With the rising popularity of cloud hosting services, many users might not be sure what to look for when buying into their own cloud-based solution for a website, corporation, or even for personal use. There are a number of things that make a good cloud service provider, from fair pricing and green technology to generous application technologies and bandwidth limits. When it comes to what makes a bad cloud provider, however, there are a few major warning signs that indicate a web host might be a bad choice for security, reliability, and overall usability, on behalf of any user.
1. There's No Security Policy in Place, or the Existing Policy is Lax
One of the biggest problems with "bad" providers is that they simply lack an appropriate security policy for their cloud services. This is a really big deal for cloud hosting, because it typically stores user data that can range from contact information to payment methods. Business, likewise, won't want to choose a company that can't promise whether or not their financial statements, trade secrets, and collaborative environments will retain their integrity for the duration of their stay with the company. If there's no security policy, or the policy in place isn't good enough, run away from that host with big strides.
2. Up-Front Payments and No Refunds
Reliable web hosts of any kind, whether they're based in the cloud or not, should be confident enough in their services to offer refunds and not require up-front payments. Typically, less reliable web hosts ask for up-front payments of three, six, or even twelve months. When a customer is dissatisfied with their service and wants to leave for a different host, they won't get a refund. That's great -- for the host. Stay away from this kind of predatory company.
3. The Web Host Monitors their Network Occasionally
The reliability of a web host has always been one of their most important features, but the importance of uptime has increased in the era of cloud computing. The nature of cloud services themselves demand constant connectivity to the server from multiple connected devices on both home and mobile networks. If the server isn't available, and none of the host's technicians are there to fix it, that's a serious problem. Hosts without a strong networking monitoring policy and a great uptime guarantee are not the best choice for cloud computing enthusiasts.
4. A Low-Rent Datacenter is Not Worth the Low Monthly Fee
There are plenty of very affordable cloud hosting service providers on the market who operate robust, top-tier data centers with redundant bandwidth connections and reliable, redundant power supplies. There are also affordable cloud hosting providers that have a single power and bandwidth connection, which can prove unstable and cause major headaches in terms of connectivity. These low-rent hosts should be avoided; cloud services should withstand a single data outage or power loss, and this should be considered a requirement by any shopper.
5. Cloud Data Should Always be Highly Scalable and Lightning Fast
Some cloud service providers are absolutely committed to solutions that can be instantly deployed, instantly scaled up or down to meet the customer's need, and instantly used to sync data at high speeds. Other companies don't pay much attention to these things, and they'll require laborious phone calls to technical support in order to deploy a new solution or scale an existing one; and their speeds will certainly not match up with expectations when it comes to device syncing and file transfer. Look for a host that goes the extra mile (or the extra gigabit) to get the job done, and stay away from hosts that "try." In the words of Jedi Master Yoda, "there is no try," and that is certainly true of cloud hosting.
Don't Settle for Less than You're Worth
The key to finding a really robust cloud service is to know and understand the value of both the cloud itself and the business or individual who will be using it. By considering these, it's simpler to identify what is required of a new cloud service provider and why. If they can't measure up to a person's or a business' worth and requirements, they should be passed over, not settled for.
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