Web hosting

Oxfam Oxfam is a development, relief, and campaigning organisation that works with others to find lasting solutions to hunger, poverty and suffering around the world. http://www.oxfam.org Unicef - for every child UNICEF is the driving force that helps build a world where the rights of every child are realized. We have the global authority to influence decision-makers, and the variety of partners at grassroots level to turn the most innovative ideas into reality. http://www.unicef.org The Red Cross The Red Cross, a humanitarian organization led by volunteers, guided by its the Fundamental Principles, provides relief to victims of disasters and help people prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies accross the world. http://www.redcross.org

Hotchilli Internet Solutions
The company that we trust to host this site and one that consistently performs well in our hosting tests. It isn't just a hosting provider though - since it started out back in 1994, the company has diversified to provide not only Web space, but also e-commerce systems, database development, Web and WAP site design services, and back-end programming. Hotchilli prides itself on offering the broadest possible range of bulletproof shared and dedicated server solutions for your site, with a choice of both NT and Unix platforms on offer.
www.hotchilli.com

Inweb Networks
Inweb has been in the hosting game since 1995 and has virtually dominated our hosting performance tests over the last 12 months. Your site will live in Surrey on a multi-processor PC running either Unix or NT. The network itself is housed at mainly Telehouse in Docklands with nippy links to Europe and the States. An availability of around 99.97 per cent is the norm not the exception, which is comforting. But the main reason we recommend Inweb is for its excellent technical support and raw speed - a winning combo.
www.inweb.net.uk

Newnet
The only host that has managed to prevent Inweb from having everything its own way in our hosting performance tests, Newnet is another class act with more hosting options than you can shake a cheque at for the professional or business customer. If you dream of colocation for just £50 a month, or simply must have multi-megabyte fat pipes for your flourishing online business right now, then Newnet can help. This company isn't the place for your fledgling homepage and would definitely be overkill for the average info site, but if secure, resilient, redundant, rapid hosting is what your business demands and you're willing to pay for quality, give Newnet a call.
www.newnet.co.uk

Entanet
This Telford-based host has taken our monthly hosting performance tests by storm in the second half of 2002, repeatedly securing pole position ahead of its many keen rivals. Founded in 1996, Entanet is now firmly established as one of the companies leading business hosting service providers. It supplies a wide range of packages from entry-level bundles to high-end bespoke systems, and benefits greatly from owning its own national network of POPs sited in strategic cities across the UK. If your business is serious about securing the best possible performing hosting partner out there, then at the very least a visit to Entanet's Chinese pagoda style headquarters in Shropshire is a must.
www.enta.net

Host Europe
Adopting the name Host Europe in March 2001, this is the parent company for a number of well known online brands including Magic Moments Internet, WebFusion, Host Europe, Dedicated Servers and 123-reg. Between them these businesses are responsible for some 72,500 virtual server accounts and 75,000 customers, as well as keeping a jealous hold on the dedicated server market with over 4,000 in its data centres. Flexibility and tailoring to customer needs is the key to Host Europe's success. If you need a specialised, fully-featured merchant hosting package Magic Moments can help you for around £500 a year. If, however, you're just starting out, why not get 250Mb of fully-managed space from WebFusion with free tech support for a tenner a month?
www.hosteurope.com

Netcetera
A long term participant in our hosting performance tests, Netcetera was founded in 1996 and has an ongoing mission to become "one of the top five European providers of hosting and e-commerce to the SME market". With customers in over thirty countries worldwide, the company is well on its way. It offers a raft of diverse services including domain name registration, shopping trolleys, email, ASP and of course shared and dedicated Web space. Also, Netcetera's latest innovations, a help service on its website that allows you to request a member of staff to call you back with answers to your queries, looks set to move the goalposts of online technical support
www.inetc.net

NTwebhost.co.uk
The names a bit of a give-away, but this company specialises in Windows NT and 2000 Web hosting for of over 20,000 Web sites across the UK. Fully managed packages are available for shared or dedicated server platfroms. A number of useful additions are available free for NTWebHost customers, including FrontPage extension support, a rather natty control panel, SQL database provision, SSL security and handy LiveStats. A great deal for the Microsoft fanatic.
www.ntwebhost.co.uk

Mistral Internet
Based on the glorious south coast down in Brighton, Mistral is enjoying life in the sun. But when it comes to hosting deals, Mistral is a strictly business-only affair. Pure hosting arrangements include the Mistral Virtual Server at £125 a year, or a £350 forever-fee, with no further costs involved. You'll also need your own domain name and Internet access, but as luck would have it, Mistral isn't a one-trick pony. Mistral Business Plus accounts bundle Web space, access and domain name registration and start at £199. If you're after xDSL or ISDN2, upgrades are available.
www.mistral.co.uk

Nildram
Perhaps best known as a business ISP, Nildram also sells reliable, speedy hosting services. Commercial Unix Web space is the most popular choice, and of particular interest to all you script kiddies out there. Many shared hosting packages don't let you mess about with PHP4, MySQL or Perl, but Nildram welcomes the idea. If you're looking for something a little more intuitive, Windows 2000 packages are available with plenty of support for FrontPage extensions and ASP, but with the capability to advance to ColdFusion, ODBC and perl ISAPI. If, however, you demand mission critical disaster-proof content at all costs, a £200 setup fee and two grand a quarter will secure you colocation.
www.nildram.net

Virtual Internet
This company has always tried to offer its hosting packages in self explanatory, easy to understand bundles, which certainly makes us happy. VI currently offers six pre-loaded hosting packages aimed at the home user/small business, larger business and higher-end professional customer. A straightforward Host package at £11 a month will give you 25Mb and all the support you'll need in your first year of owning a site. A basic business account will cost you just £20 a month, and gives you 50Mb and 4Gb transfer rates. Meanwhile at the sharp-end of VI's product line £2,000 a year will buy you a full-on Professional Plus account with 350Mb, 6Gb transfer and all the security and redundancy options you could dream of.
www.vi.net

Verio
Bought by NCC Communications in the Autumn of 2000, there's no other way of describing Verio other than, well, huge. It has 30 hosting centres, covering 170 countries and boasting half a million hosted sites worldwide. Nice then that the company has managed to retain a personal touch in the UK. From shared space starter packs at a tenner a month, to managed dedicated server nests of your own, Verio can match your requirements from its offices and datacentres in the heart of London. The key to Verio's success is obvious - simply a massive range of customer level, platforms supported, and highly tailored products - coupled with personal contact, support and a gradual cost curve.
www.verio.co.uk

NetBenefit
If all these bundles, packages, and deals are scaring you, or you can't understand why you need some of the bits on offer, or are wondering how to add bells and whistles that seem to be missing elsewhere, check out NetBenefit. This company really made a name for itself as a quality reseller of domain names, but is most proud of its extensive range of UK hosting options. Bundles are available, of course, but it's NetBenefit's checklist approach that we are always hearing good things about. See for yourself.
www.netbenefit.co.uk

Fasthosts
Boasting a broad portfolio of services to cater for home and business users alike, Fasthosts already hosts over half a million sites despite being a growing company. Business users are spoilt for choice with bundles starting at around £20, while home users can get up and running with 200Mb of space to play and a registered domain for under a tenner a month or £60 a year. If you want to know more, Fasthosts has also built a rather natty site with virtual tours and online chat with company staff. However, Fashosts also has its fair share of critics, with some serious performance issues in the past.
www.fasthosts.co.uk