10 reasons why to be careful when picking a web host

Well Hello again folks! Thought I had vanished forever, eh!? Nope no such luck. But as you might of guessed by the title of this post, my hosting company had every thing to do with it. So the rest of this post will be spent venting out on serverroom.us. Why I am still with them is beyond me. Actually it is probably because I am so stupid. But enough of that, Let's get on with out little list:

#10) Ease of use. Ok that sounds simple enough. But think about it, ease of "what"? What about the server host is suppose to be easy? Well the administration section for one. Take a look at the admin that we have presented here. If you are a newbie (like me), you have absolutley no idea what is suppose to be what. When looking for a host server, make sure all of their User Interfaces are user-friendly. Usually if the User Interface has a easy to find "help" section (unlike this one), that is a good starting point. So go ahead and play with the configurations. God help you when you see the results of setting the 'hard disk quota assignment" to "uhh yes?"



#9) Help Desk. Speaking of help, Let's take a look at having some help when you need it. Ok, you've got a pretty basic question that almost any geek-type helpdesk person should have a general idea as to what language you are speaking. "Do- you- understand- the- words- that- are- coming- out- of- my- mouth!?" Well I guess sometimes that is just too much to ask. (see image) Anyhow, Try to ensure that the people that are paid to help you CAN help you. Many helpdesk places like to think that stating the obvious will be of help to you. Once they start to do this, take this time out to tell them to knock the crap off, and freaking start HELPING.
Note: if your server support person starts asking you questions such as "...uhh what do you mean by 'html page'??" -it is time to start busting some heads. Personally, I think the support here has the mentality of 'help people by offering no help yourself, so they will learn by example'.
- Ma, I think it's time I got out a can of whoop-ass, and crack it open.

#8) Cost. This should pretty much be a no brainer. Unless you are Paris Hilton and you want to set aside a web site for your new album, and you are willing to dump $1,000 a month on your server. But I will assume you are a newbie, and not really have a freaking clue as to what is a good bargin on monthly space rentals. Well ultimately, hosting the site on your machine would be the overall cheapest, but if you are a newbie with most tech items, this would be a daunting task to say the least. But if you are going to pay some place to host your files you want to get the best deal possiable. Personally, I would say that any where from $5-$10 a month is about the average. So if you are currently paying more, I would suggest looking around, if you are paying less, please let me know where! email me! But also when looking into the price, see what it covers.

#7) What comes with it? Ok, you found a cheap server host, but what are you getting for your money? There are a few things to make sure to look at:

1. Server size - how much storage space do I get?
2. Traffic size - how much traffic can I have a month?
3. Databases - Do I get any? if so, how many?
   
4. Email accounts - How many email accounts can I create?

Of course, there are quite a few more, but usually these are the main ones that many people look into. But as a rule of thumb, the larger the storage, and traffic allotments, the better, same with database and emails. More IS better!! Most servers out there also like to have certain other services that they provide. One that I think would be great would be a 24 hour notice that they are going to botch an attempt to upgrade their servers, and in process wipe your file structures and databases clean, ARGHH!!!
Yeah.... that would of been really helpful I think.

#6) Your reliable partner. I think that says it all. You want the kind of host that you can depend on. When they say they've got your back, they mean it. When they say they will be like the 7-11 in your life (always open), they come through for you. So needless to say, when the hosting company goes up to you and says "don't worry buddy, we have your wallet." uhmm, maybe it's time to rethink your hosting options. When your company looks at you straight in the eye with a smile on their face and state "Hey! at least we're not down ALL of the time!", you are probably in more trouble than you would want to admit. The best way to avoid running into a situation like this would be to ask around. Look on the web at newgroups that normally deal with those types of topics. 10-to-1 someone would probably have some information about that particular server host.

#5) Clean-cut kinda guy. Ok, for once I can't slam serverroom.us with this issue. But there are many out there. These are the hosting companies out there that are "shady", for lack of a better term. They will do many things VIA your site in order to promote their business. Another thing that may occur would be that the hosting company is so notorious for crap like that, that you would be effectively "black-listed" from many sites that you would want to be listed with. So that would only hurt you in the long run.

#4) You are in charge. Yeah you are! You are the one who is shelling out money to these people. You are the one who tells them how to run your own site. You should have control over how your site runs, and what it is running. So say for example a host server, like serverroom.us decides to upgrade your system without your knowledge with new configurations and different libraries. How thoughtful! So whenever your site DOES come back, it don't work for squat. You get the luxury of re-congifuring your pages, and libraries and everything else for the next 2-3 days. Oh man! that can of whoop-ass is just begging to be opened! It is in your best interests to have your hosting company let you decide how your site should run. As you can tell them making decisions as to how you configure your site usually leads to days of headaches. It's your money damnit! So if your hosting company tries something like that, just go up and whack them upside the head. Lay some serious smack-down on them. OHHHHhhhH -Yeah!!
-errr, sorry about that, got carried away.

#3) What language are you speaking? This is more of a technical issue than anything else. If you are a newbie, then this section might not even bother you. However, if you are a little bit technical, or want a dynamic web site, then you will want some script/application language support. Personally, I like Java, but that doesn't matter. Here is a listing of some of the more popular web languages out there:

• Sun's Java
  
• Microsoft's .NET
• PHP
• Microsoft's ASP
• Ruby

What you should pick is the language that best suits your needs and that your server host supports. For example, let's look at serverroom.us. Do they support Java? nope. Can you configure it so they could support Java? nope. Does it do any damn thing that you really need!!?? nope.
Anyhow, just take it from me, pick what is comfortable for you, and then look for who supports it.

#2) Quick! call for backup! Ok this might not be the first thing you think of when looking for a hosting company, but take it from me, you might be interested in how they have your best interests. Trust me, the last thing you want to have is weeks and months of your hard work one day vanishing in a puff of smoke due to the fact that the server host that you deal with thinks along the following lines: "hmm, I think they have probably backed their own stuff up, so screw it! Proceed with the formatting of the hard-drive!!" Yeah it sounds funny here, but when all of your stuff is gone, and there isn't really much that you can do about it, the humor kind of disappears. Ok,ok, I admit, a good developer should backup their site on their own at least once a week. But come on, isn't this what you are paying these people for anyway!?? So what's the moral of this story kiddies? "Backup your data frequently dumb-ass!"
- That's correct.

#1) My cousin vinnie uses this place. Look around shop around. There are so many of these types of hosting companies out there, that you could spend hours upon hours searching the web for a good one, and only be halfway done. One of the best things to do is ask around. Talk with other friends, family members who have hosting done themselves. This way, you may hear many of the horror stories that they have, instead of living them. Or you can just hang out here, and laugh your ass off at me and my horror stories. But I can give you a very,very, very good suggestion: do not pick serverroom.us. And you can quote me on that! But who knows, maybe they will get their act together and then I can write a recant. or something to that effect.
- I just aint holding my breath.