page 2 of 2 Security, Reliability and Service Security, reliability and service can turn to be very important, if you are unlucky enough to select a hosting company that compromises security measures or that cannot cope with the constant downtime of their servers. I wish I could say that such cases are rare but they aren't. And while price, bandwidth, disk storage and transfer allowance are easier to measure, security, reliability and service aren't. And sometimes when you ask the provider about the security measures they implement, you will hardly get a more meaningful answer that they are “state-of-the-art”, “hacker-proofed”, etc. Needless to say that you just skip such a provider and move to the next in the list. The level of security you will require varies heavily on the type of applications you plan to deploy on your site. In any case it is not pleasant to have one's site hacked but the damage is different if it is a small personal site and you can always re-upload it again and if it is an online shop, which has transactions for thousands of dollars daily. There are hosting offers that are aimed especially at eCommerce, so if you need them, you may want to have a look at them. Reliability is also a tricky issue. There is no hosting solution that can offer 100% uptime, even 99.999% is expensive and difficult to achieve, but if you experience constant downtimes and when you call the support guys it takes long hours or even days for them to fix the problem, then you should really think about finding another provider. Service is not limited to competent and timely technical support, although this is vital. When considering a hosting provider's service, check if they offer additional services (for instance Web design or search optimization) that you would like to use when necessary. Also, check if you can install PHP and CGI scripts, if you can use a database server, if you will have access to log files, how frequent are backups (once a day is OK, even once a week can be OK for a small site), etc. Sometimes the type of server (Apache, IIS or other) and the operating system (Linux, Windows, FreeBSD, etc.) that the host is running are also very important factors in choosing a hosting provider. Where to Look for Offers The only complaint one can't have in choosing Web hosting is lack of offers. The first suggestion is to search Google. Even a simple search on Google will bury you with so many offers that you will need days to browse through. You can also browse through directory listings of Web hosting services, for instance try searching Google directories or sites like Webhostdir. You can also read the discussions on http://webhostingtalk.com and see what other users have experienced but have in mind that it is a professional forum and if you are a newbie, you might need assistance in understanding the terminology. Another place where you can ask about other people's experience with hosting providers is http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=143762. If you are looking for free or budget hosting, check this site. The same site offers many other interesting resources and a classification of available hosts based on different criteria. If you have clear vision about traffic allowance, disk space, e-mail accounts, etc., http://www.findmyhosting.com can show you hundreds of offers that match your criteria. Another way to find a Web host is word of mouth from friends or colleagues. Ask them about their experience with Web hosting companies and their honest opinion about what they have tried, what they are pleased with and what is disappointing. Also, you might need not go even that further, if your ISP provides hosting and their terms are acceptable for you. Anyway, if necessary, you can always change your hosting provider, if you are really dissatisfied with them!
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