There’s something to be said when a Web host puts its management team out there for inspection. That’s the case with The Planet, a privately held dedicated server hosting provider with more than 500 employees (second only to publicly held IBM). Their credits read like a “Who’s Who,” as they’re the fourth largest hosting provider of web sites (3.1 million) serving more than 22,000 businesses worldwide with 40 percent located outside North America. They incorporate six wholly owned and managed state-of-the-art data centers (2 in Houston, 4 in Dallas) containing more than 48,000 servers housed in 155,000 sq. ft. of raised floor space with 12,000 sq. ft. expansion capability. Plus, they maintain fully redundant Network Operations Center capabilities from two cities with 24 x 7 x 365 monitoring. Finally, they offer a portion of the industry’s fastest and most robust networks (100 gigabits/sec).

Features

The Planet offers dedicated servers, managed hosting and products that are more or less add-ons to the hosting services. Managed hosting is another name for outsourcing your Web administration to their professionals while you maintain control of your infrastructure.

In keeping with trends, The Planet offers what they call Hosting 2.0, or a “shift from a strictly technical perspective to one of business value; from one size fits all offerings to more customized solutions designed to power business performance.” This evolution is defined by this Web host as more consistent levels of service, more products to choose from, and more stable vendors. In addition, they state they focus on cutting IT costs by as much as seventy-five percent with this more streamlined approach.

Reliability & Reputation

Outside this philosophy, The Planet offers 24×7×365 redundant monitoring capabilities from two Network Operations Center (NOC) locations, staffed by certified system administrators and security professionals. Their network management teams operate NOCs in Houston and Dallas to assure the most sophisticated and comprehensive systems monitoring, and complete monitoring back-up in the event of any emergency. Finally, they leverage state of the art network monitoring software combined with highly defined monitoring and escalation procedures to ensure the highest standards for security, reliability, performance and systems availability.

Their network is designed without single points of failure — there are redundant core routers, core distribution switches, and carrier diversity. In the unlikely event of equipment failure, the network will continue to optimally perform. They are committed to 99.90% uninterrupted power and network availability. Planet’s Service Level Agreement (SLA) provides Tier 4 data center uptime, assuring you up to 100% uninterrupted network and power availability, and up to 100% uptime on redundant Internet connectivity. “No other provider offers such an extensive SLA—a sign of our commitment to your success.”
Pricing

Payments can occur on a month-to-month basis or on a yearly contract. All bills are to be paid in American dollars. These prices are not bargain-basement deals, so be prepared to face sticker shock for The Planet’s quality offerings.
Support

Your support will depend upon the type of service you pay for. With that said, all site owners sitting on dedicated servers receive 24/7/365 technical support with a Web-based “fast track” eTicketing system, full-fledged phone-based support and live chat. All clients also receive access to other support features such as a knowledge base and network-based security protection along with access to user forums. Only the “Enhanced Support” customers receive server administration support and automated tools such as virus protection.

* Applications Available:
* Capabilities: Domain Registration, E-Commerce
* Control Panel(s): cPanel, Plesk
* Database Support:
* Framework/Language Support:
* Operating System(s): Linux, Windows
* Server Type(s): Dedicated, Managed, Reseller, SSL Secure Server

Be sure to review our list of the best web hosts.