Web hosting FAQ
Web hosting is an unreasonably overpriced service within the Greek market, considering the features provided. Nevertheless, it is a major factor for your website's operation that you should regard with extra caution, so as to know exactly what you are offered for the price you are being asked to pay.
Answers to the most Frequently Asked Questions about web hosting can be found below. We are constantly striving to make this list as complete as possible. If, though, you have a question not listed below do not hesitate to contact us.
Why should I be paying an annual fee for my website's hosting ?
A website is operating on a server with the appropriate technical specifications. The files of a website occupy some volume in the server's storage space, whilst the access to the website requires network traffic, which unfortunately is not free of charge. Hence, the two essential services you are being charged for your website's operation, on an annual basis, is the provided storage space and the required network traffic.
What makes network traffic limits so important ?
In case your website exceeds the monthly network traffic limit, it will not be accessible until the first day of the next month! It is a very unpleasant situation, indeed.
Why does everyone provide so low but also such expensive web hosting limits ?
The companies providing web hosting services within the Greek market justify the high prices they are charging, citing the increased fees for outgoing network traffic. If you see a web hosting plan featuring considerably low storage space and network traffic limits, it is usually accompanied by the argument that the website is hosted on a server within Greece, where those charges are significantly more expensive.
Is it really important to host my website on a server within Greece ?
Web servers within Greece actually have a shorter response time, compared to the web servers located abroad. Moreover, a website hosted in a Greek web server remains accessible for users within Greece, in the case of a temporary disconnection with the broader international environment of the world wide web. Practically, though, the difference in response time between a Greek web server and an international one is negligible, whilst a disconnection with the international internet backbones is an ultra rare phenomenon.
What's a Web server's uptime ?
A server's uptime is the total time interval during which the server operates smoothly and performs all required tasks. In case of a malfunction or during maintenance tasks, the server remains inaccessible and the corresponding time interval is called downtime.
What's the guaranteed uptime that istogram provides for my website ?
In istogram we choose to host our websites in one of Europe's most advanced data centers, hence we guarantee an uptime approaching the ultimate : 99.999%
How much storage space will I need for my website's data ?
In case your website is only consisted of texts and a few photos, the hard disk space requirements remain low. If, though, you 'd like your website to host video files for direct streaming, the storage space demands will be rapidly increasing. In istogram we offer you an integrated hosting plan, featuring 10 GB of hard disk space, sufficient for hosting dozens of HTML5 video files. In any case, if you need additional storage space, there is always the option to host your website on a dedicated server, with unlimited upgrade features.
How much network traffic will my website require ?
In case your website does not feature large video files for direct streaming, or other large files for direct downloading, the montly network traffic requirements remain low. If, though, you 'd like your website to feature HTML5 video files or other large files for direct downloading, or if you 'd like to install a video conferencing system on your website, the network traffic requirements for your website will be drastically increased. You should be extra cautious with the montly network traffic limits featured in most web hosting plans within the Greek market, for if your website exceeds those limits it will remain inaccessible for the rest of the month! In istogram we care the most to offer top quality services to our customers, hence we provide unlimited network traffic for your website, in our fully featured web hosting plan.
What is cPanel ?
Cpanel is the integrated administrative backend of your website, coming with a highly intuitive user interface. It provides monitoring features for your website's available storage space as well as the required network traffic. It also provides tools to create and manage your e-mail accounts, to create and manage MySQL databases, via the phpMyAdmin panel, as well as for a number of administrative and maintenance tasks. In istogram we can include the delivery of instructional videos for using the cPanel in various tasks, as long as you check the appropriate answer in our detailed questionnaire.
Can I have multiple domains for my website ?
The registration of multiple domains for your website is an available option, provided that you determine the website's primary domain, as all additional domains will be redirecting visitors to the primary one.
What is a subdomain ?
A subdomain of a “yourcompany.com” domain might be, e.g. “support.yourcompany.com”. Apparently, a subdomain is a shortcut to a specific subdirectory of your website's root directory. This practice is mostly applied in cases of additional software installations, e.g. for a knowledge base, for a bulletin board or even for an asynchronous distance learning platform.
Can I have webmail features for my email accounts ?
Of course! In istogram we provide detailed instructions to access your email accounts in any possible manner, either using an email client (e.g. Outlook, Thunderbitd) or via webmail, using any web browser.