Dude, where is your website

gone?

…. and then the nightmare starts!

One of the biggest mishaps you could probably encounter with your website is your hosting server being down. It could be your worst nightmare!

Why me?  You scream!

Then panic…

How long has it been down? Is it only mine or everybody’s? 

Look at some of the common reasons for hosting server to be down!

• Attack by a Hacker – intentional file deletion and hacking to bring down the server.
• Denial of Service attacks (popularly known as DoS)
• Components fail – software defects may develop, hardware components may become faulty, programming errors may occur, along with viruses and corruption of files.
• Unskilled operators may unintentionally delete files.
• Server overload either due to unexpected traffic surge or malicious intent.
• Natural disasters – such as storms, earthquakes, flooding.
• Hosting companies plans to upgrade software applications, operating systems, and hardware components.

Apart from the last reason, which is predictable, others are unpredictable and could strike anytime. Either way it’s a mess out there and your business reputation is at stake.

OK ….but don’t I get any symptoms for a server down syndrome?

Oh yes! Some of the most common symptoms are:

1. Website is slow to load – in this case the website is visible but performs poorly.
2. Website is not visible –  in this case your website is not seen even by your users
3. Website contains malicious contents – your webpages are hijacked and normal content is deleted or replaced.
4. HTTP errors – “timed out” messages resulting from slow connectivity to your website. There could be more too.

Ok… Now what? How do we fix the mess?

Fixing the Mess

1. Check that the site really is down by testing your site from another source and have it confirmed by another party.

2. Do a preliminary determination by investigating possible immediate causes such as expired domain or programming error.

3. Contact your hosting company. Though most companies have 24/7/365 open support and they can advise of any known issues and length of delays.

Here are some of the best practices that you could follow to avoid a server is down panic:

1. Make sure that you are using a reliable webhost with a proven track record.

2. Consider a backup hosting, preferably in another location and backup to this secondary server on a regular basis.

3. Also invest in a DNS management service. As soon as your server goes offline, it will automatically route the traffic to the secondary server.

4. Invest in a professional website support service.

Last word

 If your server is down, it can be real bad for business in terms of money, loyalty and reputation. All your painstaking efforts can be destroyed overnight.

Now, we all cannot be website support personals. You have your business to handle.  Besides, when in a server is down situation, you need “experience” to tackle the problem.

It’s always wiser to outsource your website support to a professional and experienced website provider.

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