Keys to take into account when hiring a professional web hosting
Shortly after the web pages appeared in the history of the Internet, web hosting or hosting services appeared.
In a few years (less than 10) the providers of storage services have been appearing continuously.
Currently, website managers or entrepreneurs on the Internet have a wide range of possibilities when choosing a provider that offers these services.
That there are so many possibilities is good and bad at the same time, it is good because the client has many options and thus, the possible monopolies are eliminated and it is bad, because in most of the occasions the person looking for one of these services does not have the enough knowledge to know exactly the type of hosting you need and the type of needs that your web project has.
The 3 key points that you should take into account when looking for a professional web hosting for your new project
When choosing a good provider we must take into account the following key points that will help us find a professional that is serious and flexible at the same time:
1º Technical support
Personally, I believe that a technical support with a great training, professional and efficient is key when choosing a hosting provider to host our critical projects, and more, if we do not have knowledge on the subject.
In addition, technical support must be human, this is something that is usually not taken into account, but behind a professional there must be a human being who is able to empathize with the client.
2º A complete product catalog
A hosting provider must offer comprehensive solutions. If at any time your web projects grow too much, your provider should offer you a more powerful web hosting product, such as a VPS server or a dedicated server.
Being decisive is a great capacity that very few hosting providers have, most are dedicated to selling pre-created products without worrying if they adapt to the client or not.
3º Commercial support
Directly related to the above, the catalog of products should accompany commercial support personnel who have knowledge about what is selling and who can offer you the most cost-effective option to improve your web project.
In short, the commercial support staff not only has to sell, but has to provide solutions.
But the thing is not here, because not only will we have to choose a hosting provider, but, once we choose who (which company) we should choose the plan or the web hosting service in which we will host our web project.
What factors should you consider yes or yes when contracting your shared web hosting?
When choosing a shared hosting plan for a web project we must take into account the following factors (many may seem, but are important):
- The bandwidth
The bandwidth used is one of the factors that we have to take into account when contracting our hosting plan.
Although it is not the most important element, we must take it into account because if we reach (or exceed) the monthly limit, our site will be out of service or we will be charged more for the surplus.
- RAM and CPU allowed
99.9% of users of shared hosting services do not know that their websites consume RAM and processor power (CPU).
Thus, when visitors enter their websites this detail is very important, since it depends on our website to go fast and not have drops in traffic peaks.
- The mail outlet
Currently hosting is not just web hosting, since, in the same plan, e-mail accounts associated with a domain are also usually hosted.
It is for this reason, so the server that we choose must also be able to send and receive emails with guarantees.
A provider with experience in the area makes all emails go through a centralized relay through which the flow is controlled and the health of the IP outgoing addresses is guaranteed, so that the outgoing emails always arrive at their destination .
- Internal and external security
Today, security is important on the Internet; in fact, it is increasingly important, given that there are more and more attacks against websites and servers.
A shared hosting plan must have internal security measures to fight against the malware that may infect a website and, in addition, the necessary security measures to block external attacks that may damage the performance or stability of websites and services. server.
- Backup copies
They are key points, if all else fails, at least the backup copies will remain.
We must pay close attention to this, because normally, depending on the contracted plan, backup policies also change.
Needless to say, this is very important, because it is not the same thing to do a backup per month as a backup per day.
- The number of emails and databases
Although in most cases the number of emails is secondary to some customers, for others it is not.
Moreover, there are some customers who need a certain number of email accounts, in these cases, we must pay attention to the amount offered by our storage server.
On the other hand, the number of databases allowed is vital to know how many webs or blogs “independent” with CMS we can put.
The most common CMS such as WordPress, Joomla and Prestashop usually use a MySQL database.
- The complements
As complements have, above all, some elements that do not have to integrate a hosting in your panel but always help.
Some examples can be the application autoinstaller, the documentation, the integration with CDN services, etc …
- The control panel and the platform
The cPanel hosting is not the same as the Plesk.
In fact, you must take into account the control panel and the software that your provider’s servers use in the plan that you are going to hire.
To give an example, a hosting using CloudLinux is not the same as one that does not use it, in fact, it will always be more usable if you use CloudLinux to control the use of resources.
Final tips
Many users also value storage space, but in 80% of cases, more attention should be paid to the maximum allowed resources of RAM and CPU than to the storage space, since it is usually where it falls shortest.
Also to say that unlimited resources do not exist, although many suppliers continue to offer it, above all, US suppliers.
So far unlimited hard drives do not exist, so it does not make any sense to offer unlimited storage space.
In a shared hosting, the ideal is to hire a provider that uses a panel of its own or a quality panel such as cPanel.
In addition, servers must have systems that protect an account from their neighbor accounts, such as CloudLinux with CageFS.
On the other hand, in VPS servers and dedicated servers, we must bear in mind that if we choose the unmanaged mode, the hosting provider does not have to manage your server, you will have to do it yourself using your knowledge and experience.
In this case, if you do not have knowledge on how to manage a server, you will have to hire professionals specialized in the administration of servers to have your server running, protected and optimized, since, although many VPS users still do not understand it, the operating system and the services of a server need constant maintenance.
After reading this post, tell me, how many of these factors did you take into account when choosing your hosting?