We have talked in the past about taboo topics inside of the web hosting industry before, but right now I am going to share with you something even better than those inside secrets.
Here are the top seven dirty web hosting words (and phrases) that every hosting customer should know or be able to define.
1. Server Resources - This is often the limitation you don’t hear about until you have reached it. Many people might call it the, “Haha, got you now!” clause, but if you stop and think about it, it does make sense. You can only do so many things on your computer before you begin to have performance problems, and the same could be said for a hosting server. If one script, service or person is taking up all the RAM and CPU up for themselves, they have to be taken out of the picture to help everyone else who may be hosted on that server.
2. Database Connections - Depending on who the web host is, and how they have their servers setup, you may only have available to you so many connections to a database. For example, Joe hears that his database connection limit is 25 simultaneous connections. What Joe doesn’t stop to think about is what the word simultaneous actually means. For him to go over his limit, he would need 25 connections in roughly the same few seconds to get in trouble. Since most scripts only connect for a second, this is not something most of us need to worry about.
3. E-mail Sending Limits - Yes, you are limited on the number of e-mails you can send out. This is a pretty new limitation that web hosts have been putting on their customers, mostly to curb spamming in any form. If you are doing any sending of newsletters or something that goes out to a great amount of people via e-mail, you might want to look at scripts that will spread the wealth sending around. That way instead of sending your newsletter to 10,000 people at once, you will be able to send it to maybe 2,000 people per hour through the day. Both DadaMail and phpList will allow you to do this.
4. Unlimited - There is no such thing as unlimited in web hosting. It is a marketing word though that is bound to bring people in. People like to get something for nothing and the chance to be able to grow their web site and brand to unlimited boundaries is a dream we can all be excited by. Now, why does this word not really bug me that much anymore? Well, even if you are sold by the word unlimited, chances are you aren’t even going to use enough of your unlimited disk space or bandwidth to hurt the server. In most cases, it doesn’t do any harm.
5. Uptime and Downtime - The one thing you see asked about by people who like to think they know a thing or two about web hosting is, “How is the uptime?” or “How much downtime have you had?”. These are kind-of important questions, but I wouldn’t put too much weight into their answers. Like I have said before, you are not going to find a web host who is perfect and has not even the smallest single flaw. You will need to find an example of the problems they have had, and see how they have dealt with them. That is how you can really tell how great a web host is.
6. Overselling - In the world of web hosting, overselling is the term used to describe be hosts who put more customers on a server than the server can really support. Most big name web hosts won’t have a problem with this, but some of the smaller to mid-range web hosts do. The problem is that they can’t afford to bring more servers online, or they are packing you in like sardines into a can to save on costs. It is something to try to be aware of, but chances are you won’t know about it till it is too late.
7. The Comparison Box - I hate the comparison box of features you see web hosts use. We have all seen them. You have the features listed down the side, the different plans listed across the top and the thing that bugs me is every plan has every feature. Why do a comparison chart, if every stinking plan has the same features? The comparison chart should be use to compare the differences. Most of the time, the only difference might be the disk space, bandwidth and price. Give me a shorter comparison box, and just give me those three items if that is the case. One more smaller item that bugs me about these boxes too is when they list stupid features that even your 98 year old grandmother knows are there. For example, I am looking at a web host who does this, the comparison chart is as cheesy as ever and what is one of the features each plan has? “support”. As if in some bizarro world, there would be a web hosting plan that doesn’t come with “support”.
Know of another dirty web hosting word that didn’t make it onto the list? Drop me an e-mail at mitch@mitchkeeler.com or leave a comment and we’ll see if we can find at least seven more amongst us all.
Time to strap on your seat belt and get ready for the ride. We have high points, we have low points - we might even toss in a twist and a turn every one in a while. The greatest web hosting podcast known to man* has returned, and well, the Web Hosting Show is back on the air.
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