What to check before to go with an host!

[Genialnames]

After having had several bad experiences with many host (especially I go with resellers account) I have developed a brief list of check up/look up that I routinely perform before to choose an host, indipendently of what they say in ads or even answering to presales question.

Of course I compare the results of my check against their affirmations.

The main resources are:
DNSREPORT.COM > here you check the DNS and IP settings. Be shure no a single field should be flagged red.If you find one red flagged read the explanation. Usually I discard the host if a single one is flagged.

DNSSTUFF.COM : here you would check for
1)the IP is listed in SPAM DATABASE, if a single one is flagged red I discard the host
2)check IP against the List of banned IP (updated daily)
3) Speed of connection >A field/SOA/MX etc. if the server is to much slow to respond you know how visitors will load your page.
4) If these four tests passed, go ahead and check all the other fields,the most significative at least it may take 5-15 minutes to finish , but it worth.

5) whois.ws. I found this is much more updated even of whois.sc for wich concerns IP . here you can undestand if your nameservers IP are have been issued properly,( must correspond to thiose assigned to you) Where is hosted the server of your host
6)Netcraft.com> check for server/datacenter information mostly..

90% of the hundreds hosting services I have asked informations I have found they lies intentionally or they are unaware (e.g. not professionals), in the best case, they omitt to say about their issues, that is INDIPENDENTLY OF THE PRICE RANGE OF THE SERVICE! (that means that is not true anymore, or at least it is not a rule, that the more you pay the better, or ,you have what you have payd for, it is question of HONESTY OF THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE SERVICE!)

Conclusion: it is not easy to find a reliable service to day....that's bad!

I hope you find this information useful,and I hope I help some of you to avoid the same bad experiences I had!
That's the reason why I have posted.

 

[shanee86]

Im not sure I see you said not to go with a host if one block is red well guess what I did some site checks for such as msn yahoo etc and they even have a block red or so lol. So that is very common I guess. Maybe it should say if it has more then 2 or something. I don't know I also know that doesn't mean a host is bad or good. How to tell if they are good signup take them for a test for 30 days see how it goes such as support and speed etc.

Also check the whois see if they have like ns1.theredomain.com or someone elses. Also see check were they get there servers from or if they resell.

 

[Genialnames]

Also check the whois see if they have like ns1.theredomain.com or someone elses. Also see check were they get there servers from or if they resell.

thanks, you pointed clearl than I did at point 5

for wich regard the red flags, of course it depend on the entity, but since it is not impossible to have no red flags I would go with someone who really care about correct settings instead to one who don't.
Another thing is that, as you said, many buy from others, if where they buy are not good then also the 2 resellers is bad, and even worse, at total damage of the last client!
If everything is set up correctly and no red flags it is quite a reliable indicator of a sane situation, from top to bottom.
rep added to you for the good comment!
rep added.