[Cobalt]

I've recently acquired a client who wishes to promote their business on the web. They currently have a shop and intend to have a web shop with their entire inventory online, though they are looking for a webhost.

As this will be an integral part of the business, it needs to be online 24/7 and any problems need to be addressed quickly. Unfortunately, I moved to dedicated servers to avoid the poor technical support I've been subjected to in recent years, so am a little out of touch as to who knows their stuff.

Any hosts worth their weight in gold? Money is not a problem to an extent, so long as the end product is good.

[quinda]

I use a company called 34SP - their packages are very small in terms of space and bandwidth offered if you go for a shared package - their dedicated server prices vary - I think they're on the expensive end though.

Their hosting is brilliant - they had some problems a few months ago, but communication was very good during that time, and for the 18 months before then, and the time after then, service has been wonderful.

I've never telephoned them for support, however I have used their email, contact form, and IRC chat support. My questions have always been answered quickly and politely. They take the time to ascertain your level of 'techiness' and then pitch the answer to that level - so they won't patronise a geek, and they won't bamboozle a novice.

The only problem with them is their packages don't scale well - if you need more space or bandwidth you might end up paying a lot more than you would elsewhere. If you know what you need and buy it off the bat, then you should be OK - the premium is worth it for the service.

[CSN-Carl]

Cobalt - Take a look at our Hosting Packages. We host this forum :D
www.csnewmedia.co.uk

[crimsonc]

I'd suggest Rackspace It's a quality hosting company that supports it's customer very well. A testiment to that is they deal with clients like Renault and confused.com (which you may have seen advertised on the Tv)

Uptime is one of the best in the UK with at least 99% but possibly more.

[anadantra]

If you have a dedicated server, I strongly recomend you to host yourself. You can offer basic maintenance that includes hosting. All shopping carts need tech support and regular updates. If they have any problem they will come to you anyway, so it is better to offer it as a service from the begining and avoid future problems.

Sandra.:)