Green Web Hosting

From the homepage of HostGator.com, we can easily see what they do about green web hosting: 130% wind powered!

HostGator has purchased certified Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) representing 130% of the electricity used to both power and cool their servers. It’s similar to Green Geeks, they purchase 3 times the amount of energy used by their servers, that’s 300% wind powered green web hosting.

HostGator purchased RECs through 3Degrees, which helps organizations buy, sell and market environmental commodities such as Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) and verified carbon offsets. HostGator is in their partner list.

In addition, HostGator has switched to 36% more efficient servers. In their daily life, they also take steps to minimize our environmental impact at the office.

In order to promote green web hosting, HostGator ever provides 20% off coupon code: GREEN. Their shared plan for single domain is as low as 43.96/month: UNLIMITED Disk Space and UNLIMITED Bandwidth.

All in all, HostGator is one of the leading web hosting companies. For a quick view, we quote their profile here:

HostGator.com LLC is a world leading provider of shared, reseller, VPS and dedicated web hosting. Privately held and based in Houston, Texas, the company was founded in 2002 by Founder and current Chairman Brent Oxley, who started the company from his dorm room at Florida Atlantic University. Since then, HostGator has grown from a small hosting company with just three servers into a world leading and industry recognized hosting provider with more than 12,000 servers under management. The over five million domains hosted by HostGator make up approximately 1% of the world’s Internet traffic.

Now they host over 7,000,000 domains! Their plans come with the following features:

- Unlimited Disk Space
- Unlimited Bandwidth
- Free SiteBuilder
- Easy Control Panel
- 1-Click Script Installs
- 4,500 Free Website Templates
- 99.9% Uptime Guarantee
- 45 Day Money Back Guarantee
- 24/7/365 Technical Support
- $100 Google AdWords Credit

You see they offer $100 Google Adwords credit that can help you promote your website. This credit is even more than what you pay to buy their annual hatchling or baby plans.

We check BBB, HostGator.com is a BBB accredited member since 4/28/2008 with the highest rating: A+.

Fore more information, please visit www.hostgator.com.

DreamHost.com started web hosting service in April 1997. As you may know that they are one of the top web hosting companies in the industry, but do you know how green are they? In this DreamHost review, we will basically focus on their green issue.

First, we take a look t their homepage. They didn’t mention anything about green energy over there, but under the “About Us” menu, we can see they have a dedicated page to describe what they have done for being green.

On Their Own Backyard

At DreamHost, they found the most effective approach begins with resource conservation, therefore they turn off the lights when it’s not used, reduce travel as possible as they can, print on both sides of the page, etc. Their coffee cups are made from fully renewable resources.

In addition, they have also been deploying many more servers with notoriously power-efficient AMD processors in the last couple of years and  follow the path of power efficiency as processor and server technology continues to evolve.

Purchasing Renewable Energy Credits

To run DreamHost servers, it generates as much carbon dioxide as 545 average-size homes. Without the option to put up solar panels or connect with a green power utility, they purchase Renewable Energy Credits instead. Finally, to neutralize those unavoidable emissions they have invested in Emission Reduction Credits  which guarantee their remaining impact is effectively erased.

Their credits are certified by third parties. They are also a member of Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership program (www.EPA.gov) since 1999.

Green Icons

DreamHost also designed green icons for website owners that host with them to spread the message to more people. If you see a website with any of the following icons, clicking on it will take you to a page that should confirm the website is hosted with DreamHost – a proudly carbon-neutral hosting company.

What’s Next?

On many other web hosting websites, they talk a lot about their green hosting, which try to make you think that they are powered directly by green power, like sun or wind. Of course, they are not! At DreamHost, they honestly tell you they are not currently able to actually power their servers with the wind or the sun, but this is the next best thing!

In summary, we think DreamHost has done what they can to make their hosting greener. Regarding the fundamental hosting quality and technical support, we would like to quote the following words from their official website:

So far, we’ve hit the nail on the head. Over the last decade or so, we’ve grown to more than 1500 servers, state-of-the-art data centers, and a full time staff of more than 100 employees. We now host more than 1 million domains. We’re focused solely on providing a quality customer experience backed by the absolute best web hosting technology in the industry. It’s a never-ending quest, but it’s one we’re happy to take on.

For more information, please visit www.dreamhost.com.