About Us
Why Select MVI's NAP Hosting Solutions
When selecting a web host pay attention to where the web host
data center is located. The data center features, location and
facilities tells you what type of hosting company you are dealing
with. The reasons:
• You get what you pay for- if a hosting company is
cheap then the connectivity to the Internet is poor. They
will all tell you that they get 99.9% uptime but that is not
true. Tier 1 Hosting at a Network Access Point is offered
at only 6 locations in the USA, which is what MVI offers and
it is what you should have. If you are serious about your
Internet presences you must be serious about you hosts data
center.
• Call on the telephone you proposed hosting company
if they don’t answer or don’t offer a telephone
number, it will tell you about the service offered.
• Ask about redundancy- If they don’t offer it,
hang up !
• Ask about database hosting – If they don’t
offer a separate data base server from the web server hang
up !
• Ask about 24/7 emergency service – If they don’t
offer it hang up !
• Test their 24/7 emergency service – Call them
on Sunday and see if they answer !
• Price is the last item to worry about. If you get
all the above service you got a good hosting
• Finally bigger is not better – If you need service,
redundancy, database hosting on superior equipment at the
best data center available then call us today.
Tech Support - I don't know about you, but I like the feeling
of knowing that support is available when I need it. Test different
companies before you sign up by calling them on the telephone
with a question. If they respond quickly, this is a good sign.
Uptime - The more uptime a hosting company guarantees the better.
99% uptime is the minimum acceptable standard. I look for 99.4
% plus guaranteed uptime. We are on the backbone of the Internet
and therefore our up time is dependent only on our equipment
failure, with redundancy we eliminate the possibility of downtime.
Disk Space - Decide how much disk space you will require. A
web page with one logo does not take up much web space at all.
Calculate how big your web site is in relation to the disk space
allotted. For example, most webmasters judge a web host by the
amount of disk space they offer. The thinking is generally,
the more the better. There are many other factors to take into
consideration. Each factor can be weighed up according to the
features specific to the web hosting company offers.
Bandwidth - This factor is usually overlooked until the bandwidth
limit is reached. If you go over your allotted bandwidth, you
will get a hefty bill. If you are running a site with lots of
downloads, or a site with lots of images such at a photo post
site, your bandwidth will be a lot higher than a site with mainly
text.
CGI Bin - This is currently standard with good hosting companies.
If you do not have access to your own CGI Bin, you cannot install
scripts and programs.
Perl - If you do not have Perl, you cannot run Perl programs.
Many good scripts that you buy or get for free are written in
Perl. In MVI opinion, it would be a limitation not to have the
latest version of Perl installed.
SSL - If you intend to accept credit card orders directly from
your website, you will need Secure Socket Layer included in
your plan. This is one of those easily overlooked features.
You might sign up for a plan that looks attractive for whatever
reason, then down the track, you might discover that you need
this feature. If it is not included in your plan, you might
be gob-smacked if the extra monthly charge is $10.00. To use
this feature you need a merchant account. There is no need to
make this a priority if you have no merchant account because
you can use a third party credit card processor.
SSI - Server Side Includes are great if you want to spend minimal
time updating your site. Here's how it works. My site contains
SSI's. The left and right nav menus and the little search engine
in the left nav menu are "included" with an SSI command
in the master page template. If I need to update one of the
nav links, there is no need to edit all the pages that contain
the menus. I just edit one file which contains the menu html
and upload it to my site.
MySQL - What scripts are you going to run? Some programs require
a MySQL database to run. MySQL is a standard for the industry.
MVI are experts when it comes to database hosting and in particular
MySQL hosting.
PHP - Many new scripts and programs require PHP support. Again,
this feature is offered standard. Imagine if you do not have
PHP support but the latest new free script, Blogging script
or Shopping Cart requires PHP.
Domain Name - What's the point in buying web space if you cannot
point your own domain name to the site? Some companies will
help you register a domain name but you should compare prices
and learn how to register your domain yourself. This way you
are in control of your domain name if you ever change hosts.
FTP Access - Unlimited and unrestricted FTP access to your
site is essential. You will need an FTP program to transfer
files.
Control Panel - Not all control panels are the same. Some are
easier to use than others. With some control panels the learning
curve is steep while others are easy. If you select a plan where
you cannot preview your control panel before you buy, you can
always use the 30 day money back guarantee to get out if you
are not happy. If they are not offering a working demo of the
control panel, maybe they are not proud of it. In my experience,
I have always been disappointed with the quality of the control
panel when a demo was not available.
Statistics Program - A good stats program is handy if you want
to keep an eye on how many visitors you are getting, where they
are coming from, referrers, top entry and exit pages and so
on. Some companies offer excellent stats programs as standard
while others offer basic stats but you have to pay extra for
advanced statistics. If you find a good hosting deal but the
stats program is a bit basic, why not email the company and
ask if they can install Stats before you sign up. Stats is an
excellent free advanced statistics program.
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