Hostmonster Reviews

Advantages

Launched back in 1996, Hostmonster.com is a web hosting company headquartered in Provo, Utah and one of the biggest and most popular companies in the industry. HostMonster specializes in offering shared web hosting services that are competitively priced and highly affordable. Their services are centered on a very simple package that gives users the option of upgrading with additional features. They also offer two other popular hosting plans (VPS hosting and dedicated hosting) in their hosting service. Hostmonster.com servers run Linux operating system with customer’s websites being hosted on the Apache web server.

With their basic hosting plan, users will receive unlimited email accounts, unlimited space for domain names and unlimited storage space. The company prides itself on having a 99.9% uptime guarantee and their automatic backup system covers customers for any accidental data loss. Other extras offered by hostmonster.com include $100 Google AdWords and one click install options, including Drupal, Joomla and WordPress. They also offer free and unlimited space/ transfers to customers.

Competitive prices, instant set- up, real 24/7 customer support and well-integrated hosting service make HostMonster an appealing choice for a web hosting company.

HostMonster Hosting Plans

HostMonster offers shared hosting, VPS/VDS hosting and dedicated hosting packages to accommodate customers with a wide range of web hosting needs. Its sole shared hosting plan includes unlimited disc space and bandwidth, along with a free domain name and unlimited domain hosting.

Customers will find more options for plans at the VPS level, as HostMonster offers 4 different VPS plans. The company’s Standard plan provides 2GB of RAM, 30GB of disc space and 1TB of bandwidth per month, and the intermediate Enhanced plan offers 4GB of RAM, 60GB of disc space and 2TB of bandwidth per month. The Ultimate VPS plan offers the largest quantity of resources, with 8GB of RAM, 240GB of disc space and 4TB of bandwidth per month. All plans at this level come with free domain names and dedicated IP addresses (up to 2).

HostMonster also offers elevated packages on dedicated servers that cater to powerhouse websites looking for 15TB of disc space and at least 16GB of RAM.

• The Standard dedicated plan comes with 4GB of RAM, 500GB of RAID 1 storage and 5TB of bandwidth a month.
• The Enhanced plan provides 8GB of RAM, 1,000GB of RAID1 storage and 10TB per month.
• The largest allocation of resources, to be found in the Premium plan, includes 16GB of RAM, 1000GB of storage and 15TB of bandwidth per month.

All dedicated plans come with free domain names and 3, 4, and 5 IP addresses, respectively.

HostMonster Features

Like many of its competitors, HostMonster uses a Linux operating system and supports server-side scripting that includes CGI, Cron, JavaScript, PHP, Python and more. HostMonster provides a cPanel control panel and can offer specific advanced accommodation for streaming audio and video. HostMonster servers also include:

• FTP Access
• Web File Manager
• Secure Shell (SSH) Access
• Specific features for e-Commerce website such as Agora, Cube and Zen shopping carts (among others)
• Password protected directories

HostMonster VPS plans rely on CentOS 6.4 operating systems, an enhanced cPanel control panel, and root access to the CentOS operating system. These plans accomplish virtualization with the KMV hypervisor program, and can afford customers the ability to instantly provision their sites. Dedicated servers from HostMonster also run on a Linux CentOs 6.4 operating system and make use of either Dual Core or Quad Core Intel Xeon core processing units of varying GHz. As with the company’s VPS plans, these dedicated options also come with full root access and an enhanced cPanel with additional features and elevated management capabilities.

HostMonster Server Location and Acceleration

The HostMonster data center is located in Orem, Utah with access to a UPS supply for backup power in the case of an emergency. The data center also employs an automatic data backup system, and is part of the Sychronous Optical Networking system, which is known for its ability to transfer data quickly over long distances—even internationally. Like most data centers, the HostMonster center is protected around the clock with a security team, and servers are also monitored and attended to 24/7 by a staff of professional technicians. The HostMonster data center also reports a competitive 99.5% average uptime.

HostMonster is able to offer competitively fast uptimes thanks to its decision to build its own VPS and dedicated servers and make use of Openstack/KVM cloud technologies for even faster server performance. Given that HostMonster also relies on an OC-48 fiber optic backbone connection, one of the fastest available, there’s little doubt that customers will receive fast service from HostMonster, although its use of an accelerating CDN network or caching system, which would make service even faster, is unclear.

HostMonster Security and Installation

All data stored on HostMonster dedicated plans is mirrored for additional protection, and the company is also committed to providing customers with automatic updates of software like PHP and Python for security purposes. All plans also come with secure shell access (SSH) and hotlink protection. E-Commerce owners should note that HostMonster does provide SSL security for its servers, along with OpenPGP/GPG encryption to protect customer payment information.

In regards to installations, customers of HostMonster will have access to over 100 open-source application installations from the Mojo Marketplace suite. These installations also include plugins and themes for commonly-used applications like Drupal, Moodle, Magento and WordPress. Customers can also install a variety of free web scripts, such as PHPBB message forum scripts, project management scripts and image galleries, with the purchase of any level of hosting plan.

HostMonster Email

HostMonster packages include free access to 500 email accounts on a Starter Package and unlimited email accounts on upgraded plans. HostMonster email allows for auto-response messages, automatic forwarding and implements Spam Assassin Protection. Customers can utilize one of three applications offered by HostMonster to manage their email accounts, and emails can be configured for any type of email client.

HostMonster also provides customers with an unlimited number of secured POP3 accounts and secured IMAP accounts, and users can take advantage of scripts for email mailing lists as well. While technically a CGI script, the company’s FormMail program can benefit email users by facilitating automatic email deliveries to administrators when visitors complete any form on a customer’s website.

HostMonster Customer Reviews?

What do most users of HostMonster have to say about this provider’s services? In general, HostMonster scores competitively in customer reviews and ratings compared to other web hosting providers, with particular attribute to its low costs. While some have questioned HostMonster’s service and support as being less than optimal, most have found that this provider does meet hosting and service expectations.

HostMonster is probably ideal for the customer looking for dependability in a hosting provider; HostMonster’s many years sustaining a strong reputation reflect its commitment to providing quality service. HostMonster is also a cost-effective choice for shared web hosting; though not the cheapest choice on the market, it offers the right features and resources to make any extra expense worth it. Note that HostMonster doesn’t specialize in cloud hosting, but its VPS and dedicated plans could meet the needs of those seeking additional resources, customization or privacy.