30 questions that you should ask your hosting provider

30 Questions
you should ask a provider
before signing a contract
Jochen Weiland
TYPO3 Conference San Francisco 2013
Donnerstag, 30. Mai 13

30 47 Questions
you should ask a provider
before signing a contract
Bonus!

jweiland.net
• TYPO3 Service Provider
• 9 full-time employees
6 of them Certified TYPO3 Integrator
• Hosting more than 29.000 TYPO3
domains

Are all Hosting
Packages the same?
Just decide
based on price?

Everything free?

Rule #1
Read the fine print!

Types of Hosting

Root Server
• You need to know Linux:
• Kernel Updates
• PHP, MySQL, Apache Updates
• Security Updates
• Firewall Configuration
• Full Responsibility / Liability

V-Server
• Like Root Server, but virtualized
• Multiple V-Server share Physical Server
• Guaranteed Resources?

Managed Server
• Provider takes care for Configuration
and Updates
• Customer takes care for his Applications

Shared Hosting
• Server shared by multiple Customers
• Provider takes care for Configuration
and Updates
• Customer takes care for his Applications

Cloud Hosting
• Similar to V-Server
• CPU, RAM, HDD configurable

Questions
to be asked

Technical Stuff

How is the Server
connected to the
Internet Backbone?

Hard Disk RAID?

Do you have
SSH-access?
(Updating TYPO3 via FTP isn't fun)

Can you configure
Symlinks?
(Mix and match
TYPO3 Projects and TYPO3 Versions)

Which MySQL
Version?

Maximum Size of a
Datebase?
(TYPO3 Projects often use several GB)

Size of the Database
included in Webspace?

mysqldump available?
(Easy Backup even of very large Databases)

Configuration of
max_packet_size?
(For Importing large Databases)

Just FTP
or SFTP?
(Encryption for Security)

Perl available?
(Needed for some TYPO3 Extensions)

geo-ip Database?

More Tools
• ImageMagick
• GraphicsMagick
• fetchmail
• xpf
• wk2html

Are Backups
available?
(ToS: Customer is always responsible)

• "IT IS SOLELY SUBSCRIBER'S DUTY
AND RESPONSIBILITY TO BACKUP
SUBSCRIBER'S FILES AND DATA ON
[Name of Provider] SERVERS"

Number of Backups?
Retention Time?

Does Backup include
EVERYTHING?
(Files, Databases, E-Mail Accounts)

"Unlimited Plan"
• [Name of Provider] will not attempt to
back up accounts that exceed 50,000
files or 30 Gigs of space for any reason.

Can the Customer
access the Backups?

Restoring from
Backup?
What does it cost?

How long does it take
to Restore
from Backup?

.htaccess
mod_rewrite

cronjobs available?

Minimum cronjob
Interval?

Maximum File Size?
(Logfiles, Database-Dumps can be large)

Which PHP Version
is available?

php_cli available?
(Needed for TYPO3 Flow and Neos)

Can You Configure
php.ini?

Can You Install add'l
PHP Modules?

What is the
Memory Limit in PHP?
(Some applications need 128 to 256 MB)

What is the maximum
size of one E-Mail Box?

How many E-Mail
Accounts?

Total Storage Space
for E-Mail Accounts?

Maximum Size of
E-Mail Attachments?

Are Spam & Virus
Filters available?

Can you define your
own filter rules?

E-Mail Access via
Webmail?

E-Mail Cluster or
Single Server?

Backup / Restore of
E-Mail Boxes?

The Data Center

Redundant
Connections with
multiple carriers?

Total Bandwith to the
Internet in Gb/s?

Redundant Cooling?

Uninterupteble
Power?

Local Diesel Storage?

Manhattan, NYC
November 2012

Hosting Contract

Disk Space
• But pay attention:
1 GB additional Space will cost you 300
bucks per month!

Disk Space
• But pay attention:
1 GB additional Space will cost you 300
bucks per month!
"Disk space exceeding that allowed in the
tariff will be charged at 1 Cent per Day
per Megabyte"
Sounds OK...

"[Name of Provider] guarantees a 99%
Availability of its Infrastructure on a
yearly basis"

Let's do the Math
• 1 Year has 365 x 24 = 8.760 hrs
• 1% Downtime = 87,6 hrs
• That's 3 days, 15 hrs per Year

99,9% Availability
• Downtime 8:45 hrs / Year max.

Domains
• Which TLDs are available?
• Domains with External Registration?
• Can you configure Nameserver
Settings?

Pricing

• "...will automatically renew Subscriber's
Hosting Account by charging the
applicable fee for the non-promotional
rate..."

Support
• Business Hours?
• Toll-Free Phone Number?
• Ticket System?
• Service Level Agreement?
• Compentence?

Questions ?

Jochen Weiland
• jweiland@jweiland.net
• Twitter: @jweilandnet
• facebook.com/jweiland.net
• slideshare.net/jweiland

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