Host Rocket
http://www.hostrocket.com/
First Impression
Host Rocket is a fairly reputable company that has been offering web hosting now since 1999. The company isn't as vocal as iPowerWeb or Lunar Pages on the amount of customers they currently serve, but one thing for sure is that they too have an abundance of customers under their belts. Host Rocket offers a number of different plans all targeted towards different users, which are generally a little bit more expensive than those of previous hosts I have reviewed. Host Rocket should be given credit, however, for they let you roll over any unused bandwidth from month to month. So if there's ever a month where you really need a lot of bandwidth, you don't have to look into purchasing more since you will already have some saved up from previous months. Host Rocket's customer service team is very, very knowledgeable on any server related subject, and generally has an above average reply time as well. I have yet to see any downtime with this hosting company.
Price and Cost Effectiveness
Host Rocket's most popular plan is its "ROCKETone" plan, which for $7.95 a month, offers 1000 MB of disk space and 50 GB of bandwidth. The plan also features software support for PHP, MySQL, CGI-BIN, PERL, Sendmail and more. Again, this plan isn't the cheapest around but for the quality of service you get it is well worth it.
Host Rocket also offers two other plans. Its "ROCKETtwo" plan is $9.95 a month, and offers 2000 MB of disk space and 75 GB of bandwidth. Host Rocket's "ROCKETthree" plan is $11.95 a month, and offers 3000 MB of disk space and 100 GB of bandwidth. The only real difference about these plans is that they offer more disk space, bandwidth, and MySQL databases than the ROCKETone plan. In my opinion these plans are overpriced because if you really want more disk space, bandwidth, and MySQL databases, you are better off going with midPhase's Mega-PHASE package.
Host Rocket also offers dedicated servers from $79.95 a month.
Data Center
Host Rocket operates a data center from Clifton Park, NY. The facility is over 10,000 square feet in size and has redundant OC-12 loops through TW Telecom. The facility is of course equipped with network security to prevent DOS and DDOS attacks, cooling, UPS battery backup for all equipment, a full diesel generator and on site staff. Host Rocket is connected to the Time Warner Telecommunications NationWide Fiber Network, as well as other carries like AT&T, Broadwing, MCI-Worldcom, Cell One, Global Crossing, Pae Tec and more.
Customer Service
Host Rocket is relatively speedy at replying to support tickets with an above average response time to support e-mails. Their technicians seem to be very experienced even for intermediate and advanced level topics. Similar to StartLogic, Host Rocket has a huge support section -- in fact they have created an entire site dedicated solely to supporting their customers. The site features almost any topic you can think of, and probably the majority of questions they receive by e-mails can be found there. Host Rocket also has a toll-free telephone number, where customers and potential customers can call in and get any questions they have answered. The company also offers a live chat feature on their web site, where potential customers can chat with a live sales representative to see what kind of plan would be best suited for their site.
Control Panel
Host Rocket has created their own control panel that is very similar to CPanel. Like CPanel, the panel is highly categorized to make navigation easy and also has a number of graphics that might help the average beginner. Account information, site management, mail controls, statistics and logging, scripts and programs, and advanced options are all available in the panel to make it easy for you to manage your web site.
Overall
Although Host Rocket's ROCKETone plan does not offer as much disk space as similar plans offered by other web hosting companies I have reviewed, it still should be sufficient for most web sites. Host Rocket also offers a 30-day-money-back guarantee, so if for any reason you are unsatisfied with their services you can demand a full refund. This should be a sufficient amount of time to tell if you are enjoying their services, providing that your web site has already been built and is ready to be uploaded. Host Rocket has proven that their servers have consistent uptime, and that their support technicians are very knowledgeable on even advanced level topics. Host Rocket is an excellent choice if you are willing to pay a little bit more.
http://www.hostrocket.com/
Click here to return to the top five recommended web hosts. |
