HostGator is an American web hosting company founded in 2002. Today, HostGator is one of the most celebrated and top award winning hosting services on the planet, hosting over 8 million domains for clients around the globe. Outside of their industry record for outstanding service, HostGator is unique among web hosting options because their servers and cooling are powered by eco-friendly wind generators.
Main features of HostGator VPS hosting
HostGator offers shared, reseller, SEO, VPS, and dedicated hosting. While their dedicated and shared hosting have options for Windows, all their VPS hosting options are Linux-based. This service is available in nine different “levels” of hosting plans. The first two levels are semi-managed, meaning that HostGator’s administration will handle hardware and operating system issues which arise on your server, while the following seven levels are fully managed (with Plesk or cPanel).
Infrastructure of HostGator
HostGator’s datacenters are located in Dallas, Texas. Their facilities amenities include over 500 smoke detectors, a sprinkler system, continuous power, backup generators, and a badge entry system for all physical entry. Weekly backups of all data are made on all VPS accounts, and staff is on-site 24/7 to assure the health and safety of all their servers.
Furthermore, all HostGator servers are Dell PowerEdge machines running on enterprise quality hardware. User traffic is channeled through several different major internet service providers including AT&T and Comcast, allowing for completely redundant network support against ISP failure.
Plans and pricing
HostGator’s first level of service costs $19.95 per month with a $15 domain registration fee. This cost gradually increases for the higher levels of service, ranging from $39.95 for level 3, $94.95 for level 5, $149.95 for level 7, and $209.95 for level 9. Each additional level offers you more dedicated CPU, RAM, storage space, and bandwidth. The first level provides 384 MB of RAM, 10 GB storage, 250 GB of bandwidth, and 0.57 GHZ of CPU power. This can be incrementally increased to the last level, which offers 231 GB storage, 4,435 MB of RAM, 3,150 GB of bandwidth, and 5.94 GHZ of CPU power. Signing up for Plesk costs an additional $5 per month, and existing HostGator plans can be upgraded to VPS plans at any time.
Customer service
HostGator has a United States based support center that offers 24/7 support over phone, e-mail, live chat, forum, FAQ knowledge center, and a website ticketing system. Their phone number is toll free, their forum is full of qualified and experienced web developers, and their FAQ is comprehensive and readable. In customer reviews, HostGator is universally praised for their exceptionally fast response time to customer issues, and their support is available 365 days a year.
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