A crucial factor that affects your Google rankings ( SEO ) is the loading speed of a website. You are losing business if your website is loading slowly on the internet. Ensure that your website is loading as fast as it can by developing the website and to make sure you are in the best hosting environment. Aura Host offers the fastest hosting in South Africa, here’s why: 

CPU Power

Shared hosting is taking 1 server and allocating a little bit of resources to each Most other hosting providers have a very high share ratio, which means 1 server could host 1,000 or more clients. Since a CPU can process only so much data at a time, if only a small number of those websites has visitors, the CPU would be overloaded and the website slows down. Aura Host has a very low share ratio, ensuring that your website can load extremely fast. 

RAM

Random-access memory is a form of computer memory that can be read and changed in any order, typically used to store working data and machine code. The more you have, the less work the CPU has to do, and the faster websites built on WordPress can load and be developed. Aura Host is very generous with RAM allocation. All clients that move to us has immediately noticed the difference in site loading time. It makes developing a site fast and productive. 

SSD Hard Drives

An SSD is flash storage and has no moving parts whatsoever... SSD storage is much faster than it’s HDD equivalent. HDD storage is made up of magnetic tape and has mechanical parts inside. They're larger than SSDs and much slower to read and write. All of our servers run on SSD’s.

Location

Unlike some other S.A. hosting companies Aura Host actually hosts it’s servers in South Africa and not offshore. It makes a huge difference in loading time. If you want your website to attract users from South Africa, you need your website to be as close to them as possible for the basic reason that it has less distance to travel and loads faster.

Data Centre Security

We use technology-driven measures to provide perimeter, building and access-control security. The perimeter fence is backed by high voltage barriers, video surveillance and response systems. Outdoor and indoor access zones, including colocation racks, are monitored by video surveillance. Biometric access control systems and progressive access policies allow unattended access to authorized visitors. Security personnel are on site 24/7 to ensure the safety of our visitors.

Connectivity

Aura Host is a vendor-neutral data centre and welcomes any telecommunication and content provider to grow the network ecosystem. We also host a local PoP of the INX-ZA internet exchange and have dual redundant fibre links into both Johannesburg and Cape Town NAPAfrica exchange points. Cable management by Aura Host ensures scalability and reliability. All racks are provisioned with 100Mbps by default, upgradable to 1Gbps. Additional CAT6 copper and fibre can be provided. We provide optional internet transit connectivity via multiple upstream providers as well as large scale peering at both the INX-ZA and NAPAfrica internet exchange points.

Backup / Support & Reliability

Aura Host provides a free monthly backup plan, stable hosting environments, free SSL certificate. For more active users, more rotational backups can be provided. Assistance with coding, development, email and general technical problems. 

Your website is a critical part of your online presence and business in general. Hosting your site can have both a positive or negative impact on your site. To make sure it’s a positive one, your site should be hosted on the most efficient server possible by a web host who is approachable and transparent. “One way of hosting,” says Michael Osterloh CEO of HOSTAFRICA, “that’s growing in popularity is VPS hosting. VPS hosting in South Africa is a relatively new form of hosting that is growing in leaps and bounds.” If you want to learn more about VPS hosting then keep reading.

What is VPS hosting?   VPS stands for virtual personal server. Think of it like server-ception: a server within a server. Physical servers are housed in data centres. These are located at different locations depending on who’s providing them. A VPS is just a virtually portioned part of these servers that runs its own operating system (OS) and has its own bandwidth and disc space. Think about a computer and how it’s able to run Windows 10, while also operating Windows XP simultaneously. A VPS works in a similar way. One physical server can run several different virtual personal servers and each one acts as if it was an independent and dedicated server. Effectively then you have all the benefits of a dedicated server at a fraction of the cost. It’s also important to note that the compartmentalisation that happens with VPS doesn’t affect the performance of your site at all. You’ll get all the resources that you pay for. And as a VPS webmaster it’ll be really easy for you to control your site.

VPS versus other hosting services   Shared hosting If you think of it like real estate, then shared hosting is like renting an apartment: There’s one landlord (the hosting company) who owns the space and all the assets. The landlord leases out the space to you and makes all the resources available to you: the communal pool, gym and parking. In hosting terms this would be things like processing speed, memory and disk space. All the residents share in those resources. VPS hosting would be like renting the penthouse in that apartment block. One with its own swimming pool, gym and parking facility. Unlike in the normal apartments, you’re responsible for the general maintenance and upkeep of your penthouse. Because you have access to your own resources, things run significantly smoother.   On the downside, VPS hosting is generally more expensive than shared hosting. You’re also likely to need a little technical know-how. That’s because VPS hosting needs a little extra time and effort to manage. Activities such as monitoring and maintaining the server need to be done regularly to ensure that the server remains secure and operational.

Dedicated hosting If VPS is the penthouse, then dedicated hosting is the free-standing home. In dedicated hosting you have your own space and are responsible for everything on your own property. Interior decorating and maintenance as well as external upkeep and landscaping. You’re left to do your own thing and so very much need to have a good grasp of technical concepts. As such VPS hosting is seen as a middle ground between shared and dedicated. It comes with a little more responsibility than the shared ‘apartment’, but not so much that might overwhelm you when using dedicated hosting.   To summarise, the benefits of VPS hosting include greater privacy, increased customisation with your own operating system, greater control and dedicated resources.

Is VPS hosting right for your site?   Shared hosting is generally preferred for websites with more basic functionality. You’re likely to want to upgrade to an appropriate hosting environment as your needs and traffic levels demand. And people tend to use VPS hosting when they require more flexibility, customization and control in their options. Even if one uses the same settings as on a shared server, you’re likely to get more control over your site hosting it via a VPS. A VPS environment is also a lot less technical than a dedicated server and can be the perfect stepping stone for someone managing the server on their own to a dedicated hosting setup.   Configuration of your server is also an important part of the performance of your site, so pay close attention to what your web host is offering. What capacity will your processor be? How much RAM will you be allocated? And how big a portion of disc space will you be allocated? These are all questions that need to be asked of your web host before you commit. All parts used on the physical server should also be of reputable brand and as high quality as possible. Remember: if the foundation is weak, your construction is likely to fail.   Most hosting companies offer free trials on their servers, so try to use this to see if VPS hosting works for your needs.

HOSTAFRICA acquires VPS Networks in a multi-million rand deal as it continues to roll out its growth strategy in the South African Hosting Market  

HOSTAFRICA Pty Ltd. acquires VPS Networks Pty Ltd., including its employees, technical equipment and customers, effective December 1, 2016. This acquisition will strengthen the strong cloud focus of the South African hosting provider. The acquisition is backed by the Swiss investment company Concorde Industries.  

(Cape Town, 8 Dec 2016) VPS Networks is one of South Africa’s oldest providers of virtual servers. The private company has vast expertise in cloud solutions and is able to tailor a service to any server hosting requirement. It offers a fully-automated portfolio of products, including small development servers and larger cloud servers for both Windows and Linux. Both companies, HOSTAFRICA and VPS Networks, share the same vision with a strong focus on customers and technical innovation.  

“VPS Networks grew more than 30% in the past year and we have been searching for a strong partner to facilitate continued growth,” says David Venter, managing director of VPS Networks. “And we found just such a partner in HOSTAFRICA. We couldn’t be happier to be part of the team.”  

Venter will join the HOSTAFRICA team as CTO and his team will ensure that HOSTAFRICA goes from strength to strength. Current VPS Networks customers will be relieved to hear that nothing about VPS Networks’ services will change, apart from the invoicing, which will now be done by HOSTAFRICA.  

HOSTAFRICA’s build and buy strategy  

As a significant milestone, HOSTAFRICA’s major acquisition of VPS Networks marks an important step in fostering the company’s growth in the South African hosting market. HOSTAFRICA is focusing on organic growth while completing its portfolio with strategically relevant acquisitions.  

“The takeover of VPS Networks by HOSTAFRICA is a coup for the fast-growing South African hosting industry,” says Michael Osterloh, CEO of HOSTAFRICA. “The demand for cloud infrastructure continues to grow year on year. HOSTAFRICA believes that moving forward with an acquisition will help provide an extended and updated product portfolio to its clients, keeping them consistently competitive and relevant.”  

The acquisition was supported by the Swiss investment company Concorde Industries, which became a shareholder in HOSTAFRICA during the acquisition. In partnership with HOSTAFRICA, the new investor is planning further strategic acquisitions in the South African hosting market.    

About HOSTAFRICA
HOSTAFRICA is an established hosting company that provides cloud and webhosting solutions, domains and SSL certificates. Mostly orientated towards providing SMEs hosting solutions, HOSTAFRICA offers self-managed, efficient and reliable hosting services at competitive and affordable rates.