IX Web Hosting Review

I’ve been using IX Web Hosting  for approximately 2 and a half years now so it’s safe to say that you can trust that my review is valid.  Just always keep in mind when you read reviews that it is a matter of an individual’s preferences and standards, so you have to know or you pretty much should have an idea of what it is you want in a web hosting company and go from there.  I have listed every possible essential detail on each IX Web Hosting’s package deals so you can look at it for comparison.

IX Web Hosting has been around since 1999 

 Up to date, they are hosting over 170,000 registered clients’ domains and still counting.  That’s a pretty large number so go fiigure.  Whether you are a newbie to hosting and have minor needs or a seasoned one with a corporation with major needs looking to expand, IX Web Hosting offers three very affordable and very inexpensive hosting packages: the Expert Plan, the Business Plus and the Unlimited Pro.  A major plus of IX Web Hosting is that it operates in virtually any system.  Be it a Windows operating system, a Mac OS or a Linux operating system, depending on the package plan you choose.
The IX Web Hosting plans vary in price and features

The Expert Plan is valued at a practical $4.95 a month.  The Business Plus goes for a reasonable $6.95 a month and the Unlimited Pro plan is valued at a sensible $12.95 almost double the price of the Business Plan.  The prices differ because each package has different features. Extra features are further added to a package plan as the price goes up.

The Expert Plan package deal is marketed towards people who are new to web hosting.  For a practical price like this, you get these practical main features: two domains, 200 GB web space, 1 free domain reg for life, 2,000 GB data transfer and 100 sub domains, free site builder and free 24/7 customer support.  Extra features include Email, scripting, complimentary scripts, support features, file transfer, website administration, multimedia, security mechanism features, domain management and other additional features.

The Business Plus package deal is marketed towards people who have at least some experience in web hosting.  For the reasonable price, expect to avail of these main features: 8 domains, 400 GB web space, 3 free domain regs for life, 3,000 GB data transfer, unlimited sub domains, 8 dedicated IP addresses, a free site builder and free 24/7 customer support.  Extra features include Email, scripting, databases, complimentary scripts, ecommerce features, support features, file transfer, website administration, multimedia, security mechanism features, domain management and other additional features.

The Unlimited Pro package deal on the other hand is geared towards people who have an extensive experience in web hosting and have large scale businesses with major needs of the technology.  For it’s sensible price, expect to benefit from these main features: 16 domains, unlimited web space, 5 free domain regs for life, 2,500 GB data transfer, 300 sub domains, 16 dedicated IP addresses, a free site builder and free 24/7 customer support.  Extra features include Email, scripting, databases, complimentary scripts, ecommerce features, support features, file transfer, website administration, multimedia, security mechanism features, domain management and other additional features.

IX Web Hosting Features

Here's an extensive list of all available features of the package plans.  For the email feature you get: unlimited email accounts or resources, catch-all email addresses, POP3, IMAP, Webmail, email forwards, mailbox aliases and email auto responders and mailing lists.  For the scripting feature you get: PHP, Perl, CGI, CGI-BIN, ASP v3 / ASP.NET v1.1, Cold Fusion v5, JavaScript / DHTML, ODBC / DSN, Override .htaccess support and Server Side Includes SSI.  For the databases feature: unlimited MYSQL, unlimited PostregSQL, unlimited Microsoft SQL 2000, phpPgAdmin and phpMyAdmin.  For the complimentary scripts feature you get: message forum (PHPBB2), form-mail, guestbook, web counter and chat. For the ecommerce feature you get: free shared SSL certificate, SSL secure server and OS commerce.  For the support features you get: live phone support, LiveChat system and the Ticket Center.  For the file transfer feature you get: FTP access, additional FTP accounts, anonymous FTP accounts and Frontpage 2002 / 2002 extensions.  For the website administration feature you get: free professional website templates, the option to create and change designs at any time, log files and site stats, web file manager, publishing program, password protected directories, online web editor, custom MIME types, custom CRON jobs and customizable error pages.  For the multimedia feature you get: Flash and Shockwave support, MIDI file support, streaming audio support, streaming video support and Real audio and Video support.  For the security mechanism feature you get: 24/7 monitoring, Firewall protection, Spam filter Spam assassin, UPS power back-up / back-up generator and Hotlink protection.  For the domain management feature you get: domain access with or without “www”, domain contact management, external domains, parked domains, URL masking and add-on domains.  Additional features include search engine submission, international domain name support, website statistics and account control panel.

Not all extra features are included in every package deal.  It will definitely depend on what operating system you use.  Some features only run on Windows and some run only on Linux.  I use Windows as my operating system by the way, so I can’t account for the other features that I don’t have.  You can avail of some Windows plans by paying a minimum amount of $2.  For example, in the Expert plan package deal, you don’t get to avail of the databases, message forum (PHPBB2) and the ecommerce features as in the Business Plan and the Unlimited Pro.  The main features also have lower specifications compared with the Business Plan and Unlimited Pro.  Also, there are definitely significant unlimited specifications such as the databases, disk storage, sub-domains and email resources.

IX Web Hosting Experience

As I’ve said earlier, I have been with IX Web hosting for approximately 2 and a half years and my site has over roughly a thousand members.  The package deal I use is the Business Plan.  Just to be clear, my website is an entertainment / photography site where I have a database where members can post photographs and access other members’ photographs as well.  My photo gallery has roughly 4,000 photographs and the capacity of my database is around 100 MB.  I’ll be completely honest here and admit that sometimes, yes, I do occasionally experience a “downtime” but it only lasts for about 1 to 3 minutes.  My website is really not about business so I can live with the fact that downtimes do happen and it doesn’t affect me that much.

Excellent Customer Support with IX Web Hosting

The IX Web Hosting customer support is great.  I’ve had several problems with downloading files and uploading files before and all sorts of minor problems and the people at the support center really helped me solve it.  They know what they’re doing and they do what they are paid to do.  I personally got acquainted with one particular customer representative via the phone and have been requesting her since then.  That way, whenever I call in for a query I can look for her and the good thing is she knows all the past problems that I’ve had with my site so I don’t need to tell her every little detail about my past problems.  She doesn’t hang up on me or redirect me to someone else but instead looks for a solution to my problem.  I’m not saying that the solutions come automatically.  In the past, I have had to wait for a day or two but she always managed to deliver and fix the problem.  One more thing, when a problem arises, they never tell you that it is because of your Windows or Linux operating system and not theirs.  They always take accountability for their services.

IX Web Hosting Support Options

The customer support is available in three options; live phone support, LiveChat system and the Ticket Center.  I have only tried live phone support because I prefer to personally relay the problem as opposed to relaying online via LiveChat system or the Ticket Center.  That way, every question I have is specifically answered.  I mean, no web hosting company is perfect, problems do arise and it is inevitable.  For me, it is in the way they support you that matters.

IX Web Hosting is rated and certified by every highly regarded online organizations 

They are recommended by BBB OnLine or Better Business Bureau Reliability Program and have met their standard requirements for being a superb web hosting company.  They are also certified by Hacker Safe, a prominent trustmark that ensures clients that IX Web Hosting is hacker-free so all the clients’ information is handled safely.  Availing of their packages is also risk-free.  They offer three guarantees for your money if and when you feel that they are not living up to your standards: the 30 day 100% Money Back Guarantee, the Any Time Money Back Guarantee and their trademarked Unheard Of Uptime or Cash Guarantee.

To sum up, IX Web Hosting delivers

They have a comprehensive, feature filled package plan and I find their service consistent, reasonably quick with minimal downtime.  Their control panel is very user friendly and very easy to understand.  Their bandwidth allows enough disk space for my site to work properly.  Apart from being polite and skilled, the IX Web Hosting customer representatives are definitely knowledgeable on errors and their services.  IX Web Hosting simply lives up to their promise.

admin | May 30th, 2011
Tags: IX Web Hosting, IX Web Hosting Review, IXWeb Hosting Review
Categories: Web Hosting

You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.