1. SiteGround
- Support
- Features
- Uptime
- Value
Pros: 24/7 Customer Service , WordPress Experts
Cons: No Windows hosting plans
SiteGround is an established web host managing well over 1,000 servers and… Read more about SiteGround
2. BlueHost
- Support
- Features
- Uptime
- Value
Pros: Free Domain , Drag and Drop SiteBuilder
Cons: Server Speed & Response is Average , Limited Help with Site Transfers
Bluehost provides customers with low-cost shared hosting, as well as reseller, VPS… Read more about BlueHost
3. iPage
- Support
- Features
- Uptime
- Value
Pros: Instant Activation , Money-back Guarantee
Based in the US, iPage specialises in low-cost shared hosting. Each plan… Read more about iPage
Hostibox Introduction
Hostibox is a relatively small hosting provider, offering only a few shared and VPS plans, as well as a free shared hosting plan.
The company is based in Antsirabe, Madagascar, and uses servers located in datacenters in the United States and Europe. Detailed information about the company and user testimonials are hard to find, and most of the company’s website is in French, with only a small portion translated into English.
Services and Specializations
Hostibox focuses on providing inexpensive shared and virtual private server (VPS) hosting plans. Both Linux- and Windows-based plans are on offer.
A basic, free Linux hosting plan is available as well, with another two commercial Linux plans: Silver and Gold. The free hosting plan gets you 500MB disk space and 10GB monthly bandwidth with a single MySQL database and two e-mail accounts.
The Silver hosting plan offers 1GB disk space and 250GB monthly bandwidth, with two MySQL databases and 10 e-mail accounts.
Hostibox’s Gold hosting plan offers 2GB disk space and one TB monthly bandwidth with 5 MySQL databases and 50 e-mail accounts.
All Linux hosting plans feature DDoS protection, as well as standard antivirus and antispam features, and all commercial hosting plans get you a free .com or .mg domain registration.
A single Windows hosting plan is available, running on Windows Server 2008 with MSSQL 2012 and MySQL databases, with IIS7, .Net 4.5 and PHP 5.3x. This plan also brings unlimited disk space, bandwidth, and e-mail accounts in addition to 5 databases for €4.50 per month.
VPS hosting plans are all custom, and created according to the user’s needs. Contact Hostibox for details.
Hostibox Infrastructure
Information on Hostibox datacenters and infrastructure is very limited. We only managed to find out that Hostibox uses datacenters in USA and EU.
The only additional information comes in the form of the 99.9% uptime guarantee for commercial hosting plans, and that backup systems are included for the Gold hosting plan.
Info about the Windows hosting plan also shares some details about the hardware. Hostibox servers are based on Intel Xeon processors with RAID 1 hard drives for the operating system and user data. A closer look reveals that these servers use an older Xeon generations, backed by DDR3 memory. SSDs are not mentioned.
All Hostibox hosting plans support popular CMSs such as WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, phpBB, and so on.
Support and Customer Service
Hostibox’s web site only lists two phone numbers for contact and support and a single e-mail address. Live support chat is also available. No further information about support is available.
Summary
Hostibox is a regional host, with limited appeal beyond sub-Saharan Africa. The focus is obviously limited to the local market, and the choice of hosting plans is tailored for developing countries.
Few small hosts offer Windows-based plans, so Hostibox’s decision to include Windows hosting is commendable. Regardless of the size of the market, some customers are bound to need a Microsoft stack, and Hostibox offers affordable Windows plans to cater to their needs.