The internet is an exciting terrain for business growth, but there is a lot of research to be done in order to maximise your online growth potential. Choosing the right web host is definitely one of the main factors here, and accordingly you should make sure that your chosen host has a robust data centre.

There are a few basic features to look for when deciding on a data centre. Security should be your primary concern. You want your web content to be secure and in safe hands, so find a data centre that follows strict rules and regulations regarding the physical security of the building itself as well the virtual security of the network. Make sure firewalls are installed, as well as anti-virus protection software and anti-spam software.

A reliable data centre should have emergency backup generating capacity in case of power failures. Computers get damaged if not shut down correctly, so make sure the data centre has an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) that will operate fully in the event of a power cut.

Not only should your power supply be backed up, but you should also be guaranteed that your important content and information is going to be backed up, so that if the system crashes you don't need to worry, because your information is saved on the backup files.

Computer servers cannot be in an environment that exceeds a certain temperature, because they will overheat. The server room needs to be kept cool with a commercial air conditioning system to keep the room temperature constant.

You're going to need a decent amount of bandwidth (internet traffic capacity), so examine the data centre and check that its connection is up to speed. Also find out how much you will be charged for additional bandwidth.

What are you going to do in an event of a technical problem? You need to ensure that your hosting provider has a support team available to help you out, should you run into a tight spot. You never know when you might need help from the support team make sure of the support offered. Also check their response time so that if you are stuck with a problem you can make sure that you don't wait for hours until somebody assists you with the matter.

After you have investigated the inner workings of the data centre, you can now move to the next phase. You should establish if the data centre is in a well connected geographical spot. If the location of the data centre is a great distance away from transportation, you may have trouble accessing your servers (if co-locating for example) when you need them.

If the data centre you have examined meets all the above criteria and is in your opinion a reliable hosting solution, you can now look at the price plan. Examine the price plan to check if it is competitive for the features you will be signing up for. Look at a few data centres, so that you can get a good idea of the price and the features available. If you are unsure, ask questions. It is always better to clear up any uncertainties before you sign up. If you are happy with the price plan and hosting features, it's all systems go.

About the Author

Hetzner is a South African web hosting company that takes pride in exceptional customer service. Consistently delivering the best service and web hosting packages, Hetzner has grown to become the largest specialised web hosting company in South Africa.