How to Know If My Web Host is Not Cheating on Server Uptime?

By Phil Anderson

While searching for a web hosting service, server uptime is always one of the most crucial consideration points.

Many hosting companies offer 99.9% server uptime but are every one of them able to provide such high server uptime? Certainly not! Even if you find the hosting company's website uptime is over 99%, it is possible that the server used by the hosting company is different from the one that is hosting their client websites.

How about server uptime auditing?

Yes, there are various systems available online to monitor website uptime. Some of them are even free of charge. However, these statistics numbers are only good as references if you are just tracking on other's website. Do note that hosting on the same web host does not mean that you will get the same uptime. Hosting companies normally have hundreds of servers in their data center and the websites you are tracking might not be hosting on the same server as you.

So how do we know our server uptime is good?

You can, however, identify the real situation, by having a real experience, i.e. you can't verify the uptime until you don't have account with a hosting company. So better is to have their free/test plan first, and monitor your website uptime like a hawk. Keep the server uptime monitoring with third party. Third party can give you a fair better idea. If host is providing you with test hosting then it's more than good, but in case if there's no such option, you can try monthly service.

Do not ever buy six months or yearly plan in case you are unfamiliar with the hosting companies. Try searching for customer's feedbacks and reading reviews should be done before deciding any long term hosting plan.

A final words for those who are getting started - getting an affordable but yet reliable web host is always the most important thing when starting of a new website. I would recommend Hostgator hosting for those who are looking for a shared hosting as they are offering quite some good bargain at the moment. My advice to you is to take advantage on this and save some quick bucks for your hosting costs. But hey, that's my personal findings based on my own preference - in case you are doubtful, why not read further on Hostgator reviews? Article written by Phil Anderson.