EnTrends

"Sorry about the down time. It's back
up now." they explained.

Ahhhh. But did they actually check
MY site? Obviously not. It was dead
as a doornail at 6:30 when I checked.

I called again and caught someone
before they left for the evening. He
promised to email someone else
about it and have them look at it.
Later that evening my site was
brought back up...

That is, until the next crash - the
following Tuesday morning. This
second crash lasted over a week!!
What's more, they lost all their data
and had no backup! But that's
another story altogether.

In the meantime, I called my new web
hosting company and ordered my
domain transfer. I had to get my
business off this web host's dead
servers!

What I learned next was even more
discouraging. It seems that when I
originally ordered my domain, that
same web host had registered it in
their name, and not mine. Why? Who
knows? But technically, they owned
my domain even though I had paid
for it and had been shelling out $125
a month to have it hosted.

Needless to say, my problems were
getting worse, not better.

Well, to keep this long story from
getting any longer, I'll skip to the
end. It took some doing, including
multiple phone calls and letterhead
faxes, but I managed to convince
InterNic, the organization that
handles domain registrations and
transfers, that bizweb2000.com was
in fact mine and that I had to have it
moved from these dead servers.
Luckily, InterNic proceeded with the
order.

So, here I am. Happy as a clam once
again. My domain transfer has been

completed and my web site is up and
running again on my new server.

All of which brings me to the moral
of this story:

(Remember as I started this horrible
tale I promised that I would reveal
the steps you can take to avoid such
a debacle?) Well, the steps are below
for your reading pleasure. Hey,
there's no point in suffering like I did
when all it takes is a little inside info,
right? With that, I invite you to learn
from MY mistakes...

1. Never (I mean Never, Ever, Never)
sign up with a web hosting company
that does not offer 24 hour, 7 day a
week support. That means LIVE
support, not automated replies. If
you do not have the ability to speak
with a live person via telephone or
email, you will sooner or later be in
dire straits like I was. Test the
support before signing up with the
web host.

2. Do not sign up with a web host
without first contacting a handful of
their current customers and asking
them about support. (Not referrals
that they give you, but customers
that you find. You can do this by
visiting their bulletin board area or
chat room, if they have one. If not,
ask them for a long list of customers
you can contact and call lots of
them.)

3. Do not let your domain be
registered under someone else's
name. Make sure you are the
administrative contact. This will
allow you to transfer your domain
without your host being involved. It
will speed things up and give you
the freedom that your rightfully
deserve.

4. Always keep your own back-up
copy of your site. As a matter of fact,
keep fresh copies on your hard drive
and weekly or monthly copies on a
zip disk or tape backup. Never rely
on your web hosting company's

promise of back-up. (Luckily, this is
one mistake I did not make!)

Well, that wraps up my little
nightmare. I hope you enjoyed it.
And do me one little favor would
you? Look before you leap. If you
are considering putting a web site
up, make sure you follow the
guidelines above. If you already
have a web site, take a hard look at
your current web host. Is it a disaster
waiting to happen, like mine was?
Send a message to your support
team and see how long it takes them
to get back to you. If you are even a
little concerned, you may have good
reason to be.

If so, don't wait until you're counting
your losses. If you have ever
considered moving your site to a
more responsive, professional host,
take it from me - it's much easier to
act than react. Once the nightmare
starts, cyberspace is a cold and
lonely place.

Note: Since moving my entire site to
Virtualis in early 1998, I have
experienced one minor outage. I
immediately contacted their 24 hr.
support team and my site was back
up before I hung up the phone. If
you are looking for a web host,
Virtualiscomes highly recommended
here!

Article by Jim Daniels of JDD
Publishing. Jim's site has helped
1000's of regular folks profit online.
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