web hosting

Making the Most of Uptime

You may have noticed that most web hosting providers boast either a 99 or 99.9% uptime guarantee, a percentage that refers to how often the service will be up and running.  As a customer, these numbers look very impressive as they are not that short of perfection.  However, after learning more about these calculations, you may think twice when encountering a seemingly respectable uptime guarantee.

What is Covered in the Guarantee?

In most cases, the uptime a web host refers to only covers the servers and not the network.  When it comes to network issues and general maintenance, downtime is something that can heavily outweigh the advertised uptime guarantee.  This is why some customers running mission-critical operations look for SLAs (service level agreements) that compensate you in one way or another if downtime exceeds the agreement.  Unfortunately, several of the leading hosting providers usually do not make such an offer available.  The situation becomes even more complex when considering the potential downtime you could experience during the course of a year.  When doing so, the near perfect 99% doesn’t look so attractive.

Let’s work with a few examples.  A 98% uptime means that over a 12-month period, your website could be down for 175 hours and 19 minutes, which translates to about a week.  99% isn’t much better as your site could be unavailable for approximately 87 hours and 39 minutes over a one year period.  This is still a lot of time for someone running a busy website.  Most providers try to uphold the 99.9% uptime guarantee because it translate into the most reliable.  This is far more respectable as it means that you will only endure about 8 hours and 46 minutes of downtime over a 12 month period.  Sadly, downtime usually exceeds this number by far.  Even worst, many customers are in a no-win situation, forced to suffer from unavailability without being compensated for the excessive downtime.

Recognizing a Respectable Uptime

The best way to approach the perplexing issue of uptime is to select a hosting provider with a good reputation in the industry.  Downtime is unavoidable but it is much better when dealing with a company that will not try to manipulate the numbers and do all they can to ensure the highest availability.  Look for a host that provides good support so if something does happen, you can get in touch and find out how and when the service will be restored.

As far as the uptime guarantee goes, it is something you should look into if you are truly concerned about the availability of your site.  Read the fine print, do some investigating and if possible, choose a company that bases their uptime percentage over a monthly period.  If the calculations are made over a year, you could have a difficult time getting accurate credits for any downtime incurred.  Most reputable hosting providers take various measures to ensure reliability but things do happen.  When they do, you want a host that provides a fair playing ground with a guarantee that has your best interests in mind.

Heed the Tricks of Cheap Hosting

Cheap hosting has become a very popular niche, but there is another side to the service which the average customer may not be aware of.  Some web hosting companies employ a wide variety of tricks in order to sell their cheap service, many of which could hinder your ability to be successful with a website.  Learning about these practices will help you know what to expect and hopefully elude the hosts behind them.

Lack of Experience and Track Record

The web hosting market is filled with thousands of companies who are just waiting to provide you with service.  One should also beware that some of these providers have not been in business very long.  Even worse, some do not have the manpower, knowledge and experience it takes to run a web hosting business.  Signing up with a host that is just hitting the scene and riding the learning curve might leave you with a lot of heartache when things to start to go wrong.  While everyone has to start somewhere, it is best to find a company that has a proven track record.  This is one that is most likely to provide you with the best service.

Lousy Support

There are many web hosting providers that will cut back on every aspect they can in order to save money.  One of the most vital areas they sacrifice is support.  These are companies who make it next to impossible to get the help you need.  They may offer limited support by allowing you to only contact the staff via email.  Some will even advertise 24/7 support but fall short by taking forever to respond to your inquiries or simply not answering the phone.  This is why it is so important to make sure you sign up with a host that can provide quality support.  It is a good rule of thumb to test the company with an email or call during late night hours or over the weekend.  Whenever you need help, they should be able to step up and deliver.

Shady SLA

The Service Level Agreement or SLA, is often overlooked but you should never disregard it.

The SLA is to entail how problems that the web host encounters will directly influence the customers experience.  This agreement needs to be read thoroughly before signing up with any web host.  If the company doesn’t offer one, move onto the next.  If the SLA does not clearly outline the level of service you are to receive and what will happen if is not upheld, you should probably find a company that offers something more comprehensive.

Beware of the Middleman

When running across a cheap hosting plan, there may be a chance that you are not dealing with a web hosting company at all, yet an agent selling packages on their behalf.  This is known as reseller hosting, a practice that allows entrepreneurs and small businesses to profit from web hosting.  Although reseller hosting isn’t necessarily a bad thing, you should keep in mind that you will have no direct contact with the web host, the company who is doing all the work and actually housing your data.

Conclusion

There is nothing wrong with cheap hosting as it can be a viable option in many situations.  With that said, it helps to be informed on these questionable practices so you can stay away from the companies sacrificing quality for a cheap service.