I need to find a website hosting company to host my website.
How can I tell if a website hosting company is good and reliable? 
Alternatively, how can I get a list of good, reliable  website hosting companies?
Are any of the web sites that claim to review hosting companies themselves reliable?

Hello ahab!

For many webmasters, choosing a reliable web host can be a very hit or
miss proposition.  Sometimes, alas, it's more miss than hit, and web
host review sites aren't always as reliable as one might hope.  That
doesn't mean they're *all* useless, but you really need to pick your
sites carefully.

The best way to find a reliable web host is to ask friends and
co-workers who they use.  First, determine what you need from a web
host - what are your primary considerations?  Space?  Bandwidth
allowances?  Ability to run scripts?  SQL?  PHP?  Cost?  Uptime? 
Technical support?  Make a list of the features and services most
important to you, and ask for recommendations from people you trust.

Next, check out some of the web host reviewers.  Be careful to avoid
sites sponsored by a single web host, or sites which push their own
web hosting services - it's hard to be fair and objective when you're
trying to sell the very product you're supposed to be reviewing.

A great place to start when looking for hosting reviews is Web Host
Magazine And Buyer's Guide:

Web Host Magazine And Buyer's Guide
http://www.webhostmagazine.com/index.asp

In addition to myriad independent reviews, resources for web
developers, hosting news, and the ability to add your own review, Web
Host offers a list of "Host Finder" services that allow you to compare
the pricing and features of various hosts:

The Host Finders
http://www.webhostmagazine.com/wf/index.asp

Another reliable host review site is HostCheck, which allows you to
post and read reviews from hosting service customers, and compare
features among various hosts:

HostCheck
http://www.hostcheck.net/

Most interesting about HostCheck is their "Host Certification"
program, which web hosts must pass in order to be listed as a
"Certified Host" at Host Check.  The criteria are rather strict, and
if Host Check receives word of 3 unresolved complaints against a host
over a three month period, the offending company is dropped:

Hosting Certification
http://www.hostcheck.net/Certification.php

WebHostsOnline offers comprehensive listing and reviews of hosting
companies, broken down by functionality (PHP, ASP, UNIX/LINUX, etc.):

WebHostsOnline
http://www.webhostsonline.com

They also take pains to explain how to go about choosing a good web
host, from features and cost, to space and bandwidth needs:

Web Hosting Guide
http://www.webhostsonline.com/guide.shtml

Finally, if you don't mind a personal recommendation to get you
started, I've been very happy with my web host, FeaturePrice:

FeaturePrice
http://www.featureprice.com

They've been host to the domain owned by my best friend and me for
just over two years, and have only been briefly down once in that
time.  The support staff is friendly and forthcoming, quick to
respond, and have been very easy to deal with.

I hope this is helpful to you!  If you require further assistance,
please don't hesitate to ask for clarification.  I'll be glad to help!

--Missy

Search terms: [ "web hosting" reviews ]

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Request for Answer Clarification by ahab-ga on 02 Feb 2003 08:03 PST

Hello:

Thanks for the answer. It gives me a good start on finding a hosting
company. Out of curiosity could you tell me how you determined that
webhostmagazine.com and hostcheck.net where reliable resources? Also
could you tell me is there a place on the web where I can find how
reliable a hosting company is in terms of up-time?

                                                                    --
Yours, Ahab

---

Clarification of Answer by missy-ga on 02 Feb 2003 10:39 PST

Hi Ahab,

Both WebHost and HostCheck are independent - they do not allow web
hosts to purchase rankings or reviews on their sites.  HostCheck is
especially careful - a host must pass HostChecks rigorous tests to
even be considered and listed.

These are much akin to Consumer Reports, in that they don't accept
fees for special considerations and they conduct their own testing, in
addition to publishing actual consumer opinion.  This allows for more
balanced comparisons than similar sites run by actual web hosts.

I've checked around for a site that tracks server uptime, and have
unfortunately come up empty.  I did, however, find a great article at
HostSearch that discusses uptime guarantees and how to select a host
with a good one:

Good Times, Bad Times: Uptime, Downtime, Runtime Errors
http://www.hostsearch.com/article01.asp

WebConsulting.com 
[ http://www.web-consulting.com/manual/promote/p18.htm ] suggests that
you find a few pages hosted by your potential host, and check their
uptime with a monitoring tool.  You can use Servercheck, by
NetMechanic, for any page you choose:

Servercheck
http://www.citibay.com/citibay/subhome/webmasters/servercheck/servercheck.shtml

Hope that helps!

--Missy

Well written with good information. I appreciated the prompt response
to my follow-up question.