Host Gator is a voracious little web host with its eyes set on devouring the larger and more established competition by tempting customers with the kind of capacity that could feed a franchise. Host Gator now manages close to 100,000 shared hosting customers, is one of the leading reseller hosts, and offers extremely competitive dedicated hosting servers. Now, the prices may reflect the extra girth of Host Gator's dedicated plans, but if your business has a hearty appetite, than you may want a bit more, and when you add up the a la carte costs for comparatively beefing up your plans with the big guys, Host Gator's prices suddenly seem like a real honest value.
• Server management and a free cPanel control panel with every dedicated server - most web hosts charge you for the server licenses of Cpanel.
• Linux plans include Fantastico, with more than 52 great scripts - you can use for personal hosting or offer to your clients.
• All servers can create unlimited domains, subdomains, POP3 accounts, MySQL databases, and FTP accounts - ideal if you want to start your own small web hosting company
• Great self-service options with WHM/Cpanel
• No Contract - monthly billing
Key Features
• Custom design your server or let a Host Gator expert design it for you
• Intel Pentium 4 and Dual Xeon processors
• Cpanel license included on every server
• Ecommerce features included, like SSL support and 3 kinds of shopping cart scripts included in Fantastico
• SiteStudio website builder add-on for $2 per site per month
Editors' Comments
From their leading position as one of the top reseller providers in the web hosting marketplace, Host Gator has established a solid reputation in the dedicated hosting space. Many dedicated customers are Host Gator web hosting resellers and shared hosting customers have migrated to dedicated server solutions as their requirements have changed. Host Gator offers extremely competitive dedicated servers and the fact that you get Cpanel and Fantastico licenses bundled into the price is ideal for those customers who want either multi-domain hosting or who looking to establish their own identity in web hosting. Fully supported services with Host Gator's 24/7 technical support will ensure that your uptime guarantees are met every month.
Uptime Guarantee
With HostGator you get a 99.9% network uptime guarantee (with a prorated refund) supported by around-the-clock ping, system, service, and process monitoring. Despite the 0.1% allowance on their guarantee, they report 100% uptime SLA thanks to HSRP/BGP. They also include server monitoring for each customer, notifying you by email of any downtime detected.
Basics - What you need to know
DataCenter
Your server will be housed at one of Host Gator's Texas-based data centers: The Planet in Dallas and Savvis in Fort Worth. They are raised-floor facilities with multiple HVAC units, very early smoke detection apparatuses and pre-action dry pipe sprinkler systems. You get all the benefits of a Certified Cisco Network that features 10 backbone providers, Juniper M20 Border Routers, Cisco 6500 Series Distribution Routing Switches and Aggregation Switches, on multiple redundant OC48 SONET Ring connections.
Power Management
Host Gator data centers are all supported by multiple TXU electrical grids with 2 or more Powerware UPS units, each equipped with 90-120 batteries, giving you between 2000 and 4600 amps of fully redundant 480v input power. All data centers also have 1 or more 1-3.5 megawatt generators for backup power.
Physical Security
All Host Gator datacenters have strict Northern Proximity security badge entry and exit.
Server Access by Customer
Physical Access:No physical access to your servers Root Access: Client gets root control of their box
Service Offerings
General Managed Services - Bundles
24/7/365 support with server monitoring services. Limited extended managed hosting options available. Ideal for self-service customers looking to manage their own self-service dedicated servers.
Security and Updates
All plans are managed for free, meaning that the Host Gator staff will keep your server's security and OS systems totally up to date. Generally, they perform security updates within 8-20 hours of their initial Microsoft or RedHat release.
Sample Server Plans
• Basic: 2.8 GHz Pentium 4 processor with 1024 MB memory, an 80 GB hard drive and 1500 GB bandwidth for $174/month
• Pro: 2.4 GHz Dual Xeon processor with 4096 MB memory, 2x73 GB SCSI drive and 1500 GB bandwidth for $374/month
Customer Profiles
• Web Hosting Servers & Resellers
• Data Storage
• Application Service Providers
• Gaming
