Is it important for you the location of your hosting provider and why?

As long as they speak the same language why should it matter where the company is based?

Originally Posted by chrishirst

As long as they speak the same language why should it matter where the company is based?

True but, if the hosting company is based in India with their servers in India and you along with your clients or visitors are US based, it doesn't make a good match performance wise.

I'd stick with hosts within the same country as you and your target market - unless you are hosting something illegal and want immunity.

if the hosting company is based in India with their servers in India and you along with your clients or visitors are US based, it doesn't make a good match performance wise.

That is where their SERVERS are located NOT the company itself.

1and1 are based in the UK but their servers are in Germany.

Also with the speed and sizes of the fibre "pipes" that run around the world now latency is not an issue.
Fifteen or twenty years ago when most of the intercontinental communication network was run in copper cables, latency was an issue mainly due to the physical connections and the equipment used. (the speed of electrons in copper and the speed of light in fibre are approximately equal because there is a ~0.66r reduction in the speed of light through fibre as opposed to the speed of light in a vacuum.

Now, because the technogy has advanced, equipment is much faster and no longer relies on physical contact to route the signals, latency is much less of a concern and is measured in nano seconds rather than the milli seconds of the late 1990s equipment.

I understand now. But then again, a UK based company with servers in Germany isn't a big deal as it is on the same vicinity and the distance is not too vast.

My concern is when a hosting company is marketing toward say US users while they are housing their servers in China.

But then again, a UK based company with servers in Germany isn't a big deal as it is on the same vicinity and the distance is not too vast.

For some companies it may be of some importance, due to Google putting some weight on the location of the server when you're using a generic TLD like .com, as many companies do.

http://www.google.com/support/webmas...y?answer=62399

Originally Posted by ldcdc

For some companies it may be of some importance, due to Google putting some weight on the location of the server when you're using a generic TLD like .com, as many companies do.

http://www.google.com/support/webmas...y?answer=62399

But again it is the location of the SERVER NOT the company.

However you also have to be aware that the server may NOT be in the same country as the IP is issued to, depending on how the hosting company or datacentre owner/operator have their assigned IP block arranged.

sure, the location of your website's hosting servers determines quality and speed for your visitors connection and the safety of your website content

Originally Posted by evoDerma

sure, the location of your website's hosting servers determines quality and speed for your visitors connection and the safety of your website content

Twenty years ago it did!!!

Most people prefer that their hosting provider is located in the same region of the Earth as they are. Other than that, it does not really make a significant difference where the hosting provider is located relative to where you are

Originally Posted by chrishirst

Twenty years ago it did!!!

I actually still feel the affects of this long-distance connection though. For example, I know various Asian and Japanese sites I visit have servers in Japan and China. They take significantly more time to load when I am in the states as opposed to when I visited South Korea.

It matters sometimes, merely for SEO, but for performance, the quality is quality wherever it is physically located.

The certain location is often required (server location I mean). Also think there are more seo-purposes, but sometimes client's do not wanna have "too long" ping.

If we are talking about the server location here is the official take from google http://www.youtube.com/user/GoogleWe...10/keIzr3eWK8I

which he doesn't really give a 100% clear answer but still recommends that the server be in the country that you are targeting.

The only problem with the company not being in the same country are time differences. Which I had a problem with once because a company i was with was the other side of the world and if I had problems during the here in the uk I had to wait 24 hours to get a response. Also if the country speaks another language there could be communication issues, as one server I use is in india (or maybe just their call centre) and I have problems sometimes communicating.

So therefore over all, i would say company and server in the same country is best.

just found this video which gives a bit more of an answer from google - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXt23...feature=relmfu

Originally Posted by chrishirst

That is where their SERVERS are located NOT the company itself.

1and1 are based in the UK but their servers are in Germany.

Also with the speed and sizes of the fibre "pipes" that run around the world now latency is not an issue.
Fifteen or twenty years ago when most of the intercontinental communication network was run in copper cables, latency was an issue mainly due to the physical connections and the equipment used. (the speed of electrons in copper and the speed of light in fibre are approximately equal because there is a ~0.66r reduction in the speed of light through fibre as opposed to the speed of light in a vacuum.

Now, because the technogy has advanced, equipment is much faster and no longer relies on physical contact to route the signals, latency is much less of a concern and is measured in nano seconds rather than the milli seconds of the late 1990s equipment.

Hosting with a provider in the same geographic location as your audience is not a huge concern, however, it's usually a good idea.

Granted, technology has improved as well as speed, but it all comes down to hardware that can and will fail sooner or later.

If your audience is in the US and your host is in the US, the amount of routers between you and your host is minimal compared to the amount of routers if you were to host in Australia for example.

More routers = more possible points of failure

If data has to be re-routed due to a failure, you WILL experience latency. So to say latency is a non-issue is untrue.

If data has to be re-routed due to a failure, you WILL experience latency. So to say latency is a non-issue is untrue.

In the order of a few milliseconds at worst.

Originally Posted by chrishirst

In the order of a few milliseconds at worst.

In theory, yes.

Its really good to know where is your server is located and who is web hosting provider because if you know that where is the web server and who is the hosting provider than it will be easy for you when any kind of problem accrue you can easily contact that person to solve the problem to your web hosting server. Their so many good site which provide good dicsount plan on web hosting and also good customer support by them.