You want to make sure that they have redundancy as stated in the last email. Also ask if they make backups every day, week, month, do they have generators if the power goes out and lastly do they co- locate. This means if one location stopped working for any reason ( fire, power outages, storms, floods, etc) they would just switch over to the mirror site. Do they have 24/7 support? You can have all this and more for $15 a month or you can spend less and get less. If you need more help give me a call. Bob O'Haver O'Haver + Co. "Making Technology Make Sense" Listen to "Computer Therapy" at 9:30am Every Friday morning on 97.7 WBCR in Great Barrington or download the podcast from my website. 413/528-6386 Phone 413/528-6389 Fax 413/822-4208 Cell 413 203-4401 VoIP phone Skype me at "rohaver" http://ohaverco.com bob at ohaver.net On Dec 18, 2005, at 2:57 AM, Mark Bucciarelli wrote: > ** Be a Good Dobee and help the group, you must be counted to > post . > ** Fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's area. > > > 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 > > _______________________________________________ > Hidden-discuss mailing list - home page: http://www.hidden-tech.net > Hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net > > You are receiving this because you are on the Hidden-Tech > Discussion list. > If you would like to change your list preferences, Go to the Members > page on the Hidden Tech Web site. > http://www.hidden-tech.net/members >