Overall Editor's Rating
86%		Overall Rating
78%		Price
80%		Features
92%		Support
94%		Reliability
90%		Speed

Business Operation
since 1999

Number of Websites Hosted
7,000
 

Overview & Company Description
Companies are now pampered with numerous choices when it comes to shopping for hosting services, so much so that it is sometimes difficult to make the right decision on a choice. Here HostPulse share our views with online web users about the 100 premium hosts that we have selected.

In our search for the 100 Most Dynamic Web Hosting Companies 2004, we look at the companies in our database and we have profiled some of the budget hosting providers based on certain criteria such as infrastructure that is capable of supporting and enabling website objectives, support for programming integration and several databases or business processes and the consistent levels of customer support that these hosting companies will provide.

Based on these criteria, HostPulse selected Micfo.com, to be one of the 100 Most Dynamic Web Hosting Companies this year.

Indiana-based hosting company, Micfo.com, is no stranger to the web hosting industry, particularly in the budget web hosting segment.

All of its web hosting plans are packed with a lot of useful hosting features and a performance guarantee policy to make sure customers are not experiencing any down time, and if any, the company will compensate customers with free hosting. Its latest web hosting package costs only US$5.95 per month if you order a one full year hosting plan.

Founded by Amir Golestan who is the CEO, the company provides Linux-based web hosting services with an extremely high-performance network and high bandwidth allowance. Golestan wanted to offer high-performance hosting with a high bandwidth allowance without any added complexity or operating costs on the user side. Within 20 months of starting operations, the company has successfully instituted its quality policy and also strives to maintain a high degree of excellence in the area of network connectivity.

Micfo has been consistent in offering hosting services that enable webmasters and companies to achieve and sustain website excellence while increasing their return on investment. This has in many ways assisted many of its customers in reducing hosting costs, maximizing resource utilization, and managing the site more efficiently.

"We are very excited to offer a Linux based web hosting service that has clearly demonstrated its success in serving a high traffic website and deploying unique PHP process solutions that work best with MySQL,” stated Amir Golestan, CEO of Micfo.com. “Micfo.com is committed to offer and develop affordable web hosting solutions to address the growing demands of our customers. We believe the combination of high disk space with multiple domain hosting in a hosting plan is a powerful solution for webmasters or small business owners to start a website as they strive for hosting excellence.”

Micfo International LLC. is a Micfo Group company, a multi IT business firm that has been in business since 1999, offering various IT services. Micfo Group officially started offering hosting services at the beginning of 2001 and owns multiple shared/reseller hosting divisions.
 

Why we like this company

• Each of its web hosting plans comes with 99.9% Uptime Guarantee.
  
  In other words, the customer's web site is guaranteed to be operational 99.9% of the time in any calendar month, or it is money back for that month. Micfo.com will refund the customer's monthly fee in the event of service outages due to the failure of the Local Area Network or a web hosting server. You can read more of the SLA agreement at http://www.micfo.com/sla.html.
   
• Experience and expertise are also essential for sound hosting advice. When they are combined with innovations that set new standards in global hosting solutions, they become invaluable. 2 weeks of assessment and research has proven Micfo.com has an all-round knowledge of in managing their hosting business.
   
• Extremely competitive web hosting packages in terms of disk space, price and bandwidth allowance.
   

Customer Support & Rating  92%  
When it is the management and the technical support service that can have the greatest influence on how a hosting company overcomes the revenue impact when network connections or hosting servers fail to function, HostPulse decided to investigate Micfo.com,a company that has been the driving force of the cheap web hosting market segment in North America.

Micfo.com is anticipating the needs of their online customer and provides the following 5 ways for customers to get more support related information or contact their technical support department: -

• Knowledgebase
• Flash Tutorials
• Ticketing system
• Online Forums
• Toll Free 1866-686-8611

Hosting Plan & Price that stand out  78%  
The MG-Super hosting plan stands out from the rest of its shared, reseller and dedicated hosting plan, simply because of its high disk space and hosting features. Managing through its Cpanel and WebHostManager control panel system, this hosting plan also allows customers to host a minimum of 6 separate domain names. The current pricing of the plan is US$9.95 per month or US$5.95 per month for a 24 month period. For more information, please point your browser to http://www.micfo.com/super.html
 

Network Connection and Infrastructure
Servers and network reliability is paramount for its 7000 customers who need day and night access to manage and develop their websites, documents and client files from remote locations.

These requirements bring to the surface issues of reliability (network uptime), redundancy, speed of data transmission, network security, and disaster recovery plans, all of which can and do significantly impact the hosting provider selection criteria.

The Micfo International LLC. servers are located in Houston, Texas. The Datacenter features 65,000 square feet of space with redundant UPS, air conditioning, generator backup and smoke detection/fire protection systems.

The Datacenter is connected to the Internet through 14 Gigabit Ethernet links from seven separate backbone providers, each of which runs fiber optic cables into the data center through two separate entry points. The backbone providers are: Time-Warner, Verio, Cogent, Williams Telecommunications, Allegiance, MFN and Savvis.
 

Reliability Rating  94%  
To reflect its business credibility as reliable and efficient, the company offers a few policies to help protect customers data and investment. These include:-

• Instant Account Activation
• 30 Day Money Back
• 99.9% Network Uptime (SLA)
• 15-25 Minutes Response Time
   

Micfo.com is one of the better hosting providers with long-term views of its business objectives, offering aggressive pricing, network reliability, and the flexibility in meeting its strategic network initiatives. The confidence to offer 99.9% network uptime in its Service Level Agreements to its on-net customers has helped to improve its business significantly.

"The challenge," Amir Golestan says, "was to keep the network at peak performance, provide customers with better hosting tools to manage their websites from home and elsewhere, and offer customers with better value per dollar spent." If you looking for reliable UK hosting services, please research first.

 

Web Server Type

Dual Xeon 2.4 Ghz
4 GB DDR Ram
2x73 GB SCSI Hard Drives
 

Other Services, Marketing and Design
Micfo.com is only specialized in shared, reseller and dedicated hosting.
 

Website Speed  90%  
Ping micfo.com [69.20.54.201] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 69.20.54.201: bytes=32 time=0ms
Reply from 69.20.54.201: bytes=32 time=16ms
Reply from 69.20.54.201: bytes=32 time=0ms
Reply from 69.20.54.201: bytes=32 time=15ms
Reply from 69.20.54.201: bytes=32 time=16ms
Request Time Out.

Ping statistics for 69.20.54.201:
Packets: Sent = 6,Received = 5, Lost = 1 (16.6666666666667% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 16ms, Average = 8ms

Hosting Features & Rating  80%  

• Site Management Tools
• Cpanel/WebHostManager
• Website Builder (SiteStudio)
• Shell/Telnet Access
• Dreamweaver Access
• Microsoft FrontPage
• Webalizer Stats
• Urchin Stats
• Awstats
• Cron Jobs
• Fantastico/Xcontroller 47 PHP Scripts
• CGI-Center 11 CGI Scripts
• Interchange Shopping Cart
• Agora Shopping Cart
• osCommerce
• POP3/SMTP Accounts Unlimited
• Web-based Email 3 Web Based Programs
• MySQL 4.0.20 8 Databases
• phpMYadmin
• PHP 4.3.9
• CGI (personal cgi-bin)
• Perl 5.8.1
• JSP/Servlets
• ImageMagick
• Password Protected Dir
• Easy Account Assistant
• Online Statements
• Instant Account Activation
   

Testimonials

• "I searched a few sites trying to find a good web host and eventually found Micfo. They answered all my e-mails in less than ten minutes, while every other host I contacted didn't respond for quite some time. It wasn't long before I signed up for their MG Super package for 6 months. I couldn't be happier with my choice. Micfo has provided all that I have needed or requested. They continually get involved with the Micfo community and they make me feel like you are actually part of a family, not just buying a service from a black box. They have great prices, service beyond all else, and the community that we've created is a reflection of them. I encourage all people who are seeking a web host to choose Micfo web hosting. "
  
  Bill - Progranism.com
   
• "I decided that I should look into this web host and I found out that they are one of the top 10 web hosts in the world from user recommendations at HostPulse.com, and that they are ranked 4 out of 4 stars by HostSearch.com users.
  
  When I saw that people who knew a lot more about web hosting and the Internet found this host to be great I decided to look more into their packages … I figured there had to be a catch or that Micfo’s prices were outrageous. Turns out I was wrong – big time.
  
  On Micfo’s website they stated that technical support emails would be responded to within 15-25 minutes. Before joining Micfo I sent them a long list of questions about their company and much to my surprise Micfo emailed me back with detailed answers within the 25 minutes. After seeing that they were truly serious in wanting to help me get my web sites going I decided I should sign up and test them out. I’ve now been a satisfied customer for about 2 months and I have no plans to ever use a different web hosting company than Micfo."
  
  Reed - ReedFloren.com
   
• "What made me choose Micfo.com, when I was researching hosting alternatives was not your set of features — though you have great packages — nor your great pricing — but I have to acknowledge that it made a difference.
  
  What really made my decision very easy was your customer service; you replied to a ticket I submitted faster than any other competitor and with valuable help. Even though it was 2 AM and I wasn’t even your customer yet! That same level of quality service is what makes me continue with Micfo and, more than that, recommend your services to everyone I can. "
  
  Leo Alcalá - LeoAlcala.com
   
• "Customer service at Micfo web hosting is just superior. They live up to what they advertise on their site (15-25 Minute Response Time)."
  
  Athirach - Grinster.net
   
• "I was able to get my very 1st domain name in less than 24 hours! There were some issues at first, but it was all on my side due to firewalls at work and Micfo was able to help me solve the problem! I am very happy with the 24/7 phone support so far and I always get someone on the other end of the line in a couple minutes!"
  
  Mannix - Sinvida.net
   

Traffic Magnetism
Customers are attracted to Micfo.com's hosting plans is because they like them and they fill a need. Customers want cheap web hosting services without comprising top-notch hosting support and they are getting it at Micfo.com

To maximize its web marketing strategies and productivity, Micfo.com has long relied on many hosting reviews, testimonials and support from business partners.When the company needed to bolster its network and computing capabilities, it turned to its trusted partners.

In one of the many assessments of Micfo.com's hosting plan over the past week, HostPulse.com has chosen this company as the hosting company we would like to monitor most above any of the other hosting companies.

The attraction for Micfo.com's immense ability will not lessen now that the company has attracted more than a few thousand customers to host their 7000 websites at Micfo.com's server.
 

Accomplishments

• Micfo.com was chosen as Editors Choice by FindMyHost.com for the month July 2004.
   
• Micfo.com was Chosen as #1 Reseller Host By FindMyHost.com for the month November 2004.
   
• Micfo International LLC. was chosen as the Top 6th Web Hosting Provider by HostPulse.com.
   
• TheWorldJournal.com has chosen Micfo.com as the #2 host on the Editors Top 10 list.
   

Success Factors
Through the years Micfo.com has earned a reputation as a small but formidable hosting company that has served more than 7000 websites, allowing customers to manage and work their websites effectively. Its success reveals an extraordinary ability to compete in its respective hosting markets with innovative hosting technologies and superior marketing that has lifted itself above the rest.