Web Hosting Information

Uptime Guarantee - Good Idea?


When looking for a Web Host there are lots of factors that come into play. Usually the deciding factors are price and bandwidth. A common overlooked item is the uptime guarantee. This is the percentage of time your account will be up and running

What do these numbers really mean?

If we look at these percentages and convert them into the amount of time your site is going to be down we get some very telling information. The chart below lists the uptime gurantee percentage and how that equates to time.

99% - 5256 Min/Yr or 87.6 Hours/Yr - 438 Min/Month or 7.3 Hours/Month

99.5% - 2628 Min/Yr or 43.8 Hours/Yr - 219 Min/Month or 3.65 Hours/Month

99.9% - 525.6 Min/Yr or 8.76 Hours/Yr - 43.8 Min/Month or .73 Hours/Month

99.95% - 262.8 Min/Yr or 4.38 Hours/Yr - 21.9 Min/Month or .365 Hours/Month

99.99% - 52.56 Min/Yr or .876 Hours/Yr - 4.38 Min/Month or .073 Hours/Month



As you can see that while 99% uptime sounds like a lot, it actually allows for the host to have over 7 hours of downtime per month, or a whopping 87.6 hours per year. Your host could be down for over 3 ½ days over the course of a year and still hit their target of 99% uptime. As you go to 99.5% and 99.9%, it gets much better, and with 99.95% and 99.99% you would have little or no downtime.

Is this realistic?

Is it realistic to get 99.99% uptime? Probably not, but it is always nice if you can get compensated for downtime. However, if the host only compensates you for the actual downtime you have, it probably won't be a large amount. Let's assume you pay $20 a month for your hosting, which is probably on the upper end of what you'd be paying ofr a hosting account. We will also assume there a 30 days in the month. Breaking that down, you're paying roughly 3 cents per hour for your hosting. This means if you site is down for 24 hours, 1 full day, you will only get 72 cents of compensation. By no means is this good if it means your site goes down and you get some pocket change.

So what does this mean to me?

So the more decimal places, the better the uptime guarantee. We also now know that we probably won't be getting lots of money back if our site goes down. The ultimate goal is to find a web host that has an uptime guarantee and maintains that level of service. You don't need the money back but you do need the peace of mind of having your website up and running.

Scott is the owner and chief designer for Smith-Concepts a successful web development firm.

Related Links: http://www.smith-concepts.com


MORE RESOURCES:

Host Color Announced TextPattern CMS Web Hosting Service
The Open Press (press release) - 4 hours ago
Host Color, a global quality web hosting provider announced the launch of TextPattern Hosting Plan. The new TXP service is priced at $3.99 per month and ...


MochaHost Upgrades Reseller Web Hosting Packages
Tophosts, Canada - 13 hours ago
Oct. 6, 2008- MochaHost.com (San Jose, California) is pleased to announce the upgrade of all Reseller hosting plans offered. All packages now come standard ...


Web Hosting Open Source Provider, Etelos, Debuts Marketplace Solution
TheHostingNews.com (press release), OR - 18 hours ago
San Mateo, California - (The Hosting News) - October 6, 2008 - Through the Etelos Marketplace, Exadel has two applications, with Exadel Fiji and Exadel ...


Inside 1&1's Giant Web Hosting Data Center
InformationWeek, NY - Oct 4, 2008
Here, one of the world's largest web hosting companies has built its US data center. At its Kansas data center, 1&1's five server rooms hold 860 racks and ...


Host Color Launched Special B2Evolution Blog Web Hosting Service
PR-CANADA.net (press release), Montenegro - Oct 5, 2008
new B2Evolution Plan (http://www.hostcolor.com/webhosting/bloghosting/wordpress) is a web hosting service made exclusively for B2Evo websites and can not be ...
Canadian Web Host, Cirrus Tech, Updates Linux and Windows Reseller ... PR-CANADA.net (press release)
all 2 news articles


Web Hosting Provider, Superb, Premieres RankSense SEO Software Suite
TheHostingNews.com (press release), OR - Oct 3, 2008
Vancouver, British Columbia - (The Hosting News) - October 3, 2008 - Global web hosting, managed dedicated server, shared and e-commerce hosting solutions ...


The Planet Web Hosting Firm, Chosen for Software Test Bed
TheHostingNews.com (press release), OR - Oct 3, 2008
Houston, Texas - (The Hosting News) - October 3, 2008 - Privately held dedicated web hosting company, The Planet, has been chosen as the core platform for ...


Web Hosting Provider Host Color Promotes .DE and .EU Domain Names
HostSearch.com - Oct 3, 2008
COM) – Web hosting provider Host Color (http://www.hostcolor.com) is promoting .DE and .EU domain names, it was reported yesterday. The company’s promotion ...


Christian Web Hosting Company Gives Away Over $1700 of Web Design ...
HostSearch.com - Oct 3, 2008
COM) – Christian web hosting company Clementineshosting (http://www.clementineshosting.co.uk/) is giving away web design and hosting services to a value of ...


Google Web Hosting Searches - 8 Years Ago!
Tophosts, Canada - Oct 3, 2008
As many TopHosts readers already know, the now-famous and venerable search engine, Google, recently celebrated its tenth birthday. In concert with the tenth ...

Web-Hosting - Google News

home | site map
© 2006