RE: SPAM-LOW: Re: FN-FORUM: hosting for the UK?

date posted 20th January 2008 23:19

> -----Original Message-----
>=20
> > You are absolutely right that support must be contactable within
> business
> > hours - provided this is done, does it matter where the servers are?
>=20
> To a small extent, yes.
>=20
> Latency to US servers from the UK will be a little more than to UK
> servers.

And in cases where you are transferring large files this can have a =
compounding effect on overall transfer speeds, generally for normal web =
page downloads there is little noticeable effect and obviously for those =
in the US access will in fact be faster so your target market and media =
type should be a consideration when choosing a host. You may also find =
that a US based server will in fact be accessed faster from other =
countries than it would if it was UK based, so if your market is global =
then choose a US server but if your market is UK only and you are =
serving large media files then you would be better off with a UK based =
server.

> Potentially more worryingly, US-based servers will be covered by US
> law,
> including privacy laws.
> Many belive that UK-based servers feature higher in UK-biased search
> engine results (e.g. Google.co.uk), which would make sense.
>
> Software support is one consideration, but sometimes hardware changes
> are needed in an emergency. At times like that the timezone where the
> server is physically located can be quite important.

Not really, servers don=E2=80=99t only break during UK working hours it =
can happen any time, what IS important is that you have a good =
infrastructure in place to deal with hardware or software outages when =
they happen, 24hr support both in the client location and the location =
of the servers. I would even go as far as to say that because US data =
centres are generally more advanced and have a more reliable =
infrastructure that you are less likely to have problems with them in =
general. That comes from someone who has worked in places like Telehouse =
and Harbour Exchange in Docklands (I used to work for a largish UK ISP). =


> I run my own servers, and have a few sites run by others on them. In
> emergencies I can be contacted at any time, and, having remote power
> and serial consoles, I can usually fix any problem that doesn't =
require
> hardware changes myself. My most-important sites are now on a large =
VPS
> from clustered.net, who provide excellent 24/7 support, usually
> responding within a few minutes to any messages :) and their hardware =
is yummy -
> redundant everything!
>=20
> You only find out how good your host is when things go wrong,
> especially hardware problems.

Very true, choosing a good host is a tricky business and a host that is =
good for one may not be suitable for another.=20

You have to weigh up your needs against your budget and make an informed =
choice; most people do that through research and most importantly =
through recommendation.

ServWise is a small growing hosting company and some may say that is a =
good thing as it allows us to offer a much more personal service.=20

We have tried from the start to be as professional as possible when it =
comes to our infrastructure, and our servers are leased from highly =
respectable vendors (SoftLayer being one of them) and we have invested =
in hardware and software to make sure our customers get the best =
experience we can give while being able to offer excellent value for =
money (People who have used our Windows Control panel (DotNetPanel) can =
attest to how powerful and user-friendly it is).

We provide an international service and although we would like to have =
servers in every nation we serve at this point it just isn't feasible =
and so having the first bunch of our servers in the US is the most =
logical place as it simply has the best connectivity, infrastructure and =
price and so we are able to pass on those benefits to our customer's =
globally. =20

Claire, I don=E2=80=99t know if I mentioned but we have a half price =
deal on at the moment, use the coupon HALFPRICE and your first payment =
will be 50% off, so signing up for a year could save you big bucks.

Regards=20
Sam Morgan=20
--=20
WiredEyes Media / ServWise Advanced Hosting

tel (Uk): +44 (0)20 7100 2178
tel (Italy): +39 070 773 6543
web : www.wiredeyes.com / www.servwise.com
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--=20
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