The second component of the term hosting, is the website component.  This is what most people think of when they think of hosting a website.  The basic premise of this function is having your website, which is a series of files for viewing and creating action, available for people to see.  It is important to select a hosting company that provides a reliable service.  Many people will “guarantee” uptime.  Uptime is simply the site being available.  Goodfriend Solutions doesn’t market this uptime percentage for two reasons.  One, what does guarantee mean?  Does it mean 99.9% of every hour, every day, over a month, or over a year?  Also, what happens if the 99.9% is not met?  Are you compensated?  Do you get a refund?  Before you select a provider, ask these questions and have them explain exactly what the guarantee is.  Most providers market a guarantee, but can’t explain what it is or how you will be compensated if it is not met.

Hosting is not JUST having your website available.  There are a plethora of other options that are bundled with a service agreement.  Just as with the marketing strategies of the email service, many providers will boast about all the great features you get with your service.   Technical terms are used so you think you are getting the best of the best.  You might hear of things like FTP, dedicated IP, cPanel, and sub domains.  You will hear of ASP, SSI, Cron, Frontpage, and Perl. 

These “features” fall into one of two categories.  One, it is a tool you will never use.  The second category are things every provider gives you because they are the basis for the website functioning.  These are the equivalent of shopping for a car and hearing that the car will have paint, tires, seats, a steering wheel, mirrors, and an engine.  Don’t make a decision on your hosting provider just because they include a bunch of extras that will never be used or boast about services that are required to host a website, like the tires on a car.

Goodfriend Solutions has an uptime percentage of greater than 99.9% over the life of our service.  If you use our hosting solutions, your website will be located in 3 places.  It is on one primary server.  There is a second server in the same facility that has the exact same website.  If the primary server fails, the second server is used.  We also have your website on a server in another part of the country.  If a natural disaster occurs, it is unlikely that it will occur in two parts of the country.  The probability that something would cause all 3 services to fail at the same time is extremely unlikely. 

Goodfriend Solutions provides all the tools and offerings for you to effectively manage your website, most of which are far better than our competition.  We are dedicated to giving our customer the lowest cost of website ownership in the industry.