The Truth About HostGator
HostGator Hosting Facts, Host Profile &
Hosting Reviews
By Mark Shroyer
We researched over 200 web hosts and narrowed
it down to the best Web hosts called the "Web Host 'Straight
A' HOT List." To qualify for this list we required each
web host have an A rating with the Better Business Bureau
(BBB) at the time of our review. BBB ratings indicate how
well companies have satisfied their customers and resolved
complaints. The BBB rated HostGator
with an A+.
But we did even further research.
Next, we emailed HostGator twice with 40+ tough
questions about their shared Web hosting. We wanted to check
out their response time and the depth of their answers. Both
times were during "off" hours. (i.e., First set
of questions were emailed on a week night somewhere between
7 PM to midnight. The other set were emailed on a weekend.)
It took HostGator 2 hours and 12 minutes to answer our first
set of questions and 1 hour and 28 minutes to answer our second
set. 24 hours or less for a response is considered quick by
industry standards. HostGator responded within two hours on
both occasions and supplied us with full detailed answers.
Frankly, they were the second fastest on our entire list of
hosts.
Here are the answers to our questions straight
from HostGator themselves:
- Question: How long have you been in business?
Answer: Since 2002
- Question: What are all the different ways I can
contact technical support? (i.e., Email? Support ticket?
Help desk? Chat? Phone?)
Answer: Phone and
Fax, Live Chat, Email, Snail Mail
- Question: Do you offer a simple user-friendly
Web site builder for beginners to make creating web pages
quicker and easier? (i.e., WYSIWYG online HTML Editor
or something similar?)
Answer: The easiest
way we can help you design webpages is to provide you
an account with a service called Sitebuilder, which provides
an easy way to generate webpages and can upload them with
FTP. FTP uses a username and password to authenticate
you (show that it's you and not someone else), and you
will be provided one if you sign up.
- Question: On average how long should I expect
to wait before I get a reply back from technical support
on an urgent high priority request?
Answer: Normally tickets
are answered the same day, usually within a few hours.
Tickets are addressed in the order they are received.
- Question: Will I share an IP number or will I
have my own?
Answer: A Dedicated
IP can be ordered and assigned. However Shared and Reseller
accounts all are initially assigned a shared IP address.
- Question: How many sites do you normally put
on one shared server? How many sites do you normally put
on one shared server? How do you decide what constitutes
a full server?
Answer: I cannot offer
an estimate. We have multiple accounts on the shared and
reseller servers, and it also depends what sizes they
are as to how many we can fit. I can tell you we never
fill the server past 80% capacity.
- Question: Will I be contacted in advance about
routine maintenance?
Answer: Scheduled
Maintenance events will be broadcast within cPanel and
on the HostGator Customer Forums.
- Question: What is your bandwidth, transfer, file
or hit limit?
Answer: We have a
250,000 inodes (file/item) limit for shared and reseller
customers per cPanel. Bandwidth is 100mbps constant.
- Question: Can I have telnet access?
Answer: Yes, telnet
will work by default.
- Question: Is a CGI directory included?
Answer: Yes
- Question: Can I run CGI scripts outside of the
CGI directory?
Answer: Yes, normally,
we run PHP as CGI. On your phpinfo() page, this is the
setting listed under "Server API".
- Question: Is there a limit to how many scripts
I can install?
Answer: You only would
have an Inode limit to adhere to, that is all.
- Question: Do you provide full shell access?
Answer: Shell access
on Shared and Reseller accounts is Jailed (limited).
- Question: What version of Perl do you use? Does
it contain a full set of modules?
Answer: The current
Version is 5.8.8. You can see all of the available Perl
modules by entering cPanel and clicking the Perl Modules
icon (under Software/Services in the X3 theme). On that
page, scroll to the bottom for a button to "Show System
Installed Modules".
- Question: Do you offer a Web statistics package?
Answer: Within cPanel
you will have access to this. We can also create a symlink
for Webalizer (only Webalizer) to yourdomain.com/stats.
Please submit a written request to us for this service.
- Question: Will I have access to the raw statistical
log files?
Answer: Yes, via cPanel
- Question: Does the space used by my logs count
against my allotted disk space?
Answer: Yes
- Question: How much space am I alotted for databases
such as MySQL?
Answer: There is no
specific allotment.
- Question: Do you offer Frontpage extensions?
Answer: Yes this can
be enabled via cPanel
- Question: Do you offer Secure Socket Layer?
Answer: Yes
- Question: How many email accounts, forwards,
and email aliases can I have?
Answer: As many as
you'd like to manage.
- Question: Is sending to opt-in email lists allowed?
(i.e., e-newsletters, autoresponders, etc.)
Answer: Safelists
are allowed and Online businesses that use e-mail marketing
must follow all the CAN-SPAM rules.
- Question: How many emails can I send out per
hour and day?
Answer: There is a
500 hourly outgoing email limit per domain on all shared
servers. This limit is also applied towards mailing lists.
If you send over this amount in any hour, the e-mails
will fail and may bounce back with a undeliverable error.
- Question: Is your package upgradable and what
should I expect if I ever need to upgrade to a larger
package?
Answer: Upgrades are
easily achieved in Shared Server environments. However
you will need to change servers each time should you choose
a Dedicated Server.
- Question: Do you have a money-back guarantee?
Answer: We offer a
45 day money back guarantee on Shared and Reseller accounts.
Domain names are non-refundable.
- Question: What are your billing and cancellation
policies?
Answer: Due to the
scale of this question I ask that you please contact billing
at our web site and ask direct questions if you need clarification
on specific issues. Otherwise, see our terms of service
page at our web site. This should fully answer your question.
(Webmaster's Note: Basically they use reoccuring
billing with a 10 day grace period for unpaid bills, and
to cancel your service you must use the cancellation form
at their web site.)
- Question: What is your acceptable usage policy
in a nutshell?
Answer: There is no
nutshell answer to it unfortunately. Please see our Terms
of Service located at our web site.
- Question: Are there any penalties or fees for
exceeding basic allocations and what should I expect if
it accidentally happens? (i.e., Going over my bandwidth,
etc.?)
-
Answer:
- Shared Webhosting:
You will not need extra disk space and bandwidth, as we
do not limit those.
- Resellers:
If you need more bandwidth or disk space, please upgrade
to the next package by filling out our online upgrade
form.
If you need more bandwidth or disk space
than our highest plan offers, please purchase a second
plan to accommodate your needs, or upgrade to a dedicated.
- VPS:
If you need more bandwidth or disk space, please upgrade
to the next package by emailing us with your request.
If you need more bandwidth or disk space
than our highest plan offers, please purchase a second
plan to accommodate your needs (or consider upgrading
everything to a dedicated server).
- Dedicated Owner:
You can order an additional hard drive to achieve more
disk space; please understand that the extra hard drive
cannot be transferred to another server. You can order
additional bandwidth, or else we will automatically charge
you for every Gigabyte over your monthly limit. Please
read the related article "Bandwidth policy and prices"
at our web site.
-
Question: Can I set up a free trial
period?
Answer: We do not
offer a free trial period, however, please see question
25 about our 45 day money back guarantee.
-
Question: How soon can I expect
to obtain access to my Web site after I submit my order?
Answer:
* Shared, Reseller and SEO accounts take less than 1 hour
to set up.
* VPS without cPanel takes less than 1 hour to set up.
* VPS with cPanel takes a few hours (about 3 to 4) to
set up.
* Dedicated server takes 24 to 48 hours to set up.
-
Question: Do you impose file size
upload limits and, if so, what are they?
Answer: There are
no file size upload limits.
-
Question: Do you impose any limits
to how many files can be stored in a single sub-directory
and, if so, what are they?
Answer: There is a
technical limit of about 32000 files or directories in
any one directory. This limit is an inherent limitation
of the Linux operating system that we use.
-
Question: Do you impose a size-load
limit that a directory can have and, if so, what is it?
(i.e., 100 MB worth of files per directory)
Answer: There is no
size limit to your directory.
-
Question: Do you have any CPU,
RAM, or Inode limits that I need to know about and stay
under and, if so, what are they?
Answer: All processes
that run for more than 30 cpu-seconds (are in the CPU
for more than 30 seconds, time spent swapped out or doing
I/O don't count) are instantly killed (forced to stop
running on the spot). You would also face suspension if
you used more than 25% of the total CPU time for over
90 seconds, which is hard to do on powerful processors
like those our servers use. PHP processes are limited
to 64MB of RAM. You are limited to 25 processes, one process
is used by one php connection, one imap connection, or
one cron task. You are limited to 500 emails an hour,
and if you must send more than this, we suggest you "throttle"
the list, slowing it down to this speed or slower.
-
Question: Is there a limit to how
many simultaneous HTTP connections there can be and, if
so, what are they?
Answer: We don't have
a specific limit of simultaneous HTTP connections, but
very popular sites typically end up using too much of
one or another resource and we require them to move to
a dedicated server at that point.
-
Question: Is there a limit to how
many simultaneous PHP connections there can be and, if
so, what are they?
Answer: We don't have
a specific limit for PHP connections. However, one php
connection uses one process, and you are limited to 25
processes at a time.
-
Question: Is there a limit to how
many simultaneous database connections there can be (i.e.,
MySQL, etc.) and, if so, what are they?
Answer: You may have
25 MySQL connections at any given time. We suggest closing
them when you are done so that you can have a site with
more than 25 users.
-
Question: Is there a limit to how
many simultaneous FTP connections there can be and, if
so, what are they?
Answer: We do not
have a policy on FTP connections.
-
Question: Do you offer IMAP and,
if so, is there any limits to how many IMAP connections
I can have and what are they?
Answer: We do support
Imap, but each imap connection uses one process, and you
are limited to 25. The most common reason that people
encounter trouble for this is "Idle mode," which leaves
stale imap connections open.
-
Question: What should I typically
expect to happen if any of the limits above accidentally
went over their limit? (i.e., Would my visitors see a
message saying "account temporarily suspended"
or what should I expect? Please elaborate.)
Answer: If you use
an unreasonable amount of cpu, MySQL connections, or RAM
(as measured by the security team), then your account
would be suspended (users coming to your site at that
time would see a message that this site "needs support.")
and a ticket would be filed (which you would receive a
copy of by email) explaining that your account was suspended,
why, and what you could do to un-suspend it.
-
Question: Do you offer ffmpeg for
video conversion and video sharing? If so, are there any
limitations and what are they?
Answer: We have a
free version of FFMPEG and a custom one for $75. The free
one uses only a few, popular drivers, and lacks support
for some of the codecs that you might need.
-
Question: Do you host adult content
or web sites?
Answer: Adult sites
are permitted, although they tend to bring a lot of traffic
and will cause you problems unless well-coded. (An adult
site that, say, never closed MySQL connections would be
suspended due to MySQL abuse within 2 hours.)
-
Question: How can I ensure your
network and my (shared) IP address you give me won't get
blocked or blacklisted as spam by ISP companies when I
send and receive emails through your server?
Answer: Our email
limit is designed to keep sites off the spam lists. We
also have some support help if you should wind up on a
blacklist, and how you can ask the receiving site to remove
you from it.
-
Question: Do you automatically
make back up copies of all my files and, if so, how often,
and is there any limits?
Answer: We have backup
servers that make backups once per week, usually on Sunday.
Please do not rely on this, as there is a $15 charge for
restoring from it. Your site will not be backed up if
it is larger than 4GB in size or has more than 100,000
inodes (one Inode is used by one file.) You can back up
your files yourself if your account is smaller than 4GB,
and we can help you back it up if it is less than 10GB.
If your account is larger than 10GB or has more than 100,000
files, then we can only help you make backups that include
only your email and MySQL databases, and you will need
to find another way to keep your files safe (such as downloading
them all through FTP).
-
Question: What is the typical procedure
you recommend that I take (other than companies like PayPal)
if I want to accept credit cards from my web site, and
what do I need to know to make it happen and how much
extra will it all cost?
Answer: We have a
guide to supporting credit cards at our web site. Basically,
you need a merchant's account, and should have an SSL
(Secure Socket Layer) to allow people to tell you their
proper information under a cloak of encryption. Although
we have a free shared SSL, this is unwise for merchants,
as the browser will complain that the SSL does not match
the site address. I can provide you with more information
on SSL if you need it.
-
Question: How long will you give
me to retrieve all my files if, for any reason, either
one of us decides to terminate our service with each other?
Answer: You would
have up to one week, though ideally you should backup
your information and download it before canceling.
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