Frequently
Asked Questions
Web Hosting
Does my hosting plan include a control panel?
What is Cpanel™? Do you have a Demo?
Can I track how many people visit my Web site?
Can I access my domain name with and without the
www?
Can I upgrade my hosting plan at any time?
Do I have unlimited access to update my pages?
Do you offer telnet or shell access?
Do you provide dial-up Internet access?
Do you support Active Server Pages (ASP) or Cold
Fusion?
Do you support FrontPage Extensions?
How many Email addresses do I get?
How do I set up my email?
How do I upload my files?
Does my website have its own IP number or is it
shared?
What is included in my hosting package?
What if I want to upgrade my hosting plan?
How long does it take to set up a new account?
Is there a trial period or money-back guarantee?
How much assistance do you provide for my website?
What are the setup fees and monthly costs involved?
Are there any hidden costs?
Is there a discount if I pre-pay for several months
in advance?
How am I billed?
What form of payment do you accept?
Do I have to sign a contract to use your service?
Why are contracts used? And, why for some services,
but not others?
May I view your Terms Of Service?
What if my site breaks your "acceptable usage
policy" rules?
Do you have a Service Level Agreement (SLA)?
What kind of connection does BKC Technology have
to the Internet?
What kind of servers are you using?
What platform or Operating System (OS) does BKC
Technology use?
Where are BKC Technology's servers located?
How is my website monitored?
What is the uptime?
Do you have battery backups and generators?
What kind of security does the Data Center have?
What about software upgrades?
What if the server my website is on gets hacked
or attacked?
What if the hardware fails?
Will you place any ads on my site?
Why should I choose BKC Technology as my web host?
Ok, I'm convinced, how do I transfer my domain
name to BKC Technology without downtime?
What happens if I decide to leave BKC Technology?
Does my hosting plan include a control
panel?
Yes. Every BKC Technology web hosting
package comes with a web browser based control panel. The control
panel includes many features including; email configurations, chat
rooms, mailing lists, pre-installed cgi scripts, databases, and
much, much more.
What is Cpanel™? Do you have
a Demo?
CPanel™ is the brand name of the
web browser control panel software that BKC Technology utilizes
on its web hosting packages. A demo of the control panel can be
found here.
Can I track how many people visit my
Web site?
All accounts come with a powerful Site
Statistics Tool in the Control Panel that shows hits, referrer logs,
country stats and more! We have the following statistics program
available for you:
• AWStats
• Webalizer
• Analog Statistics
You can even look at this data in a graphical
format showing daily, monthly and yearly activity.
Can I access my domain name with and
without the www?
Yes, you can access your website with
or without the "www", or third-level-domain. Many hosting
solutions now include this capability. This way, you can access
your website by navigating to either "www.yourdomain.com"
or "yourdomain.com".
Can I upgrade my hosting plan at any
time?
Yes, you may change your hosting plan
at any time. Simply email or contact us with your request.
Do I have unlimited access to update
my pages?
Yes, you can edit your website whenever
you like using FTP/Shell or via the File Manager included in your
control panel.
Do you offer telnet or shell access?
Yes, telnet and shell access is available.
Linux shell is available via SSH (secure shell). Most UNIX clients
will already have an SSH application installed.
Do you provide dial-up Internet access?
No. Dial-up internet access is not offered.
However, we do offer consultation services to assist you in choosing
a internet service provider to meet your needs.
Do you support Active Server Pages
(ASP) or Cold Fusion?
No, our servers are UNIX based and we
do not support ASP or Cold Fusion. These are only supported on Microsoft's
Windows NT platform.
Do you support FrontPage Extensions?
Yes!
How many Email addresses do I get?
Unlimited emails are available.
How do I set up my email?
BKC Technology web hosting clients can
set up POP Accounts, Forwarders/Aliases, & Auto-Responders in
the Web Browser Control Panel that comes with every BKC Technology
web hosting package. This can be done by yourself, and without any
assistance from the BKC Technology staff. BKC Technology web design
clients who choose BKC Technology as their web host may request
specific email accounts be created when the Hosting Plan is chosen
and setup at no additional charge.
How do I upload my files?
All BKC Technology web hosting packages
allow the usage of FTP, Telnet, SSH, File Manager, MS FrontPage™,
and other web development publishing programs, to upload files to
your website.
Does my website have its own IP number
or is it shared?
Traditionally all BKC Technology hosting
packages come with a dedicated IP address.
What is included in my hosting package?
BKC Technology provides hardware, software,
support, and system administration for your BKC Technology shared
hosting solution. The software provided includes the operating system,
ftp & email software, web server software, and a control panel.
BKC Technology even includes free e-commerce shopping cart software.
Everything you need to conduct business on the Internet, or maintain
a personal website, is included in your BKC Technology hosting solution.
BKC Technology will provide basic support whenever possible on services/software
that we provide you with your account. Unless you are a BKC Technology
web design customer, BKC Technology does not develop your website
for you, nor provide tech support on how to use software products
that we do not provide to you directly. We are always more than
willing to help you if we can time permitting.
What if I want to upgrade my hosting
plan?
You may upgrade or downgrade your BKC
Technology web hosting package at any time. You will be required
to pay the difference in the plan you are upgrading to, should you
decide to choose a larger plan. You will then pay the new monthly
fee for the new account package that you select.
How long does it take to set up a
new account?
Typically a new account can be setup within
24hrs.
Is there a trial period or money-back
guarantee?
BKC Technology offers a full 30 day money
back guarantee. No questions asked. If you are not happy for any
reason, cancel your BKC Technology hosting service within 30 days
of signup and your full setup fee and monthly costs will be refunded.
The only exception to a refund is if you violate BKC
Technology Terms of Service (TOS). Violations of the TOS
usually are due to spamming, hacking, and illegal content. Your
account can be cancelled ONLY by submitting a written cancellation
request which includes your full name, address, phone number, and
the domain name(s) associated with the hosting service. Other methods
of cancellation are not valid.
How much assistance do you provide
for my website?
BKC Technology will assist you with all
support for services provided directly thru BKC Technology. We will
help you with basic settings for your email software and ftp client,
as well as assist you with using the web browser control panel.
BKC Technology is not responsible for teaching you how to use another
company's products. For example: BKC Technology will assist you
with the settings for using MS Frontpage™, but we will not
teach you how to actually use the product itself. You need to contact
the software maker in such a situation, who provides tech support
for how to use their product. BKC Technology cannot even attempt
to support all the thousands of software products on the market.
BKC Technology will attempt to provide some tech support for the
most popular programs our clients use. BKC Technology is not responsible
for assisting with your own programs and cgi scripts. If you choose
to install your own programs and cgi scripts on your site, you are
responsible fully for installing them. BKC Technology will provide
support for any program or cgi script that we provide pre-installed
with your web hosting package. BKC Technology is not responsible
for designing, nor developing, your website, including HTML and/or
images unless you are also a BKC Technology web design client. BKC
Technology will attempt to give a quick look at your design/development
problem, and offer a suggestion if it is a small issue. Anything
complicated relating to design/development is not the responsibility
of BKC Technology.
What are the setup fees and monthly
costs involved?
BKC Technology charges a one-time setup
fee of $25. Monthly hosting rates can be found on the Web Host Pricing
page.
Are there any hidden costs?
No. All costs are stated plainly on our
website. We do not hide fees in fine print, or in our terms of service
pages. The only costs that are commonly found to occur beyond your
expected flat monthly rates per service are those due to increased
disk space or bandwidth usage. Pricing for such is plainly stated
on our website. BKC Technology very often will allow you to upgrade
your packages to the next size up, should you see an increase in
disk space levels or bandwidth usage for the current month, and
not want to pay for such additional usage. Disk space usage and
availability, as well as estimated bandwidth usage, is available
to you in the majority of the control panel versions included with
the hosting packages.
Is there a discount if I pre-pay for
several months in advance?
BKC Technology offers 5% discount on 6
month pre-payment and 10% discount on 1year pre-payment.
How am I billed?
BKC Technology will invoice you every
3 months (quarterly) via email. Upon request of the client, BKC
Technology will mail a hard copy of the invoice. You can request
a quarterly statement via email as well, at any time. Special arrangements
can be made for custom billing requirements. BKC Technology accepts
PayPal as brian@bkctechnology.com (all major credit cards or debit
cards and electronic checks accepted), Company Checks, Personal
Checks, Money Orders, Cashiers Check, and Cash.
What forms of payment do you accept?
The following methods of payment are accepted:
• Cash
• Check
• PayPal – all major credit cards, debit cards, and
electronic checks
Note: You do NOT have to be a PayPal member to make payments via
PayPal.
Do I have to sign a contract to use
your service?
Contracts ARE used for the following:
• Web Design
• Website Maintenance (hosted by someone other than BKC Technology)
• Graphic Design
• Custom-built Computers
Contracts are NOT needed for the following:
• Web Hosting
• Website Maintenance (on BKC Technology servers – our
hosting)
• Computer Upgrades
• Computer Repair, Troubleshooting, Optimization
Why are contracts used? And, why for
some services, but not others?
The use of a contract is for the benefit
and protection of both parties involved. A contract helps layout
each side of the transaction by describing in detail what is expected
of each party. I feel a contract is a positive thing and hope that
my clients do as well. I will be happy to discuss the contract(s)
in as much detail as desired with potential clients.
Services that utilize a contract do so
because of the inherent resources (i.e. time, effort, money, etc.)
involved in those services. If a contract is desired by either party
for a service above that does not generally utilize a contract,
may be requested and discussed.
May I view your Terms Of Service?
The BKC Technology terms of service (TOS),
including policy and service guidelines, are available online at
http://www.BKC Technology.com/terms.htm.
What if my site breaks your "acceptable
usage policy" rules?
Users' sites may be suspended for violations
of policy, or if extreme, or second time offenders, sites may be
cancelled. Each occurrence is dealt with on a case by case basis,
and we attempt to resolve the violation of the rules with every
client. Notification will be sent, if BKC Technology takes any action
on your account.
Do you have a Service Level Agreement
(SLA)?
The BKC Technology service level agreement
(SLA) is available online at: http://www.BKC Technology.com/sla.htm.
What kind of connection does BKC Technology
have to the Internet?
BKC Technology is a premier hosting provider,
providing reliable, scalable solutions for customers of all sizes
and services. Located in the carrier-neutral Equinix Chicago Data
Center, BKC Technology, Inc has access to all the major carriers
in Chicago without the need for local loop circuits.
What kind of servers are you using?
The average shared server is a QUAD XEON
processor system, with 4048MB RAM, and RAID hard drive(s). All servers
run spare hard drives for backup requirements.
What platform or Operating System
(OS) does BKC Technology use?
We are running RedHat Linux 7.x and the
Apache WebServer. All servers are running the latest version of
the PHP and Perl programming languages!
Where are BKC Technology's servers
located?
Equinix Chicago Data Center
How is my website monitored?
Internal and external monitoring systems
exist for every server in the Data Center. The servers are checked
every 5 minutes via network monitoring software. Uptime is monitored
as well as individual features and services running on each server.
The appropriate staff is notified via alarms, email, screen pop-ups,
and paging, if a problem occurs.
What is the uptime?
BKC Technology strives to maintain a 99.5%
network and server uptime service level. This uptime percentage
is a monthly figure, and does not include any scheduled hardware/software
upgrades, nor "Acts of God". Our definition of "Act
of God" includes; fire, flood, tornado, earthquake, Telco fiber
issues (i.e. Verizon™ cutting a fiber line somewhere), backbone
peering point issues (i.e. UUNet™ having a router go down
in Virginia that wipes out internet service for the entire East
Coast), hard drive failure (faulty hardware is rare, but cannot
be predicted nor avoided), as well as network floods, hacks, and
attacks. If BKC Technology fails to meet its 99.5% uptime guarantee,
and it is not due to one of the above reasons, partial downtime
credits will be made available to each client, upon request, on
a case by case basis. BKC Technology does not credit a full month's
service if we only have 99.4% uptime. This would not be financially
healthy for BKC Technology, and in turn would only negatively affect
the service level BKC Technology provides to you. "Partial
refunds for partial downtime" is our standard policy.
Do you have battery backups and generators?
Our Network Operations Center is backed
up and protected by UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) systems.
In a very rare case of utility outages, our auto-start generators
start automatically, taking over for the UPS system and supplying
all necessary power for our Network Operations Center. APC™,
Tripp-Lite™, & Liebert™ UPS Systems provide the
power backups, along with Kohler™ generator systems.
What kind of security does the Data
Center have?
The Data Center in Chicago, IL USA is
a high security facility. Double metal security doors, with interior
gating, protect the main entrance to the facility. The windows-less
facility has advanced security, fire, temperature, and flood alarms,
directly piped into the Security Monitoring Company via phone, cellular,
and internet connections. A 16-camera digital video system monitors
the interior and exterior of the Data Center. This video system
is monitored internally at the facility and externally. The video
data is recorded live both on and off site, and stored for several
months ahead. Visitors cannot gain access into the facility without
employee escort. The physical servers and equipment area is secured
from the visitor's area by huge metal doors, as well as metal sheeting
and bulletproof glass walls. Armed guards are planned for the future,
but not a necessity at this junction.
What about software upgrades?
We fully follow all trends in the industry,
and monitor all support/bug announcement groups. If a new bug or
security vulnerability is found, systems are immediately upgraded.
Microsoft™ regularly release patches for the Windows™
based systems, and systems are auto-updated every night from security
patch websites. As new software is released, including new versions
of operating systems, the new software is evaluated. If the software's
new version does not have any security issues, or bug problems,
the upgrade is implemented.
What if the server my website is on
gets hacked or attacked?
Individually hacked websites are rare.
If such occurs, usually they are a target for a reason; hate sites,
pirated software, etc.. BKC Technology does not host such websites.
If such material is found on a BKC Technology server, it is deleted
immediately and the user's account cancelled. Usually the target
is the whole server itself. Hackers usually go after a server just
to say that "they did", or to use the server to bounce
off of to hack something more important. Rarely are any users' files
on the server damaged, erased, or modified. For this reason, once
a hacker is detected, a server can usually be cleaned up and the
hacker locked back out within a matter of hours. At that time the
server is restored to full security levels, as if the hack has never
occurred. Most hackers get into a system thru valid user accounts.
We recommend you use complicated passwords for your account. BKC
Technology strictly reviews all orders for new clients, to make
sure they are legitimate. Unfortunately, some fake orders do get
thru the system, and that is one way a hacker can gain initial access.
Security checks are run on the servers daily, so even if a hacker
does get in, they are found and dealt with quickly. Most hackers
are not malicious; they are just playing or testing their abilities.
If an individual attacks the whole Data Center, measures are in
place to cut off such floods and attacks automatically at the backbone
level and the router level. Firewall technology is used to fend
off most common methods of flooding and attacks to the network.
What if the hardware fails?
Replacement parts are stocked for all
servers. Hardware failures are uncommon, but they do happen, and
are a part of the hosting business. All failed hardware will be
repaired promptly, to minimize any downtime caused by such.
Will you place any ads on my site?
No!
Why should I choose BKC Technology
as my web host?
Simple -- BKC Technology maintains a feature
rich hosting package. BKC Technology offers Cpanel™ on its
packages, the premier software in the business. BKC Technology offers
a 30 day full money back guarantee for new clients that sign up.
A personal touch is offered unlike any other hosting company --
so you really cannot loose by selecting BKC Technology.
Ok, I'm convinced, how do I transfer
my domain name to BKC Technology without downtime?
Once you have signed up for one of BKC
Technology’s web hosting plans, you will receive an email
with Account Setup information with this information including the
following:
Upload your files to our server via
FTP or your favorite web development application.
Contact your domain name registrar (i.e. Network Solutions, GoDaddy,
etc.) and have your domain name pointed to our name servers:
NS1.BKCTECHNOLOGY.COM
NS2.BKCTECHNOLOGY.COM
It can take 48 to 72 hours for your
registrar to completely update your name server change. Once updated,
your domain name will point to your website that you have with us
automatically.
After you confirm that your website is pointed to BKC Technology’s,
you can contact your previous hosting provider and cancel your account.
What happens if I decide to leave
BKC Technology?
You are free to leave at any time.
< Top of Page >
|
