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

---

Getting The Best Web Hosting For Your Business

After the dot.com bubble burst a few years back I... Read More

Cheap Web Hosting ? Choose The Right Company

You have carried out the hard part and that's creating... Read More

Top 5 Mistakes that May Drive Your Visitors Away in Less Than 2 Minutes

You took the leap. You set up a website to... Read More

Choosing a Web Host Based On Price? Dont!

It's tempting. There are so many companies offering cut-rate hosting... Read More

Tips on Finding a Hosting Service for Your Business Website

There are so many hosting companies offering to host your... Read More

Virtual Private Servers (VPS) Web Hosting

A Virtual Private Server (VPS), also referred to as Virtual... Read More

Battle Of The Hostings

There are literally thousands of hosting solutions on the internet... Read More

Five Quick Ways to Determine One Hosting Company From Another

These days, web hosting companies are popping up faster than... Read More

Finding a Reliable Host

Finding reliable hosting for your business opportunity is no small... Read More

The Ups and Downs of Dedicated Server Hosting

Getting your own dedicated server for your business is a... Read More

First Web Hosting Experience

Well? you've purchased a domain name? created a pretty design?... Read More

What You Should Know About Your Web Host

Yesterday I received a nice email in my inbox, I... Read More

Niche Hosting

There is story of David and Goliath where Goliath would... Read More

Configuring DynDNS.org in Linux via DDClient

Most Internet service providers do not give you static IP... Read More

Choosing a Web Hosting Provider from 40 Million Other Web Hosts - Pt1

Discover how to go about choosing a web hosting provider... Read More

What to Look for in a Web Host

The first questions you have to ask yourself are: how... Read More

Back To School Web Hosting

Every year as school starts web hosts see an up... Read More

Avoiding Bad Web Hosts

The Internet represents the most powerful communication revolution since the... Read More

Overselling Web Hosting: What Does It Mean To You?

Overselling is a big trend in the web-hosting world at... Read More

Good Web Hosting ? What Is It?

With hundreds of web hosting companies to choose from today... Read More

Web Hosting and Development

If you've ever browsed the World Wide Web and wondered... Read More

Bound To Your Old Expensive Web Host by Fear?

You're not alone! Many people are bound to the old... Read More

Dedicated Web Hosting : The Executive Summary

What is Dedicated Web Hosting? Dedicated web hosting can alleviate... Read More

Types of Web Site Hosting

First of all we must determine the meaning of the... Read More

Web Hosting Data Transfer: How Much Is Too Much?

Bandwidth in its simplest terms refers to the amount of... Read More

The Web Hosting Industry 2005

For the "big things" to be build it was certainly... Read More

The Problem with Free Web Hosting Plans

In my opinion, free web hosting is one of the... Read More

How Can I Get The Web Host Services And Support I Need, Hassle-free?

Choosing a host or switching hosts can be an agonizing... Read More

Sender Policy Framework (SPF) ? How to use it to Fight Email Forgery

Spam is a real problem today. Forged email is a... Read More

Linux vs. Windows Web Hosting, Does It Make A Difference?

One of the most confusing decisions someone new to web... Read More

Avoid Getting Ripped Off By A Hosting Company

Chances are if you host multiple domains or websites you... Read More

Linux Servers: Do You Understand the Difference?

First of all, some people are worried that they will... Read More

Personal Web Hosting ? Free Or Cheap?

After you have spent some time and creativity on designing... Read More