Uptime and Downtime is one of the key issues that many website owners face. If you're thinking to setup a mission critical website or an e-commerce site then uptime and downtime is the thing you should consider while looking for a web host. You may have heard about it lot of time, but those who haven't, this article will explain you the exact meaning and importance of uptime and downtime in web hosting.
Definition of Uptime and Downtime
What is Uptime?
Uptime, put simply in the context of web hosting, is the time during which your site is fully operational (viewable and usable).
What is Downtime?
Downtime, conversely, is used to refer to the duration of time when a system is unavailable. These figures are usually given in percentages.
For e-commerce sites uptime and downtime is highly relevant because downtime could translate to lost revenues, and in this highly competitive world, it could very well mean your business' survival.
Hence, it is important that you choose a web host that has a high uptime guarantee (the higher, the better). An uptime guarantee of 99.5 - 99.99% is realistic and considered to be very good in most cases.
Tips to make sure that the host you choose offers the finest deal:
* Research your (potential) host's uptime record and READ the fine print of their uptime guarantee (if they have, which you find in their Service Level Agreements).
* Ask about your host (-to-be)'s disaster plans, redundancy and backups.
* Re-check and make sure you get an uptime guarantee before signing and how reliable they are when it comes to refunding for and crediting downtimes.
Once you've found your host, it is necessary that you also monitor your site's uptimes and downtimes to ensure you get what you pay for and also to see if they're living up to their promise (so you can change hosts if they aren't).
Quick Tips:
* Finding 100% (or 99.99%) uptime is not easy nor is it cheap
* Focus on quality of service and not on quantity. Don't just look for hosts that offer you a refund for downtimes, instead, look for ones that actually live up to their 'uptime guarantee'
* Look for providers with good hardware (as it goes to redundancy)
* SLA's and 'uptime guarantees' could just be marketing trick
* Third party uptime measures are valuable resources
* Forums, although good sources of information, may not necessarily be 'accurate,' particularly when it comes to host recommendations
* To prevent downtimes, find providers that offer hosting on two separate machines and whose servers have automatic switchable mechanisms
Robin Dale is the publisher of Teeky.org, we offer useful & quality articles and news about Search Engine Optimization, Internet Marketing, Dedicated Server Hosting, Windows VPS Hosting, Linux VPS Hosting UK, e-commerce hosting, cPanel Hosting, hosting tips & UK Web Hosting.
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