Traditional firewalls may be leaving web sites vulnerable to sophisticated attacks. Why? Because they function at a deeper level, in particular the website scripting language (SQL, PHP). This is where Firehost stands out from the crowd. They provide companies and individuals with a hosting environment that makes security their top priority.
Firehost uses web application firewalls, which monitor activity to protect their customers’ sites from cross-site forgery, SQL injection, cross-site scripting and various other attacks designed to reveal confidential information.
No website is impenetrable and those who only use basic tools put themselves at great risk. However, Firehost provides an affordable solution which was once only available to larger corporations with big budgets. A virtual server typically starts at $100. While this is more than just a few dollars per month, a website that holds important, confidential information will likely find this to be a steal.
About Firehost
Firehost has been providing users with secure hosting since 2006. Their company’s HQ is located in Texas. Firehost offers fully managed cloud based hosting for both Windows and Linux with a security level fit for an enterprise.
Here is my impression, after hosting with Firehost for the last two years:
Customer Service: When I first began my search for a host, I started asking questions. Firehost answers any questions about sales and service through telephone, email or live chat. I engaged in a few live chat sessions and several email exchanges with staff members. Each one was friendly and quick to answer any questions I had. Through their help, I was able to pinpoint which cloud solution would best fit my needs.
Setup: Their online setup was quick and easy. A friendly Firehost staff member even assisted me in moving quite a few of my websites from my old server over to their network.
Payments and Billing: Firehost accepts payments from all major credit cards and PayPal, giving customers plenty of payment options. During my stay with Firehost, I never had any problems with their billing department. When I was ready to cancel, they were as equally accommodating.
Reliability: Throughout my two year experience with Firehost there were never any hardware issues.
Support: When a customer has an issue, they can contact Firehost support via telephone, live chat, or their ticket system. Those who open tickets often receive a response from support in just five minutes. Their phone support is also quite fast. However, I did find that their live chat feature is a bit slow and sometimes bulky. I’m not sure if they were just understaffed or if the software was having issues. Regardless, I had to wait at least ten minutes for a response each time I used their live chat feature.
Uptime: Over the course of two years, my website was up and running 100% of the time. That’s pretty impressive!
Price: The pricing plans at Firehost vary depending on which options the customer chooses. A fully managed Linux based server with enterprise level security and one terabyte bandwidth will run you around $200 per month. That’s not a bad price.
Guaranteed Uptime: 100% uptime is also guaranteed.
Firehost’s Terms of Service
While you can find the full Terms of Service on Firehost’s website, here are some important points:
- Any illegal activities and/or files are not allowed
- No adult content
- Game servers not allowed
- BNC, IRC, Egg drops or IRC bots are not allowed
- A 1.5% interest fee per month will be added to late payments
Pros
- Firehost does not charge any setup fees
- Their staff is helpful, friendly and will even help with site migrations
- Both auto scaling and scheduled scaling options are available
- Firehost is a reliable and trustworthy company
- Compliant with PCI 2.0
Cons
- Firehost’s live chat feature is slow
- A money back guarantee is not offered
The pros far outweigh the cons here, as Firehost provided me with excellent service and support while I hosted with them. I recommend their services without hesitation.