Top Green Web Hosting Companies - Green web hosting companies power their servers through renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. Working online without any paper trail may seem green, but if the servers of a hosting company are emitting CO2 then the purpose of going green is defeated.
Green web hosting companies power their servers through renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. Working online without any paper trail may seem green, but if the servers of a hosting company are emitting CO2 then the purpose of going green is defeated.
Just a few companies started off with renewable energy back in 1996
during its infancy stage. Today, green web hosts are standing eye to
eye in competition with larger web hosting services.
Understanding the difference between regular and green web hosting
Because
of the out-of-sight-out-of-mind psychology, a lot of people tend to
forget the importance of choosing green web hosts for their online
properties. Behind the scenes, we have data centers with computers,
servers and cooling systemsthat consume significant amounts of power. The carbon released from these centers effect the environment directly.
To
offset that, green web hosting companies make it a point to use the
electricity from renewable sources to run their business. They
also implement ways to reduce the electricity consumption without
compromising on the quality of services that they provide.
Benefits of choosing a green web host
The importance of reducing our carbon footprint is something that most people understand today, thanks to the WE campaign
and other awareness building programs. Despite that, our website's
hosting service is the last thing that comes to mind when we're
greening our lifestyles. Yet, ironically, its one of the biggest
contributors to ecological emissions. The value of switching to a green
host is a viable business decision, because:
Resource Optimization: Green
web hosts ensure that customer requirements are balanced effectively
with the resources at hand. They first determine the amount of power
needed based on virtual simulations and then offer services to meet
those needs.
Renewable Energy: Green
web hosts ensure that the power they require is provided by renewable
and naturally available resources, such as wind and sunlight. Some web
hosting services switch to lower-emission sources of energy such as
propane. Although propane
isn't exactly a renewable resource, it is a good alternative because it
can be produced in abundance and costs much less than fuel.
Efficient Machines: Since
data center servers consume high amounts of power, green web hosts
prefer to go with machines which have a lower rate of CO2 and heat
emissions -- reducing the electricity and environmental cooling
requirements in the long run. Furthermore, the machines are well
maintained to avoid disposal after a few years.
Efficient Layout and Management: Efficient layout of networks and servers in the data center improves cooling and electricity requirements to a great extent. Regular
maintenance and management of the servers and networks also assist in
reducing any unnecessary consumption in the long run.
Service Levels: The
service levels of all green web hosts are generally as good as other
hosting services. Watch out for renewable power certifications to feel
confident about their efficiency management levels.
Measuring reliability and performance
There is a common misconception that the reliability and performance of a green web host is not at par with their non-green counterparts. As with
any other web hosting company, in order to measure its reliability and
performance, we should look into the following factors:
Customer Service:Given
the nature of online businesses today, web hosting companies have to
provide reliability and efficiency 24x7 to make sure that everything
runs smooth.
Minimum down time:Check
the percentage of downtime of the green web host of your choice.
There's a big difference between 99% and 99.99% up-time in web hosting. Think about the effect it has on the market when popular apps like Twitter go down - they have to justify the Fail Whale's
presence to millions of users within minutes. Consumer expectations of
service have changed with time, and they are often unforgiving when
they can't access your sites and applications. Remember, down-time
directly effects bottom line.
Cost:
Get this straight - low price may not mean the best service. Evaluate
your hosting needs and then decide if the cost of the package is
justified, both economically and environmentally.
User friendly:
The interface and support system of any web hosting service should be
user friendly. Since you might have to deal with the hosts in tense
situations, it is best to choose the most usable, scalable and flexible
services to make the interactions smooth.
Easy installation of applications: Before buying hosting, make sure that it supports
the applications that you will be using. For example, it should be able
to support your preferred content management system for your business
website or blog which may be on Drupal, Joomla, WordPress or other
platforms.
Top 5 eco-friendly web hosts
As more web hosting companies have started going green, the competition to get the attention of the eco-savvy crowd is becoming fierce. Here are 5 eco-friendly companies that stand out.
SuperGreen
SuperGreen services all user types, for this reason, it's one of the highest ranked green web hosts in the industry. It focuses on providing all its services and reporting control online, while maintaining 99.9% server up-time. It also offers one free domain name for unlimited domains that you can add to your hosting package. SuperGreen provides 24x7 online
customer support, and has also been awarded the Best Green Host award
for 2009, with their operations primarily relying on wind power.
GreenGeeks
GreenGeeks
offers a competitively priced green hosting service powered with wind,
offering all the required server configurations and applications
support that you would need for any of your websites and data
requirements. With round the clock service, GreenGeeks supports their
customers to the fullest at no additional cost. The website and its
services have also been published in PC World in a 2008 review.
HostGator
HostGator claims to
eat up its competition.
It offers an unlimited web hosting service at a nominal and highly
competitive monthly rate, with all applications and server
configurations support that you may need. It also has a large corporate
presence, and focuses on facilitating resellers as well. The hosting
servers and its data center are powered by wind.
ThinkHost
ThinkHost
started in 1999, motivated to run on 100% renewable energy, and
continue to do so and rank amongst the top green global web hosting
services. They also provide discounted hosting to non profit
organizations, while providing efficient services to its regular
customers on economical costs.
DreamHost
DreamHost has been in business for 11 years now with employees who themselves own and run the company successfully. They focus on CO2
neutralization, and economizing on resources to maximize power
efficiency and also buying out carbon offsets and reducing their carbon
footprint. Customer support is 24x7 with over 99% uptime.
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