If you’re like me, you’ve felt like tearing your hair out because the server you are paying for space on keeps going down again and again. I’ve learned over the years that you need to ask some serious questions before buying server space.
I’m going to put it all down for you, in order, to touch on some key points that make the difference between a server that’s stable and not-so-stable.
First off, you have to find out where they get their internet from, and how much is their bandwidth. Importantly, you also need to find out how many customers they already have, because an otherwise impressive bandwidth isn’t so impressive if it’s saturated with heavy traffic 24/7.
Now, let’s look at the servers themselves. Find out specifically what YOUR stuff will be hosted on. And don’t forget to find out what software it’s running. Find out what security measures they are running against DDOS and other attacks. No security on the internet is one hundred percent perfect, but you want to make sure they are at least making an effort to keep up with the times. This will vary in importance depending on how sensitive the stuff you want them to host is. If your data is critically sensitive, you should pay extra for a place that gets pen-tested regularly.
Of course, the servers should be in a climate-controlled environment, especially free from agents such as smoke and humidity, both of which are slow death to any kind of electronics. Don’t be afraid to go right down to the electrons and ask about their quality of cable connections. You’d be surprised how many places don’t bother with something as useful and positively preventative as proper cable testing. Some places even use the cheapest cables they can get their hands on, which should be a big no-no for any serious server.
Finally ask for their procedure if there are problems. Once again, you’d be surprised how many outfits do not have a person on call 24 hours a day, and I’m talking about places that charge you as if there were one!
Hopefully these tips will help smooth your server experiences in the near future. I know they have done wonders for me.
