How do I Evaluate a Shared Web Host?

Locating a virtual or shared Web host can only be achieved by conducting in-depth consumer research and evaluation.

There are a several tools online that can assist the individual and small business owner in locating a reliable hosting service. With the myriad of choices available, however, it is necessary for the consumer to be discriminatory. Since shared Web hosting is perceived as a low-end, low-margin commodity by the hosting industry, it is necessary for the consumer to be wary. There are literally thousands of Internet presence providers (IPPs) who offer shared and virtual Web hosting services. While many provide extremely good service, others provide service that is less than standard. In order to find suitable Web hosts, consumers must conduct due diligence.

Prospective shared hosting clients must thoroughly test the technical capacity of any host before procuring services. Advanced testing of a potential host will reveal whether the solutions they provide are reliable enough for your high-traffic site. Remember, your Web host must be trusted to provide a solid network infrastructure. If you select a host that cannot provide robust connectivity, then your site's availability will suffer. For this reason, informed consumers should methodically evaluate potential hosting firms before signing.

Testing ensures that consumers will not compromise service over cost. Reliable testing results can be obtained by utilizing sophisticated network tools that monitor hosting performance. Such tools will determine how often a host's servers experience outages, generating a list of probable causes. It is advantageous for you to use such tools to ensure that the host you select provides minimum downtime. Most hosting firms boast a relentless commitment to excellent service and server response time. However, the criteria to measure against is a 99 per cent uptime.

To test server response, routinely navigate to a site on the potential host's server. In order to obtain a true representation of the host's services, you should select websites on your host's network that are typical of the services they render to their normal clients. If you are using a regular 56k dial-up connection, you should attempt to pull up sites on your prospective host during peak and non-peak hours. A battery of low-cost tests is available on the network layer level of your operating system. You can test a potential host's network and server responsiveness from your MS-DOS or UNIX line prompt.

NOTE: Avoid testing the host's main website or premier customers. These sites are mission-critical to a hosting firm and thus are afforded a high level of maintenance, which is not always representative of typical service.

In order to locate a typical client of your prospective host, execute a "whois" search. 'Whois' is an application that looks up critical information about any Internet domain. This information includes ownership, location of host, and most importantly, its block of network numbers. By executing the "whois -a yourhost.com" command at a UNIX line prompt, you can search your potential host's entire block of network numbers, and seek out a typical hosted customer on an individual network address. The customer you use should have the approximate services that you seek. Use the ping and traceroute commands from either your UNIX or DOS prompt.

Executing a "traceroute" from your computer is also an informative experiment to run on a hosting company. Traceroute applications allow you to map the direction that data travels over the Internet. By conducting a traceroute, you can determine whether the data you have requested from your prospective host will take a direct or indirect path to you. The most successful incident of a traceroute is when data takes the shortest route to your computer.

These tests, conducted manually on a regular 56k connection will give you a rough indication of your client's response time if you were to choose this prospective host. In essence, these tests determine whether a host provides the lowest level of network latency, ensuring that data is passed to browsers and other Internet applications as quickly as possible. Your aim must be to ensure that the delay between request and response time is as short as possible. Making this determination is only possible if you conduct significant, evaluative tests on each prospective host before signing any documents.