Overall Editor's Rating
89%		Overall Rating
76%		Price
89%		Features
96%		Support
97%		Reliability

Business Operation
since 1999

Number of Websites Hosted
50,000 active websites

Overview & Company Description
The web hosting needs of e-commerce and today's dot-com companies are impacting the storage and data management requirements for host's products and services. Hosting providers must operate on a 24x7 schedule with zero tolerance for downtime or slow performance. Loss of web space results in immediate loss of revenue and dramatic drops in website value, especially when Alexa.com system is automated to track ranking at anytime.

The ability to efficiently manage, access and analyze hosting information can determine whether a hosting company is an industry leader or one that is lost in the crowd. HostPulse.com talked to Tamara Field, CEO of ApolloHosting.com to find out how Apollo Hosting is addressing this issue to ensure data integrity and data availability.

Founded in 1999, the Austin, Texas-based Web hosting provider, Apollo Hosting, believes the power and simplicity of their web hosting technology offers the lowest-cost, safest and most-efficient way to promote a website and a company, and as well as access to all data, for all users. Since its inception in September 1999, the company has been serving approximately 50,000 active websites worldwide from 150 countries. This privately owned company has shown profitability for the last 4 years and has developed a reputation for excellence in the area of their business. Feedbacks conducted indicate the company has fast follow-up to complaints and customer requests.

As a result, Apollo Hosting today is the one of the world's leading providers of web hosting and ecommere hosting choice for top e-businesses and Fortune 100 companies. In fact, Apollo Hosting is using all aspects of its e-commerce hosting solution to transform itself into an e-business.
 

Why we like this company

• Reliable hosting services. Over 50,000 active web sites hosted in its own data centers.
   
• Apollo Hosting was one of the first companies to offer 24/7/365 Live Technical Support Chat and toll-free phone support.
   
• Recently, Apollo Hosting announced a major increase in resources for its shared and VPS hosting platforms. Customers on its new, Plesk based shared plans will enjoy as much as a 5 fold increase in their storage and transfer allotments. The company is able to provide these increases without any additional cost or reduction in features or services.
   
• The company offers complete hosting solutions for web users from shared hosting to dedicated server, and virtual private servers to reseller programs. Most of its hosting plan can incorporate ecommerce solutions easily.
   
• Price starts at US$8.96 per month for a huge disk space of 1000MB and high bandwidth allowance of 50GB.
   

Customer Support & Rating  96%  
Tamara Field, CEO of ApolloHosting.com says, the company always has a clear and predictable hosting support road map, as it is essential for Apollo Hosting's customers and for Apollo Hosting to effectively plan implementations of its new server technology, predict hardware costs, justify network equipment purchases and budget for future hosting technology replacements.

HostPulse.com couldn't agree more with Tamara. In addition, advancements in the hosting industry have elevated the need for expanded and flexible support to meet hosting migration timelines and directly address security needs. Over the past 2 weeks, HostPulse has monitored the activities of Apollo Hosting and gathered the satisfaction rating from its customers to find out how the company has performed in the month of November 2004.

Researching through HostPulse's database, Apollo Hosting has one of the most comprehensive technical support systems available on the internet. The company offers the following help for online customers:-

• Video Tutorials
• Knowledgebase
• Online Support Manuals
• Checking on server status
• Quick start guides
• Always on Live chat system
• Customer help desk
• Phone support
• Call back request
   

Hosting Plan & Price that stand out  76%  
The Value hosting plan from Apollo Hosting at the price of US$8.96 per month for 3 months contract is extremely feature-rich and affordable. HostPulse.com recommends this hosting plan for web designers, small and medium size companies. The hosting plan comes with 1000mb of disk space with 50Gb of bandwidth.
 

Network Connection and Infrastructure
Apollo Hosting understands that is essential to launch server and storage consolidation initiatives, which, enablea a more flexible, adaptable and easily managed IT infrastructure to support its 50,000 active websites and reduce customers total cost of ownership.

These consolidation efforts will result in reduced operation costs, improved data center space utilization, reduced downtime, simplified management, easier technology deployments and reduced complexity.

Apollo Hosting has been offering its customers with state-of-the-art servers, software and services since 1999 and is still committed to helping them succeed in their website business initiatives. The company is uniquely positioned to ensure that their customers are able to realize an IT infrastructure that provides investment protection and maximizes system performance, availability and ease of management through all the software available in their hosting plans.

Apollo Hosting customers have direct fiber optic connections with Frontier GlobalCenter, Qwest Communications, and Genuity, a division of GTE. These tier 1 providers service such giants as Yahoo!, Netscape®, Ebay®, and USA TODAY. With these three carriers, Apollo Hosting router has up to 150,000 possible routes to send each packet of data. The company is also connected to Qwest® Communication's OC192 line which provides the company with redundancy and increased routes to Europe, Latin America and Asia.

Summary of network infrastructure

• Multiple carrier Internet backbones via OC-3 connections
• Border Gateway Protocol (BGP4) routing utilizing Cisco 7500 series equipment
• 750 Kilowatt generator with 2,000-gallon diesel tank
• (3) 20-ton redundant Liebert air conditioning units
• 500 KVA Liebert uninterrupted power source (UPS) system
• Pre-action fire suppression system
• UL listed lightning protection system
   

Reliability Rating  97%  
In early October 1999, Apollo Hosting added connectivity from Level 3 Communications®. Level 3 was described in USA Today as "a dream team with a dream network." With the fundamental change in communication technology at hand, they are the first to build an international end to end communications network, based entirely on IP technology. To implement this new technology, Level 3 plans to construct local networks in 50 cities across the United States, all interconnected by an intercity or long distance network that will extend nearly 16,000 miles.

• Reliable Connection
  Apollo Hosting has direct fiber optic connections with Frontier GlobalCenter, Qwest Communications. Frontier GlobalCenter's ground-breaking 460 Gbps network runs Border Gateway Protocol to 25 other major carriers through over 25 high-speed private peering arrangements, providing fast, efficient and reliable network available.
   
• Dedicated Connection
  Apollo Hosting scalable bandwidth lines are entirely dedicated to web hosting.
   
• Fast, Reliable Servers
  Servers are custom-built machines designed for a 24/7 web serving environment and equipped with dual redundant 450-watt power supplies, and force-filtered cooling systems. Apollo Hosting Network Operations Center (NOC) is also equipped with standby machines, industry-leading Liebert uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) and a temperature-controlled environment.
   
• Force Filtered Cooling
  All the drives, motherboards, and power supplies in Apollo Hosting NOC are in cases with a positive pressure filtered-air environment. Two large fans pull filtered air into the protective case, and the components within are cooled by fans which circulate this purified air. The constant introduction of clean air into the case creates a positive pressure environment ensuring that dust and particles remain out.
   
• Hot Swap Fujitsu Drives
  The drives and drive bays of Apollo Hosting servers are all constructed from high-grade aluminum, and rest in a Shock Mounted Drive Cage, which adds to the durability of the hardware. Technical staff back up servers nightly.
   
• Redundant Hot Swap Power Supplies
  Each server has dual-redundant hot swap power supplies. If one of these power supplies were to fail, the server would not go down because each power supply is capable of running the server by itself, indefinitely. Apollo Hosting also install alarms system to alert its technicians in the event of power failure on any of the server in the NOC.
   
• Standby Servers
  The company also keep spares on-line of all CPU configurations. If a server were to experience a hardware failure, the technical staff would literally turn a key, grab the handle on the drive, pull it out, insert it into an identical standby CPU and reboot the second machine to bring up websites quickly.
   

Web Server Type
All Dell Hardware
Dedicated Servers with Guaranteed Uptime
Intel Pentium 4 Processors
18 GB SCSI Hard Drives
1GB or more SDRAM
UPS power back-up
 

Other Services, Marketing and Design

• Site Studio Tool for online web design on all plans. This free service can be seen at http://www.apollohosting.com/sitetools/siteStudio.php
• Get Traffic Tool Box for marketing if customer purchase the Business Plan or higher. More information about this feature can be seen at http://www.apollohosting.com/sitetools/marketingToolbox.php
   

Hosting Features & Rating  89%  

• PayPal Shopping Cart
• osCommerce Shopping Cart
• Miva Merchant Shopping Cart ($695 value)
• SPAM/Virus Filtering Value Business Ecommerce Pro
• SpamAssassin
• SpamAway™ Spam/Virus Filter (unlimited emails)
• Database Support Value Business Ecommerce Pro
• MySQL Database
• Sun Java System ASP 4.0 Optional Optional
• MyPHP Admin
• CGI Bin
• PHP, Perl 5.8.0, Python
• C, C++
• CRON Management Tools
• Free Scripts
• Control Panel
• Site Studio w/ 450+ Design Templates
• Mambo Site Builder
• FrontPage Support
• Custom Error Pages
• Password Protect Directories
• Website Chat
• Content Management System
• Bulletin Board
• Photo Gallery
• Marketing Tools Value Business Ecommerce Pro
• Get Traffic Toolbox
• Site Statistics
• Urchin Web Analytics
• Miva Marketplace
   

Testimonials

• Ernest Lilley, - http://www.e357.net
  I needed a config file change and Alex M took care of it right away. Thanks for the great chat support.
  Nov 6, 2004
   
• Markus lacher, company profile - http://www.cp4safety.com
  I chose Apollo Hosting because you had the best price offer for my needs and you also have a very good service. Fast and friendly.
  
  Thank You
  
  Markus
  Marketing Director
  Nov 3, 2004
   
• Sean Calhoun, - http://www.freshimpressions.com
  Thank you for installing Postini to our website's email function. It has drastically reduced
  junkmail.
  
  Regards,
  Sean Calhoun
  Oct 19, 2004
   
• Kim Kirby, - http://theglitterrose.com
  I am so happy to be hosting with Apollo. With each passing year, it only gets better. Apollo has achieved a perfect blend of wonderful features and excellent support from a knowledgable staff. I love the new gallery feature! I also like the fact that changing from one plan to another is just a button click away and that you can easily change them to suit your needs at any given time. The prices are simply amazing for what's included in each plan. There is nothing that you can't achieve because Apollo will make sure of that. They will help you accomplish anything that you can dream up! No matter how long it takes, they will stick with you!
  
  It's a comfort to know that there is Live Tech Support 24 hours a day and they reply to your needs quickly and efficiently. And this is one of the best parts...they don't CHARGE you for this excellent service, it's included! I truly dislike having to pay for technical support to help me with a companies product. That's just not right.
  I use Apollo for all of my Miva issues. They seem to know Miva inside and out, which is a true blessing!
  
  I will always host with Apollo because I will only host with the best!
  Thanks Apollo!
  Oct 19, 2004
   
• Wayne A. Kelsey, - http://www.branddiscounters.com
  As someone relatively new to starting an ecommerce business site, ApolloHostings has provided every assistance to help get my set up and running. Need help? ApolloHostings team are there to help you 24/7. If you're just getting started out or a veteran in ecommerce, ApolloHostings are the best way to go. And to all at ApolloHostings I'd just like to say, "thanks guys for everything"!
  
  sincerely,
  Wayne K.
  Fayetteville, NC
  Oct 19, 2004
   

Traffic Magnetism
In the year 1999 and 2000, we saw many companies turning to the Internet and e-business solutions in order to change the way that they conduct business to gain significant competitive advantages. The Internet and the progress of website hosting has provided to be an effective means for providing access to key applications and information which is critical for improved collaboration and business processes with employees, customers and business partners. Since the inception of Apollo Hosting in 1999, the company has began to market its hosting services extensively all over the web through various marketing methods. Typing the keywords "Website Hosting" at google.com shows Apollo Hosting consistent listing on Page 1.

In 2003, the company emerged as one of the top hosting affiliate programs available on the internet and many web users are attracted to Apollo Hosting's ability to efficiently manage, operate and maintain good network and hosting servers. In a nutshell, Apollo Hosting offers power and simplicity of web hosting technology to help customers jump start website development online rapidly.
 

Accomplishments

• Apollo Hosting was voted a top 25 web hosting company in October and November 2004 by Tophosts.com
   
• FindMyHost.com lists Apollo Hosting as a "Guaranteed Host". Find out more about how Guaranteed Host's are chosen by clicking here.
   
• Received "Highest Level of Recommendation" from WebHost Magazine & Buyer's Guide
   
• Ranked #1 Web Hosting Site by Best Web Hosting Reviews!
   
• Better Business Bureau Online Member since 1999
   
• Apollo Hosting has been a member of the Better Business Bureau Online since 1999 and has remained " Free From Any Complaints" for the entire period of its membership.
   
• C|Net.com ranks Apollo Hosting a Gold Performer for 100% uptime for the past 72 weeks.
   
• C|Net.com gives Apollo Hosting 3/3 stars
  Voted among the top 10 E-commerce hosts at C|NET for the past 88 weeks
   
• Apollo Hosting has been chosen as one of the 100 Most Dynamic Web Hosting Companies by Hostpulse.com for E-Commerce hosting.
   
• Web Host Directory Awards are given to the best Web Hosts in each of our Web Host Categories by tabulating the Votes they receive from our visitors and our Review Board. Each Host is given a rating of 1 to 10 (10 being best) in 6 areas of performance, including Cost, Features, Support, Reliability and Speed.
   
• Web Host Directory visitors voted Apollo Hosting a top choice in shared hosting for April of 2004.
   
• HostSearch is the Web's largest web hosting directory Apollo Hosting has received many reviews including several 4/4 recommendations - see reviews
   
• Apollo Hosting was also rated 9.8/10 based on Open Review Method at HostSearch.com
   
• Apollo Hosting has been voted a top 25 web hosting company in August 2003 by users of Hostindex.com.
   

Success Factors
Apollo Hosting has earned a reputation as a premium web hosting company that utilizes leading technology to deliver a high level of service to customers. The continuous investment in Apollo Hosting and integration with many other third party vendors has not only enhanced its web hosting services but has also reduced costs.

The company has recorded measurable improvements in the accuracy and reliability of data availability, faster, more efficient technical support, as well as consistent software operability. In addition to that, Apollo Hosting has earned a reputation for delivering major new hosting technologies to its customers faster than other hosts in the same hosting segment, improving customer satisfaction and accelerating time to account setup.