Archive for the ‘Linux Hosting Review’ Category

iPower Review

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011
http://www.ipower.com

Launched in 2001, IPOWER has rapidly gained a following in the industry. The business offers companies around the world a place to call home, and operates with 100% renewable energy. Currently, the company boasts more than 700,000 clients around the globe. In addition to their emphasis on sustainability and green initiatives, the company also focuses on providing high quality, affordable solutions for their customers.

You will find that the company offers unlimited disk space and bandwidth, and is an excellent solution for ecommerce needs thanks to their ShopSite software. In addition, IPOWER offers both web design and marketing services for their clients, in order to help them expand their reach and the results of their web presence.

Features List

Basic Features Included Features
Unlimited disk space 24/7 customer support
Unlimited bandwidth Google AdWords credits
Unlimited domains Social network ad credits
2,500 email accounts 30-day money-back guarantee
Free domain name Instant, free setup
International domain name support

Pricing Concerns
Checking the prices for different webhosts can be a daunting task, particularly when they have a number of different packages or tiered prices. However, you will find that IPOWER has only a single package at a single price. Just $4.95 per month pays for the services listed above, as well as numerous other benefits, as well.

You will find that your return on the initial investment is considerable, as IPOWER offers more features than individual users will likely need, and can provide substantial benefits for small and medium companies.

Reliability and Uptime Factors
IPOWER offers the industry standard 99.9% uptime. However, the company usually exceeds this rating by a considerable amount, approaching 99.98%, and publishes these ratings on a regular basis. Their data centers are located in Boston, and are state of the art. The company also uses redundant power and backup systems to provide greater stability and reliability for their clients. However, interestingly, their renewable energy sources are capable of supplying more than their required energy needs.

Control Panel Information
IPOWER does not use cPanel or a proprietary system. Rather, they use the latest iteration of vDeck, which offers more than 200 different tools and features to help ensure that you are able to control your web presence perfectly. These ensure that you can manage your domain, your email accounts, your statistics and even your user comments. For those who want to go a bit more hands-on, vDeck can run custom scripts and third-party scripts, as well.

Customer Support and Service
One of the signs of a good webhost is a dedication to providing efficient, immediate customer support. IPOWER offers customers several options for getting in touch when they need assistance. You can call the help desk via a toll-free number 24 hours per day, or you can email them. You can also opt to open a chat window or submit a ticket. You can also choose to search the knowledge base on the company’s website, or use their Flash tutorials to learn more.

 

FeatureNo Ratings
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Greengreak Review

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011
http://www.greengreak.com

GreenGeeks is certainly a newcomer to the industry. However, this does not mean that the company is without benefits. In fact, their unique position makes them ideal for a number of different reasons. The single most startling factor about GreenGeeks is the fact that they use green energy to host their clients’ websites. This energy is derived from wind power sources, but renders the company carbon neutral. Therefore, using this company actually helps benefit the environment.

However, there are certainly other items you’ll want to consider here. The company offers a long list of good services, as well as plenty of outstanding customer support. Their low price and 99.9% uptime guarantee are also nice additions.

Features List

Basic Features Included Features
Unlimited disk space 99.9% uptime guarantee
Unlimited bandwidth Free marketing credits
Unlimited domains on 1 account North American customer support
Unlimited email accounts 30-day money-back guarantee
Unlimited MySQL databases Transparent pricing
Free for life domain Instant activation
Free site migration (existing sites)
Free website builder

Pricing Concerns
For those tired of studying pricing tiers, GreenGeeks is a breath of fresh air. They offer only a single package, at a single low price. All the services they offer are available for all of their clients. You will pay just $4.95 per month to get started with this webhost. The fact that they offer free site migration for your existing websites is also a nice benefit, as is the 99.9% uptime guarantee. Finally, the fact that the company derives 300% of their power needs from sustainable, green wind power is a huge selling point for many people.

Reliability and Uptime Factors
As mentioned, GreenGeeks offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee. This has become the industry standard, but the company is able to achieve it by using state of the art servers and security technology. The company uses Intel Dual Quad Core Xeon processors, Large RAID 10 storage arrays and provides 100 Mbps connectivity. In addition, the company uses the same servers throughout their entire operation, unlike companies that purchase low-end servers for some segments of their operation.

Control Panel Information
Rather than offering a watered-down custom control panel, GreenGeeks gives their clients access to cPanel, which is one of the best control panels in the industry. You will find that this control panel is feature-rich, and allows you to manage and organize almost anything in your account, from email accounts to individual pages and everything in between.

Customer Support and Service
If you are looking for the best in customer support, then GreenGeeks can deliver. Their customer service department is available 24 hours per day, seven days per week, and 365 days per year. In addition, you will find that the company provides you with several means of reaching customer support should you need assistance, including live chat, email and the telephone. The support desk is located in North America, as well, unlike companies who outsource their support to other nations.

 

FeatureNo Ratings
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WebHostingPad Review

Monday, November 21st, 2011
http://www.webhostingpad.com

A relative newcomer to the webhosting scene, Web Hosting Pad got its start in 2005. However, just because the company has only been around for five years doesn’t mean that they are not worth looking into. This webhost offers several perks for those seeking affordable, reliable hosting services. Web Hosting Pad offers unlimited space and bandwidth starting at just a couple of dollars per month. You’ll also find that Web Hosting Pad gives you access to cPanel, with a list of powerful features and functions to help you keep your website maintained and running correctly.

Features List

Basic Features Included Features
Unlimited bandwidth Award-winning support
Unlimited disk space 99.9% uptime
cPanel Instant account activation
Unlimited domains Free backup
Unlimited email accounts 30-day money-back guarantee
Unlimited databases
Unlimited FTP accounts

Pricing Concerns

Perhaps the single best thing about Web Hosting Pad is the fact that you are given all of the above listed features for a single, low price. Just $1.99 per month is all it takes. You will enjoy unlimited traffic to your website and more disk space than you’ll ever need. However, there are some limitations spelled out in the terms of service that you should read – they’re not terrible, but you should be aware of them before you sign up. Still, the fact that you are paying such a very low price for your hosting should be counted in the company’s favor, regardless of the moderate limits set on their unlimited bandwidth and disk space.

Reliability and Uptime Factors

Unlike many other hosts out there, Web Hosting Pad breaks their uptime down to a considerable degree. In fact, the company boasts 99.999% uptime. Therefore, the downtime on their servers is almost negligible. This is thanks to state of the art equipment and technology employed to keep their servers running at peak performance all the time. Four OC-12 connections, dual Xeon Intel RAID protected servers, custom Apache servers, quad Intel Xeon hosting servers and 24/7 monitoring ensure that you get the best possible uptime and reliability from your webhost.

Control Panel Information

Web Hosting Pad gives you access to cPanel, perhaps the best-known control panel in the industry. You’ll find a long list of features and functions here, allowing you to do anything you might want, from managing your email to setting up new pages, studying site stats, managing FTP accounts and more. All of this can be done directly through cPanel and all the controls are clearly listed in easily navigated menus, as well.

Customer Support and Service

Web Hosting Pad offers some of the best customer support and service in the industry today. With telephone, chat and email support offered 24 hours per day, 365 days per year, you’ll never be unable to get assistance when its needed. In addition, the company has vast knowledge bases, which can be searched for answers, or you can check out their help and FAQ sections, as well.

FeatureNo Ratings
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Bluehost Review

Monday, November 21st, 2011
http://www.bluehost.com

Bluehost has been serving customers since 1996. This is a very long run in the webhosting industry, which means that the company is certainly doing something right. Over the course of their time in the industry, Bluehost has developed a reputation for excellence in terms of pricing, customer service and in features provided to their customers. The company offers 24-hour customer service, as well as some of the best pricing for the features provided. In addition, their 99.9% uptime guarantee means that you should have no concerns about whether your site is accessible to your visitors or not.

Feature List

Basic Features Included Features
Unlimited disk space 99.9% uptime guarantee
Unlimited bandwidth Free search engine credits
Unlimited domains hosting Anytime money-back guarantee
Unlimited email accounts Free instant setup
Free forever domain Transparent pricing – no hidden fees
Free site builder software

Pricing Concerns

Ensuring that you receive the most value for your money is very important in the world of webhosting. However, you will find that Bluehost offers you plenty of “bang for your buck.” Because there is only a single package plan available, you will not find any confusing pricing or feature stipulations – everyone has access to all of the features on offer. The feature package offered by Bluehost is one of the most comprehensive you will find for the money, and gives you considerable return on your initial investment.

Reliability and Uptime Information

Bluehost claims 99.9% uptime, and they even guarantee this to their clients. This is accomplished with an advanced data center with 24-hour monitoring. Mirrored backups, redundant power systems, an OC-48 backbone connection, quad processor Opteron servers and other technological features ensure that they are able to deliver on this guarantee, as well. What this means for you, the client, is that you are able to enjoy hassle-free hosting, without worrying about your website being inaccessible to your visitors.

Control Panel

The control panel provided by your webhost is an enormously important concern. You will find that Bluehost offers the industry-top cPanel for your needs. There are quite a few powerful features on this control panel, and they’re all easily accessed even by novice users. You can manage your account, your domain, your email, your website and even build new pages directly from the control panel here. If you have the knowledge required, you will even find that cPanel offers script support for you.

Customer Support

Bluehost is firmly committed to providing the best customer service and support possible to their clients. You will find that the company offers 24-hour service throughout the year. You can reach a customer service representative by telephone, by support ticket or by email. You will also find that searching the company’s extensive knowledge base is the fastest way to find the answers to common questions. Their help and FAQ sections are also quite detailed and can provide you with the answers that you need immediately.

FeatureNo Ratings
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Fatcow Review

Monday, November 21st, 2011
http://www.fatcow.com

FatCow is ranked as a preferred host, and there are numerous reasons for this. Voted the #1 small business webhost, FatCow provides the tools, support and extras needed for success in the online environment.

FatCow was designed from the beginning to be different (if you can’t tell by the name alone). The host was born in 1998, in New Mexico, and has remained true to their original goals of offering simplified pricing systems, better customer service, higher customer satisfaction and less techno-speak.

Feature List

Basic Features Included Features
Unlimited disk space 30-day money-back guarantee
Unlimited bandwidth 24/7 customer support
Unlimited POP mailboxes Search engine and social network credits
Free domain name

Pricing Concerns

If you are considering FatCow for your webhosting needs, you will certainly be interested in just how much you’ll pay for the features listed above. While other hosts might hem and haw about their prices, adding a considerable amount for each feature they offer, FatCow offers a simple pricing plan that will ensure you have the hosting and features that you need – $55 per year (regularly $88 per year). In addition, when you factor in the free domain name (if you need one), you’ll see that your price is actually much, much lower than what some of the other webhosts are charging for less.

Reliability and Uptime Information

Choosing a host that does not have the best uptime can be a terrible mistake. While all websites suffer when their host is down, small businesses in particular suffer hardships. Remember, every hour that your website is not available equals another hour during which your customers cannot make a purchase.

FatCow offers solid uptime and reliability – 99.9% per year. This is an essential consideration, as it will have a direct effect on your profitability and your branding efforts. Your customers will see a down website as a reflection of your company, not of the webhost.

Control Panel

Much like iPage, FatCow does not use cPanel or even vDeck. Instead, they offer their own custom control panel for their users. While this might alarm longtime users of cPanel, there is no cause for concern. In reality, FatCow’s control panel is actually simpler and easier to use than cPanel and more powerful, as well. Feature-rich and fully capable of doing what you need, this is a real winner for customers.

Customer Support

FatCow was founded to increase customer satisfaction and provide better customer support. They hold true to that goal, and offer some of the best support and service in the industry. You’ll find that you can contact customer support 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. In addition, the company offers three ways to get in touch in the case of problems. You can open a chat window, call the company directly or send an email to the support desk. Of course, the FAQ section and the tutorials on the website are also huge helps for customers.

FeatureNo Ratings
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Justhost Review

Monday, November 21st, 2011
http://www.justhost.com

When it comes to webhosts, JustHost.com ranks up there with the best of the best. This is largely due to their ongoing commitment to providing industry-best customer service and the best possible reliability and uptime.

JustHost.com was founded in order to provide personal users, business users, nonprofits and others with affordable, reliable hosting that really works. They’ve certainly succeeded, as you can tell from a brief perusal of their satisfied customer testimonials.

Feature List

Basic Features Included Features
Unlimited disk space Live support 24/7
Unlimited bandwidth Anytime money-back guarantee
Unlimited domains Guaranteed 99.9% uptime
Unlimited subdomains Free search engine and social network ad credits
Unlimited FTP accounts
Free for life domain name
Free instant activation

Pricing Concerns

If you have spent any time at all comparing different webhosting options, you have doubtless encountered numerous confusing pricing plans. What looks promising at first turns out to be a terrible error, as the price continues to mount for services that really should be included from the start.
However, JustHost.com is dedicated to affordability, customer service and transparency. Right now, you can sign up for a single low price, which gives you access to all of the features listed above, as well as many others. For just $4.45 per month, you can enjoy the most reliable host on the market.

Reliability and Uptime Information

When you choose a webhost, you are doing so in good faith that the host will actually do what they say they will. That is, you expect them to be up and operating, hosting your website so that your visitors can actually reach the site. However, many webhosts have a considerable amount of downtime, which can be detrimental to your operation, even if it is a personal website.
JustHost.com trumps most others in the marketplace by offering a guaranteed 99.9% uptime ratio. This is of considerable benefit to you, and can help ensure that your website is available when it should be – which is always.

Control Panel

You will find that JustHost.com offers the industry-best control panel – cPanel. For those familiar with it, this should come as a pleasant surprise. For those unfamiliar with cPanel, you will find that the company offers the latest iteration of this program, which offers powerful functionality and ease of use for your needs. Simple, powerful and easy to use – it doesn’t get better than this.

Customer Support

To judge by other webhosts, customer service and support is an extra for which they should charge a premium. JustHost.com takes a different stance. Here, you will find unlimited support, 24 hours per day, every day of the week. You can contact the help desk via email, by phone or even through the chat feature on the website. This ensures that if you have problems or concerns, you can find the answers you need right now. You will also find that JustHost.com offers in-depth tutorials and FAQs to help you find answers on your own if needed.

FeatureNo Ratings
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Dreamhost Review

Monday, November 21st, 2011
http://www.dreamhost.com

DreamHost has a long history in the industry, dating back to 1997 when four undergrads started the company with just a Pentium 100 web server and a T1 connection. Since that time, the company has grown to host more than 200,000 websites and operates more than 700 individual servers. Another interesting hallmark of the company is their increasing determination to be ecologically friendly.From paperless office systems to power consumption reduction, DreamHost has made considerable headway here.

Of course, the company does offer a number of excellent features for the price, and they feature excellent customer service, as well.

Features List

Basic Features Included Features
Unlimited disk storage 24/7 customer support
1 TB of bandwidth per month 100% uptime guarantee
Unlimited domains 97-day money-back guarantee
Unlimited email accounts Award-winning control panel
Unlimited MySQL databases
Unlimited subdomains
Unlimited forwarded domains
PHP5 support

Pricing Concerns
Ensuring that you get the most value for the price is an essential consideration here. However, you’ll find that DreamHost offers plenty of return on your investment. For instance, for each week that you remain a DreamHost customer, you earn additional bandwidth (you’re relegated to 1TB of bandwidth in the beginning).

The features and support offered here are more than adequate for a budget host, and actually more than what many “affordable” webhosts provide their customers. However, you should be aware that there is no Windows operating system offered – DreamHost uses Unix/Linux exclusively. While this might not be a problem for some, it is something of which to be aware.

Reliability and Uptime Factors
DreamHost is one of the few companies to guarantee 100% uptime, rather than 99.9% uptime. In addition, the incredible 97-day money-back guarantee is one of the longest in the industry. The company also offers a price freeze, locking in your hosting price once you sign up to be a member. Of course, if you cancel, then you will no longer have that benefit and will have to pay the current signup rate if you choose to return to their service in the future.

Control Panel Information
DreamHost offers one of the best control panels in the industry. In fact, the control panel has won several awards and accolades for its features and functionality. This is a custom, proprietary control panel that allows you to control website creation, billing, email and more. However, it also gives you features such as customer suggestions, newsletters and a charitable donations program, as well.

Customer Support and Service
You will find that the support and service offered by DreamHost differs from what you’ll find in the rest of the industry. In fact, the company prefers to give you the tools to solve your problems, by providing you with an in-depth knowledge base, a help section, FAQ section and more. If you are unable to find your answer here, then you can use the forums or the wiki. Finally, you can email the company for help if no other method works.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Yahoo Review

Monday, November 21st, 2011
http://www.smallbusiness.yahoo.com

Yahoo is best known as the second most popular search engine in the modern world. However, did you know that they also offer webhosting plans? Their Yahoo Small Business segment offers business owners that chance to have their own website hosted by Yahoo, itself. How does this service rank compared to others?

Actually, they stack up well in terms of price, and offer decent features, as well. While the plans are relatively basic, they do offer a considerable amount of flexibility for business owners seeking to establish a web presence with a trusted name. However, Yahoo hosting is more appropriate for small businesses than it is for personal websites, though it can certainly be done here.

Features List

Basic Features Included Features
Unlimited disk space 24-hour support
Unlimited bandwidth Photo and video galleries
1,000 email addresses Marketing discounts through Yahoo!
Free domain name 30-day satisfaction guarantee
Free web design tools

Pricing Concerns
Unlike other hosts out there, Yahoo only offers a single package plan. However, it is available in three different price ranges, depending on how long you want to contract the company for their service. For a single month, you will pay $12.95 for hosting. However, for three months, that drops to $7.77 per month ($11.95 per month after the first 3 months). For a full year, you’ll pay $6.47 per month for the first three months, and then $9.95 per month for the remainder of the contract.

While the company does offer quite a few services and a lot of support, the confusing nature of their pricing programs is not a good thing. However, if you are able to work it into your budget, then Yahoo’s hosting is actually a good thing.

Reliability and Uptime
Yahoo guarantees that you will enjoy 99.9% uptime. However, you’ll actually find that they surpass this by a considerable amount most of the time. This is because of the advanced backup systems and redundant power systems the monolithic parent company is able to provide. Simply put, they have the best equipment in the industry. Yahoo also backs up your site to servers located in different geographic locations. This means that should something untoward happen to the servers in one location, you have several other backups to use.

Control Panel Information
The control panel is one of the most important concerns in webhosting. You will find that Yahoo’s control panel is a very good one. It offers advanced functionality and lots of features, allowing you to control every aspect of your website. All of these features integrate with all of Yahoo’s other services, as well, which can be a considerable boon to businesses using those features.

Customer Support and Service
Yahoo offers excellent customer support, around the clock, seven days per week. In addition, the customer service technicians are fully trained, and used to helping website owners of all experience levels, so your questions will be answered quickly, correctly and efficiently. You can contact them via telephone, via email or use their startup guides.

FeatureNo Ratings
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Go Daddy Review

Monday, November 21st, 2011
http://www.godaddy.com

Go Daddy is perhaps one of the most visible webhosts out there, thanks in large part to their advertising and partnerships with big-name personages. How does their service stack up, though? How does this host compare to others out there? ? Price-wise, they are quite affordable. Feature-wise, they rank well, also.

Go Daddy offers a considerable number of features for very low prices. They also offer good customer service, and more. Of course, they might not offer all the services possible, but they do a good job of covering the essentials for the price that you will pay.

Features List

Basic Features Included Features
10 GB of disk space 24/7 customer support
Unlimited bandwidth Website statistics
100 email accounts Free search engine ad credits
10 MySQL databases Free setup
Linux and Windows hosting More than 50 applications
24/7 FTP access
Daily backups

Pricing Concerns
Go Daddy offers three different pricing plans – Economy, Deluxe and Ultimate. The Economy plan is just that, as you can see from the list of basic features above. Most clients will choose to use the Deluxe plan, which brings 150 GB of disk space, 500 email addresses and 25 MySQL databases for only a small amount more per month. Those with higher usage needs should consider the Ultimate plan, which offers unlimited disk space and unlimited MySQL databases. Pricing for each package varies based on the length of your contract. However, for a single year of service, you’ll pay the $3.99 per month for Economy, $6.99 per month for Deluxe and $9.99 per month for Ultimate.

Reliability and Uptime Factors
When it comes to data centers, Go Daddy operates some of the most advanced in the business. Actually, unlike some other webhosts out there, Go Daddy actually owns and operates their own data centers, rather than renting or sharing space from another company. Servers, routers and firewalls are all monitored 24-hours per day, and are all state of the art, as well. Of course, you will also find that Go Daddy offers 99.9% uptime, which has become the industry standard in just a short time.

Control Panel Information
Finding an example of Go Daddy’s proprietary control panel is no easy chore. However, you will find that this control panel does offer a considerable degree of control over your website. You will be able to manage domain names, email addresses, websites and your statistics, of course. Nevertheless, the control panel is rather basic. It is also rather difficult to navigate, simply because of the number of different screens through which you will have to navigate.

Customer Support and Service
Go Daddy offers good customer service, though it is not as good as some other hosts out there. You will find that you can contact customer service via phone or email. Response times for email communication can be up to seven hours, though. However, the best option is to search the company’s enormous knowledge base for instant answers to your pressing questions.

 

FeatureNo Ratings
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1&1 Review

Monday, November 21st, 2011
http://www.1and1.com

1&1 Hosting started in 1988 when a small German company called 1&1 took over marketing activities for BTX, the troubled online service run by T-Com. 1&1 had been expanding fast with their top notch one-stop hosting service and the company is the world’s biggest web host nowadays with 7.46 million cutomers.

Sure 1&1 is huge from the figures. A customer base of 7.5 million – that’s 7 times more than the number of customers at Bluehost and Hostmonster combined. But hey, being the largest isn’t the best. So let’s check out what’s up with 1&1 hosting services.

 

1 & 1 Hosting Features

1&1 packaged their web hosting services into 4 major plans – 1&1 Beginner, 1&1 Home, 1&1 Business, and 1&1 Beveloper. We’ll check out 1&1 Home hosting features here.

Conclusion: Is 1&1 Hosting Recommended?

Overall 1 & 1 is a good choice and can adjust your requirements.

If you want to host a single site, it can be the best choice, but for multiple sites and or business account may need a detailed analysis by you, and the best way to evaluate their performance is to test their service. You can host a single site initially, and if it goes well, bring other sites of yours to the same server. On the other hand, if you think 1 & ! Hosting might not be the right choice for you, read reviews on my recommendations: Hostgator, Bluehost, Lunarpages, and FatCow.

 

FeatureNo Ratings
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