[Hidden-tech] (un)reasonable expectations of email and web hosting services?

[Mark Bucciarelli]

On Fri, Dec 16, 2005 at 03:45:20PM -0500, Chris Duncan, GISmatters wrote:

> I expect the provider to have enough redundancy to keep at least email 
> up and running 24x7. 

[...]

> So, is it time for me to look for a different provider 

Sounds like it.

> (and if so, I've got questions about how to do that in as seamless a 
> way as possible), 

There need be no downtime whatsoever when changing your web site and 
email from one provider to another, as long as you are working with 
people who know what they are doing.

Note that just because you cannot retrieve your email, it does not 
necessarily mean you will miss any emails.  

The Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP) was designed to accommodate 
failures.  If the sending mail server cannot contact the mail server 
associated with your domain, it will try again later.  Typically, mail 
servers will keep trying to deliver a message for 36 hours.  (But this 
can vary depending on the provider--big mail queues filled with 
undeliverable mail can be expensive.)

m