Hello!

 

I have used a number of hosting providers in the past, where I have hosted a variety of websites from HTML, PHP, WordPress, Joomla etc.

 

Now, if the server goes down they usually notify me, which is great.

 

However if my website went down, you don't here a peep. I found this to be with a recent supplier.

 

What are your thoughts?

 

Hitesh

That depends why the site went down.

 

If it's something server related then obviously it's the hosts responsibility, and any half decent host will keep you informed of any issues.

 

If your site developed a problem itself, eg corrupted database, poor scripting, issues with 3rd party software it's not really up to the host to tell you, that is your responsibility.

This is a tough one but an easy one at the same time.

 

I personally don't think a host should do it for each individual site, they should do it if a full server goes down.

What kind of hosting do you have? Shared, dedicated?!

 

Many hosts offer managed hosting, and will notify you of any downtime, fix hardware and attempt to bring a server back up on your behalf. This rarely covers applications, such as Mysql, Apache ect. Some will also cover that if you ask, there's often an additional fee though.

 

If the server is completely in your hands, you're expected to cover hardware costs if there's a failure, maintain the software on the server, implement patches and security updates and all sorts. They should notify you if they're experiencing trouble from their side, such as an outage, otherwise they would assume that you have monitoring on the server, and someone capable of administering it. Some prefer this over managed hosting, particularly if they want complete control over a server. This is common for dedicated and VPS servers, whereas shared hosting is fully managed.

 

You're probably going to want to approach your web host to see what they cover as part of their service. At the very least, some server and application monitoring wouldn't be a bad thing to implement. I recommend looking at New Relic, it covers all sorts of monitoring.

What about for the average small business owner who has managed to install WordPress, but clearly isn't technical enough to fix / diagnose website errors, especially there are these 1 click install options available for website scripts. Should hosting companies take these sorts of users into consideration?

 

As we also know that any WordPress website that isn't kept up to date is prone of being hacked - which could affect sites on a shared platform.

What about for the average small business owner who has managed to install WordPress, but clearly isn't technical enough to fix / diagnose website errors, especially there are these 1 click install options available for website scripts. Should hosting companies take these sorts of users into consideration?

 

As we also know that any WordPress website that isn't kept up to date is prone of being hacked - which could affect sites on a shared platform.

 

Then they opt for managed or shared hosting. A non-technical Wordpress user is unlikely to purchase a dedicated server. If they do, they have bigger problems, like installing MySql and Apache.

 

As for errors on the site itself, no host will go in and debug your bad code or plugin. It's 100% not their job.

Now, if the server goes down they usually notify me, which is great.

 

However if my website went down, you don't here a peep. I found this to be with a recent supplier.

 

Hi Hitesh

 

Think of it as a partnership where its not a case of "Who is to blame", but more a case of "We work together to have as few headaches as possible"..

 

Any decent hosting company will keep you updated with any changes they are making that might affect you, and should those changes affect you, then you can work together to resolve any hiccups, but your hosting company cannot posible keep an eye on every single website to ensure it is working 100%, as there just isnt enough hours in the day, but a great host can work with you to help you resolve any issues you run into, during the course of looking after your website.

 

For example:

Were currently rolling our PHP v5.4, so we email every shared customer months in advance to tell them what is going to happen and when, then again at the start of that month, then again the day their server is being upgraded, but we offer those who are not ready, alternatives, in advance, to give them time to prepare.

 

Once we have then upgraded a server, we email everybody again to let them know what time it finished, then we start checking every webbsite for obvious problems, even if its just to visit their website and click around a few pages looking for errors, and if we find anything, we will let people know, and try to help them fix it where possible, but ultimately, you cant expect the host to do everything, you do also need to be pro-active too..

 

If your installing and using applications, you owe it to yourself, and your hosting company, to learn about the software you are using and to take reasonable precautions to keep things secure too, remember, its a partnership, you work together, with the host doing everything possible at server level and you doing everything possible at website level :-)

 

As said by others, websites can go down for many reasons, such as errors in coding or files uploaded incorrectly, and many of these are not things that a web host would be alerted to as its not a server problem..

 

So long as both sides are taking reasonable measures to minimise headaches for an easeir life then things are all good right?

 

TTFN

Rich

This is a tough one but an easy one at the same time.

 

I personally don't think a host should do it for each individual site, they should do it if a full server goes down.

Basically what I was going to say upon reading this..

 

If it's a solo site, surely that's a lot of effort (for much larger hosts) to inform a client of every time it goes down - maybe it could be done for sites down 30+ minutes?

Thanks for the comments guys! Its trying to find the right balance.