Affordable ASP and .NET
Location: Virginia Beach, Phoenix AZ
Year in Business: 8
If you need to develop a website on the Windows platform, Brinkster offers robust ASP and ASP.NET hosting plans that are very affordable. Brinkster couples its plans with “radical support” which includes 24-7 phone availability and live chat with an average wait of 2 minutes or less. There’s even support for Skype.
While many hosts charge an extra fee each month for a Windows-ready server, Brinkster charges the same low rate for its starting ASP package as it does for Linux ($4/month). Like most other hosts, in order to receive this discounted rate, a 2 year prepaid contract is required. If you feel more comfortable with a shorter term, a 1 year contract for $6/month is also available. Neither of these options has a set-up fee, which saves you money.
Whether you choose the 1 or 2 year contract, the basic ASP plan is a great value. It supports Classic ASP 3.0, has over 25 ASP components and provides ample space and bandwidth for most websites. If you need to work with ASP.NET and PHP, check out the “Pro” plan for $10/month. Given the added features, it’s still a very good deal.
Brinkster is affordable, reliable and Windows-ready. While still a great choice for websites developed on a Linux server, Brinkster distinguishes itself for ASP and .NET developers by providing comprehensive plans at a great price, and supporting these plans with a wide variety of live customer service options.
Price & Plans
While Brinkster does offer a variety of dedicated server packages for more advanced hosting, its most popular shared hosting plan has 3 different price levels:
Rookie - $4/month
Pro - $10/month
Advanced - $28/month.
These prices assume a 2 year prepaid contract. Shorter, 1 year contracts are available for all plans by adding $2 to the monthly price. Many ASP developers will need at least the Pro plan, which is still only 39 cents/day with a 1 year term. From a cost perspective, it’s hard to beat.
Features
See table (left) for a list of key features and benefits provided by the Pro Plan. For a complete list of features for all plans, visit Brinkster.
Service
Phone support is available 24/7 for U.S. and international customers. Live help is also available online via traditional chat and Skype. For do-it-yourselfers, there is a variety of self-help service options including how-to articles, frequently asked questions, a codebank with hundreds of scripts, and a very active forum where you can interact with other developers.
Space
300 gigabytes for the Pro plan; most sites are 20 megabytes or less (1 gigabyte = 1,024 megabytes) so there is plenty of room to work with.
Bandwidth
3,500 gigabytes per month for the Pro plan; most sites need 10 gigabytes or less. If your site has very high traffic (several million page views per month or higher) or is very image intensive, consider upgrading to the Advanced plan which has a considerably larger 6,000 GB per month.
Security
Brinkster has deployed a state-of-the-art security system that includes biometric scanners, video cameras and 24x7x365 monitoring by live personnel. This system, along with strict access control protocols and procedures, ensures a very secure environment for your data and website. There are also a variety of SSL certificates available at reasonable prices if you need additional security for your e-commerce transactions.
Reliability
All essential systems in the data center have at least one fully functioning backup ready to take over in case of a failure or breakdown. This gives Brinkster the ability to provide over 99.99% network uptime; essentially, keeping your website online all the time.
Ease of Use
We signed up for an account and found the control panel to be very well-organized and easy to use. You can also test drive the free website builder by visiting Brinkster.
Freebies
Every new web hosting account receives a free domain for the first year if you sign-up for a two year term. In fact, the Pro plan comes with 5 free domains and the Advanced package comes with 10. There are also free marketing credits for Google Adwords and Yahoo! Search marketing, as well as a free SSL certificate for 90 days. The value of these giveaways is over $100.
Guarantees
Brinkster offers a longer 90 day money-back guarantee so you can feel confident while making your purchase. You have a full three months to get familiar with the service – that’s three times longer than what many hosts offer.
Discounts
If you’re going to be selling online and need an affordable SSL certificate for the long-term, check out the Essential SSL for $49.95/yr – a real bargain. Brinkster Charge is also a good way to save money on standard transaction and service fees versus other merchant accounts.