Hosting Problems
Some people may have noticed that our website was down today for most of the day. This was due to a "bad sector on the hard drive". I'm not sure what that is exactly, but I'm sure that it shouldn't take over 8 hours to fix.
Anyway, I wanted to post to let people know that it was a hardware issue on the server, and that we are going to be moving hosting companies to make sure that this type of thing doesn't happen again. Cross your fingers.
While looking through hosting options, Kerry and I came up with some criteria that I thought was worth posting.
First, the host must have redundant systems. If there is a hardware failure (like, say, a hard drive problem) with one server, another server should balance the load and make sure that the service isn't interupted. Likewise with power systems and internet connections.
Second, we must be able to get a human being on the phone... anytime we want. I was surprised that our current host wouldn't even give us a phone number to call. All support requests were answered with "we're working on it". I would say that how a company reacts in a time of crisis is what determines their commitment to service. And this company failed. If you are there when I don't need you, that doesn't help me. But when you aren't there when we do need you, that is poor customer service.
I ran a few companies through the gauntlet today to find a good host. I learned that if they talk a lot about uptime guarantees, odds are that has been a problem for them. I learned that companies claim to offer the same services for a drastically large price range. In the end I spectulate that customer service is what makes the difference.
I'll post about our new web host when we get set up.
