What does reliable mean for a company hosting sites on the World Wide Web?
Read on to learn more about the qualities to look for in a web host. Find the
best web hosting service for your business or personal website. Get a reliable
web hosting provider.

What Is Reliability for a Web Host?

Well, for one thing, redundancy makes a web host more reliable (see the
article “The Importance of Redundancy.”) But reliability depends on a great deal
more than that. You could summarize web host reliability by saying that it
incorporates these facets:

• the network experiences a very high percentage of “uptime” (during
“downtime,” a network is unavailable)
• sites, including multimedia, load without lag time
• data is accessible and delivered intact upon request
• the network undergoes regular maintenance and is up-to-date
• the network is protected from damage such as fire, flood, and theft
• the system is secure and client data is safe
• web host personnel are pleasant to interact with and work efficiently to solve
problems
• support is available 24/7/365

Conducting a Reliability Check

Given the many aspects of reliability, and its crucial role in delivering
your webpage or website to the world, you’ll want to do a thorough check of the
web host before signing up for services.

Uptime

If the server’s “down,” then it doesn’t matter how much thought and care
you’ve put into your website because no one can see it. Especially if you’re
engaged in an activity in which Internet connectivity is crucial, like
ecommerce, uptime is a crucial element of reliability. Uptime is measured in a
percentage and this article has all rights reserved and is copyright by 100 Best
is never 100%. There are always server maintenance checks and upgrades, and
other factors such as power outages or viruses can temporarily shut down
operations.

As you consider uptime, remember that in a 30-day month, there are 43,200
minutes, and in a 31-day month, 44,640. When you check a company’s percentage,
you can use these figures to see how many hours and minutes of the month is
downtime. Also, check the times for scheduled maintenance and upgrades to make
sure it’s not typically a crucial moment for you: most people may not be
disturbed by 1 a.m. downtime every second Wednesday of the month, but if that’s
the time you customarily meet with your agent in Australia, you have some
thinking to do.

Testimonials

As long as they’re legitimate—and quotes from Molly B. in Oshkosh, WI and Hal
M. in Los Angeles are pretty difficult to verify—testimonials may be helpful in
establishing the web hosts history in the area of customer relations. Ask
friends and colleagues about their hosting experiences. You could also check for
a seal of approval, such as that provided by Hosting Assured, a company that
gives a trustmark to web hosts that agree to abide by their Code of Ethics and
mediates in the case of any problem.

Track Record

It’s probably a good idea to check how long the
web host has been in business
and how they have responded to technological developments. How old are their
servers? Are they keeping up with the latest standards in bandwidth? Are they
committed to the community?

Guarantee

A business that sets a high quality standard will offer a guarantee. Some web
hosts may offer a satisfaction guarantee or your money back, but do take the
time to read the fine print so you know exactly what is being promised. Since
web hosting may include set up fees and/or be paid for months in advance, check
to see what happens to the set-up fee and fees paid in advance in the case of a
problem.
For more on some of the most reliable hosts try this link : Top 10 Web Hosting Comapnies