SingleHop Dedicated Hosting Review

Few providers can offer the range and flexibility that SingleHop can. By allowing their clients to design their own management package (or not have one at all) and not requiring customers to purchase a bundle of services, SingleHop allows their clients to literally custom design their service level. SingleHop has over 1,000 servers in production, to show for it, and a wide range of guarantees and service level commitments to guarantee their clients' satisfaction.

 
 

 
 

Unique Benefits
• Month by month plans with no long term contracts
• Free setup on all servers & 100% network uptime
• Price Freeze Guarantee (SingleHop pledges not to raise your prices)
• 7-day money back guarantee (no hassle refund policy)
• 1-hour hardware replacement guarantee (using name-brand Intel and Supermicro parts)
• Servers starting at $129 (with $1 first month) for Single Proc and $199 for Dual Proc

Key Features
• Fully-featured dedicated servers, including single processor, dual processor, Linux servers, Windows 2003). Also, Cpanel & Plesk hosting control panels
• 99.9% network uptime guarantee
• Equinix Datacenter - leading Midwest USA datacenter
• Easy-to-use shopping cart style order processing and add-on services packages


 
 

Editors' Comments
SingleHop provides an economical and trustworthy source for dedicated servers. Whether you are looking for a gaming server or have requirements for additional storage space or mission-critical applications, SingleHop provides an excellent solution. Their à la carte service management provides support for those companies who want to manage certain aspects of their dedicated server while adding in the expertise of the 24-hour on-site SingleHop support engineers where required. Getting general management of your server from $69 per month makes a lot of sense. A fully-supported server, from updates and patches, monitoring, kernel updates, virus scan, spam filtering, and event notification will only run you $100 per month - what a bargain.

The midPhase team have done an excellent job at setting up their new squad at SingleHop and we expect this company to be one of the fastest-growing companies in the segment. The only downside is the company is rather new to the space so there will be ramp-up time - but you can also consider the benefits of working with a growing company who will give you the personal assistance when required.

 
 

Uptime Guarantee
SingleHop offers a 99.9% network uptime guarantee or you will be refunded your money for the month the guarantee is not achieved. To put that into numbers, your guarantee period is valid if your server is down for a period of 1 hour in any given month.

Basics - What you need to know
DataCenter
SingleHop is located in private cages in the Equinix datacenter of Chicago. The Equinix datacenter, also referred to as Chicago IBX Center, is one of the leading industry datacenters in the Midwest and has a great reputation for physical security, power availability, and overall infrastructure.

Power Management
SingleHop's primary datacenter has uninterruptible power supply systems and emergency backup diesel generators in case of a blackout. The entire electrical system is N+1 redundant, which guarantees continuous operation during power issues.

Physical Security
Equipment and all areas of the DataCenter is monitored and recorded by 24-hour security officers. Upon entering the center, visitors are screened to verify identity, and may be escorted to the appropriate location setting new standards in physical security. All doors are caged and secured with biometric hand geometry readers, motion detection and external wall solidified protection.

Server Access by Customer
Physical Access: The company allows cage access to the servers when accompanied by an approved staff member.
Root Access: The company provides full root access to the server.

Service Offerings
General Managed Services - Bundles
Choose a fully-managed outsourced approach to your server including Cpanel and a full suite of services, including: SMTP, IMAP/POP email, DNS setup and configuration, HTTP, Apache-addons, MySQL dbases, Java. The company also supports Cpanel Control Panel Management upload and configuration and limited third party software maintenance.

Security and Updates
Security and updates extended services include kernel & o/s updates, server-side virus scanning, spam filtering by Barracuda Networks, and full security audits.

Firewall
Choice of hardware (Cisco 500 Series) and software firewall protection. If the customer selects software firewall protection, professional support engineers will install and support the firewall (from $99 per month).

Backup Services
Easy-to-use Raid-5 back-up. Backup services range from $10-$100 per month, depending on backup storage space requirements.

Sample Server Plans
• Single Processor Dedicated Server from $129/month
• Dual Core Processor Dedicated Server from $199/month

Customer Profiles
• Web Hosting Servers & Resellers
• Data Storage
• Application Service Providers
• Gaming

Customer Testimonials
"I thoroughly recommend SingleHop for all your hosting needs, with excellent customer service and great management options."
-Phillip Reilly