A review of AfterHost

We, at stayplanet.com, have picked 'AfterHost' to be our present domain and web hosting distributor. This is why we consider that this concise assessment of 'AfterHost' is perhaps going to be quite helpful for other individuals from all around the Globe who seek domain name and web hosting services. We state people from all over the Globe, since the mere truth is that 'AfterHost' presently furnishes domain and hosting services in multiple server farm facility sites: in the US (Chicago, IL), in the United Kingdom (Maidenhead, 20 miles outside London), in Scandinavia (Stockholm) and in Australia (Sydney). That way, covering almost the whole World. At least from the point of view of the Internet. So, here is what you could expect from 'AfterHost' in short:

Shared Web Space Hosting Services

The initial detail we, at stayplanet.com, have seen is the reasonable prices of the shared web space hosting plans provided by 'AfterHost'. Shared doesn't sound very well, does it? Well, that's what it is referred to as: shared web hosting. The good news here is that the site hosting accounts supplied by 'AfterHost' are powered by an in-house invented, advanced cloud web hosting platform (each web hosting service, such as email, databases, webspace hosting Control Panel, disk space, DNS, statistics, etc., is being run on an individual host of web hosting servers in a cluster). This is something ANY cPanel web hosting firm on the Globe will have huge problems with, because cPanel is a single server based website hosting environment (each hosting service, like electronic mail, databases, Control Panel, data storage, DNS, statistics, etc., is being run on a single web server), cPanel is not open source (hence the cPanel hosting suppliers cannot include extra functionality and manipulate it the way they want it) and there is no open source file system (they need to make their own file platform), which is the prerequisite of any cloud web hosting service. Let's get back to the shared hosting accounts, which are driven by an actual cloud hosting platform. With a shared hosting account, each customer pays only for his/her account, thus retaining the hosting price very low (since multiple clients utilize one and the same web hosting server). In a few words, a shared hosting plan, which is being served by a clustered site hosting system, permits you to pay only for the resources that you indeed need, escaping a scenario where you pay for a powerful hosting account that you cannot truly use, or for a small web hosting package that cannot host your web page. The possibility to upgrade your account from one plan to another with just 2 mouse clicks grants you the flexibility to commence with a low-end plan and upgrade as your web site grows. So, you save capital that you can invest in publicizing the site while it is still novel. Every web page hosting plan provided by 'AfterHost' offers an online website building tool and over forty widely used script-driven software applications including WordPress, Joomla, Zen Cart and Moodle that will economize you hundreds of dollars for web design services. 'AfterHost' furnishes shared web site hosting accounts in several different geographical regions around the Globe. There is one server farm in Chicago encompassing the US and Canada; 2 European datacenter facilities - in Britain and in Scandinavia; and another one in Australia, which encompasses the Asia-Pacific region. Thus, nearly the entire Globe is covered to provide you and your visitors with a steady and fast hosting service at a convenient place. As a whole, the shared hosting plans provided 'AfterHost' are quite well stocked and come at a very attractive price (starting from $5.00 for the Starter package).

Semi-dedicated Web Servers

To clients with little or no experience, a private virtual web server may appear difficult to handle. That's probably why 'AfterHost' also keeps semi-dedicated web servers in its main US server farm facility in Chicago. Handling these plans is similar to handling a conventional shared hosting plan through a hosting CP user interface. They have all the functionalities of a shared webspace hosting package such as a fee-free web site builder and a script installer, but the amount of system resources provided by a semi-dedicated server web hosting plan is many times larger than that of a shared web hosting package. For instance, the central processing unit power that can be used is nearly FIVE times as much as compared with the shared web hosting accounts. When juxtaposed to a shared site hosting account, the number of database queries added within the semi-dedicated hosting packages is vast: 90 000 / hour. An unlimited hosted top-level domain name allowance is a norm as well. The semi-dedicated web server hosting accounts do not include root-level access (we, at stayplanet.com, regard this as a small problem), but the advantage is that they are managed via the same web hosting CP GUI as the shared site hosting accounts. This signifies that a recognizable graphical interface is offered to all customers who are not self-confident enough to administer a Virtual Private Server, but at the same time require more power and reserves than a VPS web hosting server can confer to them. This is so because the semi-dedicated hosting servers share the reserves of the very same powerful high-class hosting servers as the ones which host the VPS hosting server plans, still, the number of the semi-dedicated web hosting servers is quite small (somewhere between twenty to thirty per physical machine), while the virtual private hosting servers can reach a much bigger number (eighty to 120 per server). Having that information in mind, the semi-dedicated servers provided by 'AfterHost' can be categorized as being quite affordable (as far as cost is concerned), starting from $20.00 for the Semi Dedicated 1 plan.

Dedicated Servers

In stayplanet.com's opinion, huge websites such as social networks, community and corporate web portals or famous online shops with thousands of clients require a much more powerful hosting solution. It appears that the folks from 'AfterHost' have reached the same conclusion too. To live up to its users' expectations, 'AfterHost' offers an assortment of dedicated web hosting servers that can manage millions of daily hits. That assessment stands on the hardware configurations the dedicated web servers are offering: multi-core processors, up to four GB of RAM, two thousand gigabytes of data storage and Gigabit network cards will doubtlessly ensure the quick and stable performance of any kind of site. In 'AfterHost's opinion, the primary hardware configurations can be upgraded for more system resource-requiring websites. We, from stayplanet.com, believe that all dedicated server specifications furnished by 'AfterHost' are also suitable for kickstarting a hosting reseller business as each and every hosting server offers free invoice transaction software platform and a bonus domain reseller account. Unfortunately, the dedicated web servers delivered by 'AfterHost' are all unmanaged. We, at stayplanet.com, consider this a small defect, which can be amended by paying a monthly tax which amounts to $32.00 USD. So, if you are in need of support, the Managed Services upgrade offers a bunch of extra services such as a regular backup, software installation, dedicated web server monitoring and troubleshooting procedures. Several site hosting CP (CP) GUIs are available with each of the hosting servers - Hepsia, cPanel and DirectAdmin. Our (stayplanet.com's) prognosis is that the impressive point and click File Manager added in the Hepsia web site hosting Control Panel will perhaps render the utilization of any File Transfer Protocol software useless. Our (stayplanet.com's) conclusion is that the dedicated servers furnished by 'AfterHost' don't seem to be very affordably priced (still the Hepsia web page hosting CP and the unlimited hosted domain name quotas will definitely make you smile), beginning from $40.00 for the Atom 2c package.