From Russia with love comes Timeweb, one in every of main gamers within the web hosting business of its motherland. The firm was based in 2006 and since then it has hosted greater than 400.000 web sites and registered over 800.000 domains, principally in Russia and different former Soviet republics. They declare to have a capability to produce a set of companies and options for any internet hosting challenge no matter its complexity.
Timeweb’s foremost workplace is located in Saint Petersburg (Russia) along with two of their “fashionable” information facilities, that are powered by a set of standby diesel turbines with an computerized begin system and run on uninterruptible and redundant energy provides. They are monitored and maintained around-the-clock by the on-site specialists and all recordings (corresponding to surveillance movies and information storages) are stored for 30 days at a minimal.
Timeweb’s official website is fairly cut-and-dry, each in look and performance, but it surely affords a good quantity of details about its internet hosting infrastructure and all out there companies. However, in case you are not acquainted with Russian language, you’ll must translate the location into your individual language all by your self (or use Google Chrome, as we did). In any case, the truth that Timeweb’s official website isn’t out there in English means that their supposed viewers seldom crosses the borders of Russia.
The similar goes for Timeweb’s official weblog, the place you’ll discover quite a lot of inviting, fascinating and interrelated articles that appear to be up to date with nearly palpable enthusiasm. Timeweb can be current on Viber, Facebook, VK, Telegram, Instagram and YouTube platforms.
Plans and pricing
With Timeweb, you may select a number of shared hosting, VPS/VDS and dedicated server options. All costs are displayed in Russian rubles (₽) completely they usually go from extraordinarily budget-friendly to extraordinarily costly, whereas offering a wonderful worth for cash throughout.
At the second, there are 4 shared internet hosting plans and the smallest one comes cheerfully low cost at mere ₽169 ($2.40) per 30 days (in the event you go for a yr) and it’ll assist you to create one web site, use as much as 10GB of storage (NVMe) and one database, however with unmetered bandwidth and limitless add-on domains. You’ll additionally get a free SSL certificate and (in the event you subscribe for a yr a minimum of) a free domain name within the .ru, .рф zone.
Timeweb supplies a 10-day free trial with its shared internet hosting packages and their web site builder.
The billing cycle with Timeweb is pretty versatile and you may select between a month-to-month, an annual or a biennial possibility. The supported strategies of cost embody credit score/debit card (Visa), financial institution receipt (Sberbank solely), Webmoney, YuMoney, QIWI, Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Ease of use
There is a reward for all of those that resolve to switch their web site and area to Timeweb’s platform for a interval of a minimum of six month. It contains three months of free internet hosting and the switch itself is free-of-charge and carried out by the highest technicians from Timeweb’s staff.
To get began with Timeweb, you’ll be required to examine in by way of VK, GitHub, Google, or present your title and an e-mail handle. Before submitting these, you’ll in all probability wish to give the phrases of service an in depth learn. In an prompt and with out a want for verification (though you’ll get a welcome e-mail from the staff), you’ll be shifted to Timeweb’s personal custom-made management panel.
It capabilities as a one-stop resolution for monitoring and managing all hosting-related facets of your account with Timeweb. It additionally feels fashionable (though it seems to be a bit dated), simple to grasp and use, and (or in order that they declare) it has been designed and redesigned in accordance with buyer suggestions that Timeweb has been receiving over time.
From right here you may handle domains and subdomains, create web sites, choose a CMS from a listing, handle recordsdata, backups, contact buyer help, monitor customer analytics, upscale/downscale your internet hosting plan and far more. CMSs could be put in mechanically, however not all of them are free-of-cost. For occasion, you may set up WordPress, Drupal 7 and eight, and Joomla without spending a dime, however choosing UMI.CMS, 1C-Bitrix and HostCMS will price you a couple of thousand rubles, which feels like rather a lot however truly this can be a quite cheap value.
For those that would quite construct a website with out having to code, there may be Timeweb’s personal website builder that comes with all kinds of professional-looking templates, ready-made blocks and a chance so that you can construct every part from scratch. It prices ₽197 ($2.80) or ₽169 ($2.40) per 30 days (in the event you commit for a yr) and whereas there’s a 10-day free trial, you’ll must buy a internet hosting plan to attempt it out.
Speed and expertise
Timeweb solutions the “why select us” query by itemizing a number of of their promoting factors although it doesn’t go into many particulars. On the topic of dependability they stress out the “modernity and reliability” of their information facilities, their “most efficient” servers, “finest community availability” and round the clock monitoring. However, there aren’t any simple guarantees concerning the pace efficiency, which is why we had been obliged to check it ourselves.
Given that GTmetrix (a instrument we normally use) bailed on us, we sought the assistance of one other well-liked pace testing instrument by the title Pingdom and checked out the pace of Timeweb’s official website. The outcomes had been outright underwhelming and topped with a D (68%), with a complete listing of solutions on the way to enhance the location’s efficiency. On the constructive facet, the load time was 1.8 seconds, which is fairly quick.
Timeweb supplies a 99.9% uptime assure, which is fairly customary within the website hosting business. However, after monitoring their foremost website (by way of UptimeRobot) for a interval of 1 month, we bought some quite troubling outcomes. There had been (we child you not) over thirty situations of downtime, though (to their protection) most of them lasted from 5 to 10 minutes. In the top, and as a consequence of this modest exhibiting, uptime outcomes for the final 30 days had been 99.74%, which is nothing to boast about.
Support
Timeweb’s help employees could be reached by way of a toll-free Russian phone quantity, reside chat, e-mail and Skype, however you’re additionally invited to get in contact by means of social media. Unfortunately for non-Russian audio system, since their help is (as is the corporate itself) at the start centered on the Russian market, the provision of those companies in English (or every other language) relies on the employees members themselves. Nevertheless, the help is at hand 24/7 and appears prepared and keen to assist you with each stage of web site creation.
There are a number of self-service choices with Timeweb they usually embody FAQ part, “Questions and Answers” (which is their group discussion board) and “Useful Articles”, which can take you to their weblog. Some of the most typical points have step-by-step video guides on Timeweb’s YouTube channel, so be sure to test it out.
Timeweb’s group discussion board appears pretty lively and a lot of the questions have been answered or a minimum of obtained some type of recommendation by fellow customers.
The competitors
All these on the lookout for an affordable and cheerful host from Russia will discover a wonderful different to Timeweb in a bunch generally known as Beget. Both hosts are fairly related by way of internet hosting companies, choices, and options they usually each present free trials. That being mentioned, Beget’s free trial interval goes for 30 days, whereas with Timeweb you’ll must accept 10 days. In addition, in case you are not acquainted with Russian language, you’re certain to seek out Beget’s website extra accessible, since it’s out there in English as effectively (though the interpretation itself is imperfect).
Another well-liked Russian (and Russia-oriented) host with the same assortment of hosting-related companies is SpaceWeb, a website hosting veteran from Moscow. However, in the event you’re trying to save a buck or two, Timeweb could be a greater possibility out of the 2.
Both Timeweb and Bluehost supply companies at engaging costs, a choice of excellent options and competent buyer help. The one main distinction between the 2 is that Timeweb is geared in the direction of Russian purchasers past any doubt, whereas Bluehost affords all of its companies in English, making them extra engaging to worldwide audiences.
Much like Bluehost, HostGator is among the hottest choices for folks on the lookout for a website hosting supplier exterior of Russia. While each HostGator and Timeweb have rather a lot to supply, since neither of them supplies a worldwide community of knowledge facilities, the situation stays a key issue when deciding between two fairly related suppliers.
Final verdict
If you come from one of many Russian-speaking international locations, and are looking out for a well-structured but budget-friendly resolution from a reliable and profitable website hosting firm, Timeweb is one in every of your most secure bets. Since all of their information facilities are located in Saint Petersburg, in the event you don’t hail from one in every of Russia’s neighboring international locations (or in case you are not in Europe in any respect), you’ll must compromise with the pace efficiency in an effort to make the most of their companies.
Those who can’t look previous all of this, HostGator, Hostinger and Bluehost may symbolize extra favorable selections.
