Hosting is one of the most important elements for your website because it allows you to publish files on the internet. Since there are numerous hosting service providers in the market thus it is not easy to select the right service provider. One has to do detailed research before buying a hosting solution. However, it is essential because the whole website is going to rely on the hosting. Making the wrong choice at this point can be frustrating and cause huge financial losses. However, choosing the right cloud hosting provider will help you grow your business faster.  Here are a few aspects that you should definitely consider before buying a hosting solution from a cloud hosting provider.

Know you needs

You should have a clear idea of your goals and what do you expect from the hosting. No one wants to dedicate their time and money only to find out that they cannot import or export ISOs. Moreover, are you planning to extend your VPN to the cloud, build a high-volume e-commerce store website, etc? Do you need API integration, managed or unmanaged services, windows or Linux templates, multiple servers, scalability, and daily backups? Make a list of features you need before searching for hosting needs. Sometimes the features you are looking for are not mentioned on the website thus don’t be afraid to ask them.

Evaluation period

As you test drive a car before buying it, similarly before buying any hosting service you should also test drive the service provider. Check whether the cloud provider you are looking for provides you discounts or free services for the new customers.

Support

If you are stuck in creating your first server then you should call someone for assistance. Always check the support while taking cloud hosting services. Moreover, consider the services that provide free support else you have to pay the additional cost for support.

Read service level agreement

Is the cloud hosting provider committing to provide you maximum uptime? If the answer is no then how they are going to compensate it? It is the responsibility of the client as well to coordinate with the service provider and ensure that they get maximum uptime. Though, every cloud has some minor issues which are fine. If the downtime is causing you to lose a big chunk of money then architect the cloud be to secure.

Multiple zones and availability for loading balance between zones

It is a follow-up at the last point. It ensures that you are getting maximum uptime through multiple zones because that is essential for the business. If one zone or server goes then the load balancer or DNS server will redirect the user to another active server.

Data transfer speed and cloud server speed

When it comes to data transfer, there are two things to consider:

• Bandwidth provided by cloud hosting provider
• The location of the cloud service provider. If the data center is far away from the client then it will slow down the data retrieval. Thus if your customers are far away from one country or website then it is better to for the local cloud hosting service provider.

Your cloud hosting provider should give you the flexibility to scale up and down as per your needs. Make sure you review the costs carefully and then only you make the payments to your service provider. 

Consider data compliance

The place your data stays is subject to the rules and regulations of:

• The country in which your data stays
• The country in which cloud hosting company is situated.

For example, if a company of the US owns a server in Australia, laws of the US apply to the company. It does not matter that your server lies in Australia.

Moreover, your industry or company guidelines might tell you that cloud security suits best for data handling and storage. 

Security

Security is not always about the hackers entering your system. This topic includes the following things as well:

• Data centre security
• Network security
• Virtual server and cloud storage security

Scalability

Users wondering about the difference between VPS and cloud lies in the scalability. If you want to create and destroy multiple servers or increase/decrease the server’s performance for matching demand then you need the cloud. 

Innovation and change with time

There are a few things that we all take for granted: we can watch youtube videos on our PC smartphone or tablet and even download and view the maps anywhere anytime. It also allows you to share and work on the documents during meetings and with people across the globe. 

There are numerous fantastic things that you can do on the cloud. Moreover, the flexibility is increasing with each passing day. If this innovation is continuous then the cloud is going to reach new heights soon. You can access your cloud storage from any device at your desired time and location which is something unique.

Conclusion

If you wish to get the right cloud hosting provider then you need to know your requirements in the first place. Moreover, you can try to take help from any of your friends who has some experience in buying cloud-related services. In cloud hosting, you can also go for cloud VPS hosting if you cannot afford dedicated hosting. It is also a reliable service for all businesses and individuals.