GlobalServers is the Best New VPS Web Hosting Service of 2003

Host Multiple Web Sites on a Single Plan
The GlobalServers team has been in the hosting business for over 7 years, and was one of the early pioneers of shared hosting. Now GlobalServers breaks new ground in high-end hosting with their Virtual Private Server (VPS) offering. Geared more towards experienced webmasters, the Virtual Private Server (or Virtual Dedicated Server, as it is sometimes called) gives you the power and security features of a dedicated server, but with the price and ease of use of a typical shared hosting account. GlobalServers VPS gives you the ability to host multiple web sites on a single hosting account, so it's a great option for customers currently paying a separate hosting fee at other hosts.

The VPS Advantage
GlobalServers' VPS technology works by intelligently dividing a physical server into multiple "Virtual Dedicated Servers", each with its own web server software, configuration files, settings, and applications, which you can customize to your needs. You can connect to your server via SSH, reboot it, monitor, stop, and restart processes, etc. In effect, you can do anything you could normally do on a dedicated machine.

Powerful, Yet Easy to Use Web Hosting
Running a dedicated server can be pretty intimidating, even for experienced webmasters, but GlobalServers' real breakthrough is in how easy they make it to manage your server.

When you sign up for a GlobalServers account, the signup process steps you through setting up your first domain name and logging in to the control panel for the first time. Once you have logged in, you see that all the web server software has been pre-installed and is ready to go, just like on a typical hosting account.

A familiar icon-based control panel helps you perform basic functions like setting up your e-mail mailboxes, viewing site statistics, and adding subdomains and virtual hosting accounts. A "Site" tab shows functions related to the current web site you are working with. A powerful file manager gives you easy web-based access to your files, including CGI, .htaccess, and other files typically hidden on other hosts, and easy wizards help you to password-protect private areas of your site.

A "System" tab gives you access to powerful system level tools, such as the ability to install new programs, and monitor running programs such as Apache, MySQL, or Sendmail. There are also built in installers for a variety of other common applications, so that installing new functionality is as easy as pointing and clicking. This also allows you to optimize your server's performance by uninstalling software that you don't think you'll need.

The very clean and easy to understand "Account/Billing" tab lets you view a copy of any invoice and manage your billing information easily. Upgrading is self-service too. You can easily add additional subdomains, virtual hosts, and other resources to your account without having to contact the company. For web design firms wanting to host multiple clients' sites on a single server, GlobalServers VPS provides easy access control for each client and makes it easy to switch between sites without having to leave the control panel.

GlobalServers' HSPComplete control panel includes just about everything you could want in a Linux-based host: PHP, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Mod_PHP, Zend Optimizer, phpMyAdmin, Frontpage Extensions, Perl, SSI, Webalizer and AWstats, as well as access to raw log files.

Hot Server Hardware
GlobalServers has taken great care to select the best hardware available for their VPS Servers, selecting Dual CPU XEON processors loaded up with 4GB of RAM and a massive 1 terabyte RAID 5 disk array. The RAID array uses hot-swappable drives and a hot spare, so that even if two drives happened to fail at once, the spare can be brought immediately into use. Additionally, they have all their web servers behind a WebScreen Intrusion Detection System designed to prevent Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks like the ones that have taken down sites like Yahoo and CNET in the past. All servers are data center hosted (secure facility, backup generators, multiple backbone connections, excellent peering, etc.), and they have near unlimited bandwidth allotment, so you don't have to worry about things slowing down when your site is getting heavily visited.

Service and Support Great service and support are hard to find with this type of offering, especially at such a good price point, but GlobalServers offers toll-free phone support, a self-help area and ticket system, as well as 24/7 e-mail support. They also claim to be getting ready to launch a chat-based support system as well. They also offer a bold 30 day money-back guarantee, as well as a 99.9% uptime guarantee.

Conclusion
For those of us hosting multiple sites with multiple hosts, GlobalServers' VPS plans are a compelling offer. Combining the power of a dedicated server with an easy to use control panel cuts down on the time and required to manage multiple sites, as well as the costs. It is a perfect solution for those who wish they had a dedicated server, but lack the technical expertise and budget to manage one. At $14.95 a month, you could probably move all of your web sites to GlobalServers for the price you are paying now for just one, and manage them all yourself. Many companies have been working towards this "holy grail" of hosting, but GlobalServers' easy to use VPS system seems to be the best we've seen. GlobalServers definitely is the VPS host to watch in 2004.

Visit Globalservers

Related Article: Best VPS Web Hosting Finalist >>