Introduction
With the rapid increase in web sites, there is a huge demand
for a web hosting provider who not only provides quality services, but also
instant support services as and when demanded by clients. Everyday thousands of
domains are registered worldwide. These domains need to be hosted with a
reliable provider. Nowadays, a lot of companies provide web hosting services. However,
many of them do not provide adequate support, which will hurt customers in long
run, especially if the provider is not developer friendly. If you need to
troubleshoot your ASP.NET application and your provider does not know how to do
it then you will have a big problem.
Features
Based in Romania, LiveHosting provides hosting services powered with Windows
2003 and ASP.NET 2.0/3.5. I had hosted with several providers in the past and I
know what to get and expect. I was impressed with the control panel they
provided with the hosting service. It enables you to perform all tasks very
easily. The provider regularly updates the software as and when they are
released by the company which developed it. Moreover, the interface provides
one click installation for all major applications such as DotNetNuke, Community
Server, ASP.NET Starter Kits, KBiki, Drupal, Joomla and WordPress. It is a big
bonus since you can install them without any need to upload files manually.
They are also planning to provide hosting in Windows 2008 platform within the
next few months.
Impressions about Support
I am amazed by the support provided by the host. Unlike
other providers, they provide direct online support through MSN Messenger. The
technicians provide very helpful and friendly assistance whenever I ping them.
I was able to resolve many issues easily within less than five minutes. They
also provide ticket based support system. I have not used it frequently as most
issues are sorted out through chat. I sometimes find them offline during
weekends, but I feel that this is normal with any provider. After all,
technicians are human beings and not robots.
The provider maintains a discussion board, but the content
is in the Romanian language. It would be helpful if the provider enables an English
version so that customers outside Romania will be able to interact with the
technicians. I also found that their main website is also in the Romanian
language. I would prefer to see an option for both Romanian and English
languages in the near future.
Conclusion
If you are on a look out for a developer friendly hosting
provider, you should try LiveHosting. I am sure you will not be disappointed
after you sign up with them.
About the Reviewer
Anand Narayanaswamy (Microsoft MVP and Chief Technical
Editor, ASPAlliance.com) is the author of Community Server Quickly (http://www.packtpub.com/community-server/book).
