NETFIRMS REVIEW
Netfirms, Inc. is the premier provider of web hosting solutions and technology to successful small and medium-sized businesses, home-office, entrepreneurs and individuals worldwide. They propel over 1.2 million websites to online success each and every day. Trust, quality, and reliability have made them one of the largest, most recommended web hosting companies in the world!
10 years ago Netfirms revolutionized the industry by offering high quality web hosting products and technology at remarkably low prices. Their focus on trust, quality and reliability has ensured that they continue to deliver today. Their brand is synonymous with value, and they work with companies such as Google, Microsoft and NetObjects to bring you the best value web hosting has to offer.
NetFirms is an innovator in the field of web hosting technology. They are responsible for delivering hundreds of millions of web pages each and every day, lightning fast, with zero downtime – and they take this responsibility seriously. Their commitment to trust, quality and reliability is real, and it starts with their technology.
Netfirms entire network is built on a multi-server, clustered hosting platform which distributes the task of serving your website over hundreds of servers. This translates into super fast access time, instant site availability, and near 100% uptime. The same clustered hosting technology powers many Fortune 500 websites, and Netfirms does'nt treat your website any differently.
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NetFirms |
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The Netfirms Difference - Clustered Technology |
Server Quantity
Netfirms uses a cluster of servers to handle your Website’s needs. Some of the largest corporations in the world use this kind of platform to eliminate dependency on any one server. This multi-server method improves response time, site availability and concurrency.
Always Available
NetFirms, unlike their competitors, takes a cluster based approach to web serving. They maintain a pool of servers to handle requests coming to your Website. When a request is received by their network, it is directed to a server within the pool. If any server goes down, the others will pick up where it left off, thus providing virtually endless uptime for your site.
'Self-Healing' Systems
A centralized system checks system health and ‘heals’ Netfirms infrastructure when problems do occur.
Server Quality
Connected directly to Telus/Genuity, one of the largest IP networks in the world, your site will have plenty of bandwidth for fast up and downloading. Netfirms also uses a drive architecture that both protects your data and increases your site performance.
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Simplicity of Use - Control Panel |
NetFirms offers a customized control panel which is easy to use and give their clients access to billing and website account tools. Features such as e-mail accounts, domain name manager, MySQL databases and NetObjects Fusion 7 can be managed through the control panel. The panel also has a sophisticated website statistics and bandwidth usage function.
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Packages Offered |
Netfirms offers Linux Hosting, Ecommerce Hosting and Reseller Hosting plans.
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Linux Hosting
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Netfirms offers 3 Linux Hosting plans namely Personal Hosting Plus, Advantage Hosting and Business Hosting.
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Package Summary |
Megabytes or Gigabytes of Space |
6000 MB (6 GB) |
| Data Transfer / Bandwidth |
300 GB |
| Domains Hosted |
2 |
| E-Mail Accounts |
10 |
| MySQL Databases |
1 |
| Domain Forwarding |
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| Sub-Domains |
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| Marketing Package |
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| Money Back Guarantee |
30 Days |
| Purchase Price (1 Year Sign up) |
$4.95/month |
| Free Setup |
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Click here for details about Advantage Hosting and Business Hosting plans.
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Reseller Hosting
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Whether you’re a web designer offering hosting to your clients or a web entrepreneur reselling as a business, Netfirms Reseller plans are the world’s best choice for managing multiple hosting plans under one account. Netfirms offers two reseller plans namely MultiPro 6 and MultiPro 12.
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Package Summary |
Megabytes or Gigabytes of Space |
120,000 MB (120 GB) |
| Data Transfer / Bandwidth |
4500 GB (4.5 TB) |
| Free Domains |
6 |
| Sub-accounts |
6 |
| Domain Forwarding |
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| Multiple Websites |
18 |
| Rock-solid server / network reliability |
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| Purchase Price |
$39.90/month |
| Free Setup |
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Features vs. Cost Analysis |
Netfirms’s Personal Hosting Plus plan is available for only $4.95 per month and includes 6 GB of disk space, 300 GB of transfer, subdomains and a marketing package and is also backed by a 30 day moneyback guarantee. However their Advantage Hosting plan seems somewhat better as compared to the Personal Hosting Plus plan in that it also includes a free starter CD (NetObjects Fusion 7), 2 free domain names plus the option of hosting 3 domains on 1 account. Netfirms’s most obvious shortcoming is that they offer only one year plans in contrast with other companies which have plans for a two-year period and with a smaller price per month. The features vs. cost analysis of this web host and its comparison with others reveals that StartLogic is a better web host than Netfirms. Although StartLogic is a relatively new host than Netfirms which is very established, StartLogic offers 15 GB of disk space, 250 GB of transfer and unlimited email accounts for only $5.95/month.
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Customer Support |
NetFirms offers a multiplicity of support options including an extensive knowledgebase and flash tutorials which are capable of addressing the majority of issues. They also have a search tool to find relevant information but it is not that sophisticated and often gives fallacious results. The direct support options include all the traditional channels like toll-free support and e-mail support. The e-mail support is a bit slow and this is probably because of the fact that Netfirms has over one million customers. So it's not possible to respond to all the requests although they have a sufficiently large support staff. They also have an online chat support but that is not too responsive as well.
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Speed & Reliability |
Unlike their competitors, Netfirms takes a cluster based approach to web serving. They maintain a pool of servers to handle requests coming to your Website. When a request is received by their network, it is directed to a server within the pool. If any server goes down, the others will pick up where it left off, thus providing virtually endless uptime for your site.
Netfirms’s connections are very high speed because they are connected through OC-48 directly to Telus/Genuity and MCI/Worldcom, one of the largest IP networks in the world, which means that your site will have plenty of bandwidth for fast up and downloading.
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Conclusion |
NetFirms
recognition in the web hosting industry is as a small business web host with affordable prices and great speed and reliability. They are very dynamic in that they continuously strive to make their packages more and more attractive by adding new features. All of their plans include a free domain name, marketing package and website builder software. But their hosting plans are not the best value for your money because there are other better web hosts like Globat which offer a far greater number of features for the same price. Nonetheless, as regards the reliability and reputation of Netfirms, they are highly dependable and stable and will be around for years to come.
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