Frequently Asked Questions - Hosting

Web Hosting made simple, with 123 Simples. Our web hosting options offer customers a choice of servers, either in the UK or the United States, depending on their area of residence. 123 Simples have 4 set hosting packages, and then we have the Creator Package. With prices starting from just £39.99 per year for Starter Hosting (excluding domain names), this means that we can offer our clients what we believe to be good value for money hosting.

Whether it is for personal or business, our hosting packages allow our customers the ease of being able to upgrade during the lifetime of the hosting package chosen, and with 4 standard hosting packages to choose from, plus the Creator Hosting Package, we offer stability and security using Windows server technologies.

What does 99.9% uptime allocation mean? What web hosting control panel do you use? How long does it take to setup hosting? These and other questions, are just some of the most common questions we get asked, and indeed, asked ourselves when we first looked around for web hosting providers. On this page we have tried to answer those hosting questions as best as we can, but because we don't wish to bore people with lots and lots of questions and answers, if your question is not answered below, why not just contact us so we can help you further.

What does 99.9% Uptime Allocation mean?

To prevent any downtime 123 Simples use multiple Internet connections, redundant backup servers, UPS power supplies, backup generators, dual connections from each server to our 1Gbps network, redundant network switch's, and corporate firewall's. To maintain constantly high standards and service availability all our Servers, Services, and Networks are constantly monitored 24 hours a day from monitoring stations both in the UK and the US. In the unlikely event that the monitoring stations do detect a fault our 24/7 technicians are alerted immediately so that we can resolve the matter before it becomes an issue.

What online control panel would I be using?

The control panel we use is called WebsitePanel. It is the successor to what people knew as Dot Net Control Panel, and you can read more about our Online Management system here.

How long does it take to setup my web hosting account?

Usually your account will be setup automatically within 15 minutes of ordering, but may take up to 24 to 48 hours before it is fully active, excluding weekends. Although some of our systems are mostly fully automated, it does sometimes require "human interaction" on our part, to complete the registration process, websitepanel setup, etc.

Why is 123 Simples Better Than Other Hosting Providers?

123 Simples include many features and services in it's hosting packages that you would not find as standard: -
(a). Websites are in their own Isolated Application Pool running in a dedicated server process improving performance, security, reliability and stability.
(b). It may surprise you to learn but most web hosts do not backup your website's data. Our servers at 123 Simples fully backup all our servers each night.
(c). Ultra fast low populated servers with less than 300 websites per server (some providers have 10,000 per server!).
(d). Personalised customer service that goes above and beyond what you would expect.

If 123 Simples is so good, why have you just started?

123 Simples may have "just started" but behind us we have over 27 years experience of running our own business, which means that we are not only used to working hard, but that we know how to treat customers and operate a proper business.

I can get a site hosted elsewhere cheaper. Why shouldn't I go there?

123 Simples don't claim to the cheapest solution - just perhaps better than some that you may have used in the past. Remember, there is an old saying that you will get what you pay for. Just because some other hosting companies may appear cheap does not mean that the service will not suffer as a result. Often cheaper services usually mean that they may be running many hundreds, if not thousands of websites, on servers that cannot handle such demand. You usually find this is indicated by frequent downtime of your sites, sites not loading fast enough, or seeing Service Unavailable when you navigate to certain pages. All this can mean that your site suffers just because you chose the cheapest solution.

Will you place ads on my site?

We will NOT place ads on your site unless you specifically request us to do so (this may have been something that you asked us to do as part of your web design stipulation, or you specifically asked us to do this for you).

Do you allow sites to advertise for money, on their web site?

Yes, we allow sites to have commercial advertisements.

What forms of payment do you accept?

We accept payment by BAC's (Bankers' Automated Clearing Services), now termed Faster Payments Service, Google Checkout and PayPal (both options may mean a small handling charge), and finally personal cheque (payments only accepted from UK banks). If you are paying by Faster Payments Service, or personal cheque, then the hosting services may be delayed whilst the payment methods are clearing. Generally speaking however, BAC's (Faster Payments Service) is the preferred and quickest method.

Are your server's Unix, or NT?

NO - Our servers are Windows based only

Do you allow adult sites?

Unfortunately not. However, we do have a server which does allow adult sites, and if you are intending on having an adult based site, please let us know before we process your transactions.

Is tax included with my yearly plan price?

Yes, tax is currently included within the price.

Can I read a help file about how to use my new Control Panel?

Yes you can. We are putting together detailed help manuals for our customers within our article database and you if you are a customer you will be able to read those articles by logging into your Client Area, which is called CustomerZone.

Can I pay monthly?

No, unfortunately not. There are too many added costs involved in paying monthly, and so to keep your prices as low as we can, we have opted for annual payments only.

Are there any hidden costs, or setup fees?

No. The price you see (or are given) is the price you will pay. However, if you are requesting that we bring across websites and/or databases from other servers, then there will be some charges but we will have discussed this first with you.

Do you offer telnet or shell access?

No due to security reason's we do not offer telnet or shell access.You are still able to unzip files on the server using our file manager as well as the ability to setup cron jobs.

Can I password protect directories?

Yes you can password protect directory's within your WebsitePanel Control.

Where can I view an example of your web hosting contract?

You can view our standard hosting solutions contract by clicking here.