In a highly competitive niche, Media Temple has quickly risen to the hall of fame of web hosting companies. Unlike other popular hosts, Media Temple has created a specific perception in the minds of the potential customer. Media Temple is considered a “premium service” offering excellent solutions to customers typically on a corporate level at a higher than average price. While this may be partly true, it is not the full side of the story. This Media Temple review should provide an accurate insight in to what their service has to offer.
Pros
Uptime: Uptime is perhaps the most important factor that governs the quality of a host and Media Temple does not compromise on this. Its shared servers use cloud of grid technology which can be scalable when required and demanded by an individual customer preventing lags and unexpected downtime on other clients on the servers.
Support: While there are a few complaints regarding support, typically with phone support; in general Media Temple has been highly regarded for its impressive and quick support. Media Temple provides a number of avenues including social media options such as Twitter to receive quick answers to queries. In most cases, support will not be required as their extensive knowledge base provides detailed instructions on how to solve a multitude of issues that a user may come across.
Clients: Media Temple boasts a number of high profile clients that host their websites with their services. This includes companies in various industries including Sony, Adobe and Redbull. Their clientele is one of the main reasons for the increased popularity over time despite the occasional complaint that tends to materialize on the web regarding the service.
Cons
Price: Media Temple is notorious for its price and everyone knows it. While a considerable percentage of individuals tend to find the service a tad too costly, others find it well worth the price as it prevents loss of revenue due to downtime and other server related issues which you may be liable to if you use a more economical, less secure service. The above average price is a well established fact that does not need any more elaboration in this Media Temple Review.
Web Hosting Services
Until recently, Media Temple only offered mid to high range options for hosting that left out many small time consumers looking to launch a basic website for personal purposes, or for very small businesses. However, upon acquiring the Virb service and appending it officially to Media Temple’s services; it now caters to virtually all types of customers. From the newbie looking to manage a basic website with little technical knowledge to the experienced developer and power user who would prefer configuring his own server and managing his own resources. This section of the Media Temple Review will provide a brief overview on the services available:
Virb Site Builder: As aforementioned, the Virb site builder is a standard site builder tool that comprises of a number of professional themes that can be easily customized and launched in a matter of minutes as your very own website. Your choice of colors, layout and media will incorporate a unique style to the site. The Virb site builder package is available for just $10 a month.
Grid-Service hosting: Media Temple’s grid hosting is perhaps its best product yet. Initially, it was plagued with a number of issues which was understandable considering it was one of the first web hosts to sell grid hosting services on a large basis. In recent times however, grid hosting has proven to be an excellent option for small to large-scale websites capable of withstanding even tens of thousands of visitors a day depending on the type of website and processes involved. While grid hosting may be rather pricey if you are a small-timer, it can be a steal if your website gathers a relatively large number of visitors. Grid hosting supports up to 1 TB of data transfer and 100 GB of storage with access to all features provided by shared hosts without the hassle and perhaps loss of money of seeing your website crash if your website comes in contact with increased exposure. If you are looking for additional functionality however, it would be best to opt for the VPS option.
Dedicated virtual (dv) hosting: Media Temple’s VPS may be as powerful as the grid hosting service depending on your needs but the increased security and better control of your server make it an unarguable choice over grid hosting for some users despite the much higher price tag. Grid hosting ranges from $50 to $1000 with varying hard disk storage and bandwidth allocated. Reviews regarding the (dv) server are mixed with the majority being content; however there is the occasional complaint with regard to uptime as well as customer support.
Dedicated virtual (ve) hosting: The (ve) option gives you more control of the server used to host your website. This option is ideal if you are an experienced web administrator who prefers to configure your own server and work on your own terms. This also means more time spent administering the server rather than using it to build your online business. The (ve) option is cheaper than (dv) hosting as it excludes the extra add-ons that make your life easier such as one-click content management installation support.
Finally, there is the (dpv) nitro hosting option if you manage copious amounts of processing and bandwidth and require virtually unlimited resources at your disposal. You can purchase the raw server to be configured by yourself or the out-of-box option with the server already been configured. Depending on your choice, the price will vary from $2000-$2500. This option has been purchased by Adobe which speaks volumes about the quality of this service.
Conclusion
Despite the occasional unhappy customer, there is little to suggest that you should stay away from Media Temple. Their comprehensive services offered and rock solid high profile clients stand testimony that Media Temple is certainly a reliable option to work with. Concluding this Media Temple review, this may not be the best preference if you are on a very limited budget, however if you are serious about your website and looking for a durable option, Media Temple would certainly be an ideal option.
