So, you're looking to build a web site or so fed up with your current web host that you are desperate to transfer your site to SimpleNet? Many customers aren't aware of their host's vulnerabilities in an industry where almost every week there is news about a host going offline for one reason or another. When looking to build or transfer your site, your first challenge is narrowing the thousands of available web hosts down to a short list that you can use to research further. Seek friends or associates that have a web site and ask for their advice. Visit one of the many forums about web hosting and ask the members for advice or search threads from those that have asked before you. Once you've located a few hosts to research, the ten questions below will help you make an informed decision. You may be able to find answers to these questions on the hosts' web sites, but always place a call to the host and quiz them about their operations. The quality of the answers and degree of professionalism you receive from a potential host often translates to the type of support you'll receive once you become a customer. Without further ado, the ten questions to ask your web host:

---

1. How long has the web host been in business?
2. Does the web host own its data center?
3. How many upstream Internet providers does the web host have?
4. Does the web host monitor its customers' sites twenty-four hours per day? How?
5. Does the web host provide 24/7/365 phone and email support?
6. What levels of redundancy does the web host's architecture provide?
7. Does the web host automatically backup customer web sites in case of data loss? How often?
8. What is the web host's billing policy?
9. Does the web host provide the features that you need for your web site?
10. Does the web host have the products and services to handle your growth?

---

As with many businesses, the length of time in operation may suggest a history of success or can suggest potential issues if they've just opened their doors as a newcomer.  One of the the best questions to ask when considering a web host is "How long have you been in business?"  Don't hesitate to ask this.

@SIMPLENET: In the hosting business since the mid-1990's, the employees that currently make up SimpleNet's work force were among those who created the first Internet Presence Provider (IPP), or web host. Their relentless endeavors over the years have helped mold many of the services and concepts used by the hosting industry, including high quality, easy-to-build, reliable, and inexpensive hosting.

Read the SimpleNet story.

A data center is the foundation from which all products and services are built. If a host owns its own data center, then it is likely quite entrenched in the hosting business. The experience gained from operating a facility is vital to the support and creation of high-quality products. Most importantly, if a host owns its own facility, then it controls more of the variables that can make or break your web presence.

@SIMPLENET: Our Data Center is a world-class facility, and the first of its kind in San Diego. Completed in March 1998, our 2000 square-foot, 150-rack Data Center meets the high security and protection demands of any Internet presence. The SimpleNet Data Center has redundant systems for Internet connectivity, electrical power, air conditioning, and fire suppression to ensure that your Internet presence is always available.

Learn more about our SimpleNet's data center.

Your web site performance is not just a measure of your web server's speed. It is also dependent upon a host's ability to direct traffic through the cleanest Internet routes. It is crucial that a host has multiple connections to the Internet. Accidental fiber cuts and data center equipment failure can cause your site to go offline for an extended amount of time. This can be avoided if a web host has multiple connections to the Internet that will automatically reroute traffic that would have normally been carried on the failed circuit. Yes, this means a host must have extra capacity available to handle traffic levels even when an upstream provider goes offline. Believe it or not, but this is a typical area where a web host will attempt to cut cost.

To understand the importance of multiple providers, think of it as analogous to driving your car to a desired destination. There are several streets that you can take to get there, but sometimes you encounter construction or an accident that will require you to take an alternative street. What happens when there are no alternative streets? Much like an accident on a highway, traffic gets bottlenecked. The Internet works the same way. There are several routes that traffic can take to a destination. A good host will be able to choose the cleanest, or most efficient, route to your web site visitors. In fact, a great host will monitor these routes in real-time to find the best path back to your web site visitors. Optimization is typically achieved by minimizing the number of different networks that traffic will pass through before reaching its destination. It is extremely important for a host to have direct connections to the well-known networks. In other words, your web site will be served better if your web host is using connections with networks that facilitate Internet access to large volumes of subscribers.

@SIMPLENET: We maintain connections to multiple upstream providers to provide redundancy and reliability for your web site's connection to the Internet. Our connections are a combination of multiple DS-3s (45Mb/s) that give us enough excess capacity to deal with traffic bursts or any one providers downtime. SimpleNet optimizes the path your data takes so your customers don't have to wait. We also optimize the request path in order to find the shortest path from your site back to your visitors.

Learn more about SimpleNet's connectivity.

There are a couple of factors that can influence the answer to this question. Does the host own its own data center? If not, then they are physically removed from their servers and likely paying a co-location company to provide monitoring for them. When a hosting company surrenders control of the environmental systems that provide the home for their hosting, they have created another potential point of failure. That point of failure can increase the latency between an issue and its resolution, resulting in increased downtime for your web site. Similarly, if a web host has an issue with its own infrastructure, then there may be travel time associated with their engineers getting to the data center to resolve it or, once again, increased latency by trying to remotely resolve an issue.

@SIMPLENET: The SimpleNet Data Center is monitored 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, and 365 days per year. Our infrastructure and staff are dedicated to providing your web site with continual, automated, high-level network monitoring and load management.

You might be surprised at how many web hosts don't provide 24/7/365 support. The industry's hosts run the gamut from limited email support to phone and email support 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. The best way to have support when you need it is to choose a host that is always available. When an idea wakes you from a slumber at 3 A.M., it's nice to have your host on the other end of the phone to discuss it. When your site malfunctions due to a programming glitch the night before your store is to open, it's reassuring to have your web host on the phone to decipher the issue with you. When your cat accidentally deletes important files, know that your host is there to help recover them. Make sure that your host is providing support over the major holidays. Many web hosts will close their support center, limit their support to email or send their support team home with a pager to be called in case of emergency. These limitations can create latency if your web site goes offline. And when you think about it, holidays are often days when potential customers will spend time on the Internet after they've completed their social plans. They are also times when recommendations and referrals between friends and family members take place. When people get together, they exchange ideas. Word-of-mouth business is one of the most effective means to customer acquisition.

@SIMPLENET: SimpleNet differentiates itself from many other hosts by providing top-of-the-line customer support. Our Representatives are available 24 hours per day, for all accounts we offer. Each Customer Support Representative has had at least four years of experience in support of web hosting customers. We're dedicated to solving our customers' problems even if it means talking them through a process that's not necessarily our responsibility. If were knowledgeable about the topic, we'll try to help our customers.

Feel free to contact or call 1-888-243-3225.

Failures that cause your site to lose connection can happen. Therefore, it's crucial to find a provider whose hosting architecture provides the least chance of failure. Single points of failure are risks, but many hosts attempt to cut costs by taking these risks. System redundancy is the means by which hosts can avoid single points of failure. Redundancy means that a host has allocated side-by-side, or backup, resources that can handle their business in the event of a failure. Redundancy can be created in many areas of a hosts system architecture, including all server environments (web, email, ftp and DNS), load balancing and file storage.

A web server is the hardware and software combination that serves requested web pages, files or other information. Servers answer requests from web browsers and other applications to provide web pages, deliver email and access databases. A load-balanced environment divides the amount of work that one server would normally do and distributes it across multiple servers. Load balancing servers stay in constant contact with the web servers to monitor their use. If a web server fails, then the load is redistributed across the remaining servers until the failed server is brought back online. This is an example of redundancy and also allows for more requests to be answered in the same amount of time or less. It may sound like a no-brainer, but having your site connected to the Internet is the whole reason for having a web site and a load balanced, redundant network is vital to that endeavor.

Has your email server ever been offline? Redundancy is also vital for email and DNS servers. A Domain Name System (DNS) server translates requests to locate a web site. As you can imagine, keeping email and DNS servers online is a mission-critical task for a web host. For file storage, seek a host that uses a reliable storage solution with multiple auto-fail over and hot-swappable drives to ensure continuous delivery of your web site.

@SIMPLENET: We continuously check the status of our web servers, email servers, DNS servers, ftp servers and storage drives to make sure that they are operating properly. Our load balanced architecture determines the best server for a web site request to maximize performance, provides multi-server redundancy to prevent critical failures and also alerts the staff when a troubled server has been taken offline.

Learn more about our redundancy.

Backing up web sites should be a routine part of a web hosts operation. Backup is the activity of copying files or databases so that they will be preserved in case of equipment failure or any other catastrophe.

@SIMPLENET: SimpleNet performs an incremental backup each night to record any files that have changed, with a full backup taking place every week. Two full weeks of backup are kept in storage, which allows for the recovery of files up to two weeks old. We use state of the art software from Veritas, along with Spectra Logic tape systems to ensure that your data is safe and available.

Look for a web host that provides a money-back guarantee. This will allow you to try out the hosts service without making a major monetary commitment. Should you find that the service is sub-par in site performance, reliability, or lacking the features that you seek, the ability to request your money back, within the parameters of the guarantee, is priceless and liable to save you from later trouble. It is a good to idea to inquire about a web hosts cancellation procedures. There are many hosts out there who require you to send them an email or make a phone call to cancel, which can extend the time frame to cancellation. A host who is confident in their service will have a cancellation form or online avenue within their control panel. They may also have a retention program, so dont be surprised if they call or email you to ask why you are leaving. After all, your feedback helps them to evaluate their service.

@SIMPLENET: All of SimpleNet's shared hosting accounts come with a 30-day money back guarantee. A cancellation form is located within your account control panel.

Learn more about our hosting packages.

One may choose a host because it has the exact feature set needed, but later finds that feature set meaningless when access to those features is unreliable. Make sure that a host has your desired features and is also reliable. The following list will help you determine what you may need for your web presence.

• A domain name (beware of hidden registration or renewal fees)
• An ample amount of versatile email accounts including web-based, POP3, and IMAP
• Email spam filtering and virus protection unless you are providing this on your own
• Enough disk space to meet your sites needs
• Monthly bandwidth allotments that will cover your traffic and the ability to increase that allotment based on your sites success
• Site building tools such as FrontPage or other online/downloadable site building programs
• Ease of upload to your site via FTP or other means
• Access to a robust traffic analysis program or the raw logs for you to process yourself
• Programming languages, including CGI, PHP, MIVA (if needed)
• Ecommerce shopping cart alternatives
• Database capability, dependent upon your application preference

@SIMPLENET: SimpleNet is a full-service provider with various solutions for all the features listed above.

Many sites that were once started as a hobby have grown into some of the most popular sites on the Internet. Hence, you never know when you'll outgrow your current solution and require a more robust alternative. Make sure that your web host can handle anticipated growth within your needs and also has a full range of solutions such that your success will not force you to change to another provider.

@SIMPLENET: SimpleNet is a premier provider of hosting solutions that include email, domain names, shared hosting, dedicated servers, co-location and custom hosting solutions.

Do your homework by using the above questions as a template and you will likely save yourself some major headaches down the road. If you've gathered information about multiple hosts, you can now compare apples to apples and decide on the best host for your needs. Hopefully, the work that you've done will avoid forcing you to use your gut, but rather make an informed decision based on the facts. Finally, the best advice you'll ever get is to follow the motto, If something seems too good to be true, then take heed because it probably isn't true.

---

**Use and distribution of these articles permitted with the following guidelines:
· Articles must state, "Article provided by the Web Hosting experts at SimpleNet."
· "SimpleNet" must link to http://www.simplenet.com/jump/articles/