What makes one ACT! Hosting company any better than the next? With more and more ACT! Database hosting companies showing up every day it’s hard to make a choice and know that you made the right choice. Here are a few things you might want to know, and ask, before you chose your ACT! Hosting provider.

When selecting an ACT! Hosting provider, it is very important that your ACT! Database and the services you are consuming (ACT! Sync or ACT! Premium for Web) are not on the same server. ACT! Sync and ACT! Premium for Web require web access outside a firewall. Therefore, having the ACT! Database and either service, ACT! Sync of ACT! Premium for Web, will potential expose your database to the hazards of the internet such as exposure to viruses, and other internet attacks.

Another problem with this server configuration, in a hosted server environment, is that if the services are mixed and the usage for one service becomes resource intensive or becomes unavailable it can affect the other services on the server, thus creating more down time.

The Question to ask : Is my database hosted on the same server that ACT! Sync or ACT! Premium for Web is installed on?

Our Answer : To make sure that you data is secure and accessible we have zero mixed server environments. We start with a data server that houses your database, and this server is not exposed to the internet. We provide the services (ACT! Sync & ACT! Premium for Web) via dedicated servers for each service. This ensures that our sync clients do not affect our web clients and visa versa.

When you decide to host your database, you should know there are certain things that can only be performed on the Master Database. These things include: making changes to the schema (design of fields), creating remote databases, managing Actvity types, setting up new ACT! users, and backing up your database. Most ACT! hosting companies give you Citrix Access to your database which can be problematic and open up security holes in thier system. You also have to install software for a remote client. The Citrix access normally comes at a high monthly price ($50-$100). If remote access is not offered, the hosting company charges an hourly fee to make changes, and when your database is hosted with them you are at their mercy.

The Question to ask : Once my Database is hosted, how will I make design changes to it?

Our Answer: We have a unique web based tool that no other ACT! hosting company has, it is called MaxControl. With MaxControl there is no need to install a remote client to access your database. You log on at our website and manage your databases schema, create/recreate remote databases, manage users, and more. MaxControl is included with every account for free.

Database Maintenance is the proactive way to ensure that your database will always run at an optimum level.  This can be accomplished with nightly database maintenance and backups. Nightly backups are the only way to ensure that your data is safe in the event of a database corruption or server failure.  Some ACT! hosting companies offer a dedicated virtual server for a very low price, but this requires you to do your own maintenance and backups. Others provide nightly backups but getting an instant backup is something that most clients can only dream of having.

The Questions to ask : How often is my database backed up? How do I access these backups? Can I get a "Right now" backup when ever I want?

Our Answer:Your ACT! database will be backed up nightly around midnight. Backups are made available via our control panel as part of our hosting solution. With MaxControl you can create a backup anytime, anywhere.

Some ACT! hosting companies host your database on a computer/server in their office with limited backup power, and physical security.  Without proper backup power, the server could go down and your database could become unavailable until power returns. This means that you cannot access your database in any way.  Also, without limited physical access, anyone could steal data that resides on the server where your data is stored. 

The Questions to ask:So where is the server that my ACT! database will be hosted on? What kind of backup power do you have? How long can the server and internet connection stay up in the event of an outage? How many people can physically touch the server where my database will be housed?

Our Answer: We have servers in more than one datacenter. Our Enterprise Class servers are stored in Class IV data centers. Backup power is provided by four (4) room size UPS (Battery backups) and 3 apartment size generators. Our power will never go out. For more information see our Data centers page. Only our technicians on staff has physical access to our servers; which are in a locked server rack cabinet.

Some ACT! hosting companies host your database on a High Speed Broadband Internet connection. You to can do this! But without the proper network infrastructure and "backbone internet speeds" your experience may not be all it is cracked up to be. Some hosting companies only have one or two internet connections to their servers, and both connections are with the same provider, if that provider goes down, so does your database.

Request a demo of the hosted solution (i.e. ACT! Premium for Web) that is hosted in the same place your database will be hosted. The performance can be slow if the hosting company does not have sufficient “up” bandwidth. Make sure they show you the application on their servers, not the demos at www.ACT.com

The Questions to ask: What is the up Internet speed where my ACT! database will be hosted? How many Internet connections do you have to the server? Can I see a demo of ACT! Premium for Web on your servers in your facility?

Our Answer: Our 6 internet connections are provided by AT&T, Global Crossing, MCI, Sprint, Quest, & Telcove which all are OC-3 Connections (100X a T1 speed) or greater, for a demo of ACT Premium for web on our servers Click Here