Web hosting services can be found in every nook and cranny of the internet. It is perhaps one of the most popular types of online businesses with a number of new hosts being launched virtually every day. Hosts tend to diversify and offer a range of options or specify its services based on type of user or geographical location. With the growing number of hosts, standing out can be quite the stretch, a handful of services though, such as Media Temple, tend to do just that. But as they say, quality comes with a price, Media Temple hosting no doubt is costlier compared to most of the standard hosting options out there, but once you go for it, you are sure to get addicted to it.
Here is our unbiased review of Media Temple hosting:
Popularity
Media Temple rose to fame as potential customers learnt that Media Temple was used by several big names offline and online for hosting purposes. Their home page proudly boasts that the service is “trusted” by companies such as Sony, Samsung and Adobe. Looking at their clients alone is enough reason to get started. Another factor that brought Media Temple to the limelight was the fact that several high profile blogs such as Techcrunch were endorsing their service. Their logo was seen in a number of popular websites across the web. Media Temple also extensively advertises via popular online channels such as Google Adwords and Facebook.
This strong publicity coupled with their highly tasteful website provides a perfect first impression to convince new users as well as experienced website owners alike to invest in the service and see how it fairs.
Hosting Options
Media Temple was initially geared towards users who are more serious with their websites; websites amassing a large number of users. The smallest package available was grid hosting at $20/month which used a rare selling point that the server can withstand traffic spikes from social media such as Digg.com. Their dedicated virtual hosting packages offered a number of highly customizable options to choose from. Considering the options available, Media Temple was typically meant for high end customers looking for very specific and powerful hosting requirements that Media Temple was able to employ. However, last year following the purchase of the Virb site builder platform by Media Temple, it was added to their inventory of services offered making Media Temple more diversified and providing broader reach to their customers.
Virb Site Builder
Virb appears to be a typical site builder solution but Media Temple employs a unique selling point targeting bands and artists as well as small businesses. Virb allows you to seamlessly add content in the form of text, pictures or videos as required after which you can choose from an array of themes and incorporate your own customization to launch your website in a relatively short period of time with no technical knowledge whatsoever. Virb is available for only $10 a month with little apparent detail on hosting specifics provided. Virb leaves out the technical jargon and mumbo jumbo and simplifies the process of hosting, an excellent choice for the novice. At only $10 a month, Virb can also be instrumental if you want a personal website with a professional outlook. The most impressive aspect about Virb is that it can be tried for free for 10 days without any commitment or even the need to enter your credit card details for renewal. There is little fuss about the service online, which suggests that users who opt for Virb are generally happy.
Grid Hosting
Grid Hosting appears to be the company’s most successful service with thousands of satisfied customers. At just $20/month, grid hosting offers unimaginable value for your money accommodating up to 1 terabyte of transfer and 100GB of disk space. With grid based hosting, the service may be able to support large-scale websites reaching millions of users that will usually require a dedicated server. Of course, this is a hypothetical example and will depend on the content on the website and a number of other factors. Media Temple’s grid hosting is ideal if your website frequently trends on social bookmarking websites. Utilizing powerful grid hosting technology allows the company to boast uptime of hosted websites with even the most outrageous traffic spikes. If you are looking to host a small-scale website, it may be a good option to opt for grid hosting even though it may seem a little overkill as you can most likely stick with it as your website grows.
Dedicated Virtual Hosting
Media Temple’s dv service appears to have brought around a handful of angry customers who tend to have recurring complaints about two aspects:
Scheduled maintenance: Media Temple tends to constantly have maintenance that has compromised its efficiency and has left quite a few customers frustrated.
Less than satisfactory support: There is also concern over Media Temple’s slow response times via email and call. Their “10 reasons” page to host with mt claims that support will respond within 2 minutes however there are claims that phone support sometimes delays by as much as 20 minutes.
Besides this, there are no typical claims that tend to be constantly seen in other hosts such as crawling servers and unannounced downtime. Media Temple offers a range of options with their virtual hosting options starting from $50 a month to up to $1500 a month. Their minimal package allocates 30GB of hard disk space and 1 TB of transfer, less than what is offered by the cheaper grid hosting package but of course, there is more customizability if you choose to go with a virtual server.
(ve) Server
Their ve server range offers more control over your hardware with details on exactly what you’ll get in terms of virtual memory as well as storage and data transfer of course. Their (ve) range starts from just $30 a month to up to $1000 a month with two months free if you purchase on a yearly term. The (ve) server offers premium hardware and a stronger backbone to ensure your server lasts!
Nitro (dpv) hosting
For the internet giant or large scale file host, the nitro hosting option may be right for you. Nitro hosting is used by Adobe and other prominent IT companies that require an avalanche of power as well as bandwidth to work with. The processor at a glance comprises of 16 cores and 64GB of RAM to withstand even the toughest blows! It also employs SAS technology to improve disk read/write speeds and ensure maximum performance. This service is limited to a select few premium clients who seem to be thoroughly satisfied with the service offered.
Conclusion
Though the pricing is marginally high, Media Temple is assuredly an option to be considered irrespective of what site you are looking to build. The service seems to be most suited for grid hosting and dedicated server options but VPS hosting can also be tested as a few isolated complaints is not enough reason to turn down the various benefits offered by the company.
