Company Background
Web hosting provider, Easy CGI, was originally founded in 1992 operating as a successful Internet Service Provider.? It eventually evolved into the web domain hosting space and officially became Easy CGI in 1998.? It has since become one of the global leaders in web hosting services and currently supports over 20,000 websites.? Easy CGI has consistently ranked in the top 10 of the world’s biggest and most reliable hosting providers.? It maintains its own high-tech data centers, complete with built-in redundancies to ensure the most reliable connectivity for all of its hosted sites.? Easy CGI specializes in shared web hosting solutions for individual needs and small businesses.? However, it also has wide range of flexible hosting solutions to support the needs of larger companies in the more advanced dedicated hosting platforms, as well.
Company Technology
Easy CGI maintains its own network operations and data center in a 15,000 square-foot state-of-the-art facility in Pearl River, New York.? It continually updates its server hardware to the latest high performance systems to ensure reliable connectivity and transfer speed.? Easy CGI currently uses the highest grade routers from Cisco.? Its entire network infrastructure are supported by redundant hardware and its data centers are monitored and protected by automated support systems that allow maximum reliability and security.? In addition, its advanced data centers meet all standards of performance, safety, power, connectivity and security requirements.? Easy CGI created and maintains its own proprietary hosting control panel.? It is a feature rich application dedicated to the windows operating system environment.
Available Internet Web Hosting Plans
Easy CGI offers a wide range of shared web hosting plans and virtual/dedicated servers packages starting at $7.96/month. All web hosting accounts include the windows 2003 hosting environment, ASP .NET 2.0 with AJAX1.0, script library, website statistics, 99.9%uptime, spam and virus blocker, 24X7 phone and email support, and a 30-day money back guarantee.
The following are some of the available shared web hosting packages currently offered by Easy CGI. More package offers can be found at the web hosting provider’s website:
* 100GBytes of available web space, 1000GBytes of monthly transfer volume
* 500 email accounts with webmail support and spam filtering
* Free Website Builder application and no setup fee
* 50 MySQL databases
* Firewall protected data, daily backup of website data, included.
* Free shared 128 bit SSL Certificate
* Domain Privacy is included
* 200GBytes of available web space, 2000GBytes of monthly transfer volume
* 1000 email accounts with webmail support and spam filtering
* Free Website Builder application and no setup fee
* 100 MySQL databases
* Firewall protected data, daily backup of website data, included.
* Free shared 128 bit SSL Certificate
* Domain Privacy is included
* 300GBytes of available web space, 4000GBytes of monthly transfer volume
* Unlimited email accounts with webmail support and spam filtering
* Free Website Builder application and no setup fee
* 300 MySQL databases
* Firewall protected data, daily backup of website data, included.
* Free shared 128 bit SSL Certificate
* Domain Privacy is included
* Windows 2003 server environment. Dual Xeon CPUs. RAID storage.
* Plesk (10 domain license) Control Panel
* Free private domain registration. Private name servers.
* 15GBytes of available web space, 250GBytes of monthly transfer volume
* Unlimited email accounts with webmail support and spam filtering
* Free WebsiteBuilder application; hosting for unlimited number of websites
* 2 dedicated IP addresses
* Unlimited FTP accounts
* Firewall protected data, daily backup of website data, GeoTrust Dedicated SSL Certificate included
* Windows 2003 server environment. Dual Xeon CPUs. RAID storage.
* Plesk (30 domain license) Control Panel
* Free private domain registration. Private name servers.
* 20GBytes of available web space, 450GBytes of monthly transfer volume
* Unlimited email accounts with webmail support and spam filtering
* Free WebsiteBuilder application; hosting for unlimited number of websites
* 2 dedicated IP addresses
* Unlimited FTP accounts
* Firewall protected data, daily backup of website data, GeoTrust Dedicated SSL Certificate included
* Windows 2003 server environment. Dual Xeon CPUs. RAID storage.
* Plesk (30 domain license) Control Panel
* Free private domain registration. Private name servers.
* 30GBytes of available web space, 750GBytes of monthly transfer volume
* Unlimited email accounts with webmail support and spam filtering
* Free WebsiteBuilder application; hosting for unlimited number of websites
* 2 dedicated IP addresses
* Unlimited FTP accounts
* Firewall protected data, daily backup of website data, GeoTrust Dedicated SSL Certificate included
Once upon a time, I recommended EasyCGI as a great Windows host. They focused on just that area and as a result they did very well. Time changes things, of course. In this case, the change came from their acquisition by the Endurance International Group (EIG), which is never a good thing for a web host. EIG is like the Borg from Star Trek. It assimilates web hosts in way that may be good for EIG, but makes the web hosts less than they were.
For completeness I’ll list their offerings, but I cannot recommend them as a web host.
Shared Hosting
Their shared plans follow the familiar tiered pattern, albeit with somewhat confusing names. By the way, while you may see other reviews saying that EasyCGI supports ColdFusion, this is unfortunately no longer the case. Their official statement is: “Due to the lack of demand for the product, we are no longer supporting ColdFusion on new accounts.”
Traffic:?3,500?GB
Domains:?unlimited;Windows 2000, Access, unlimited datasources, 50 MySQL databases, ASP, ASP.Net, Persits ASPUpload, ASPJpeg and ASPEmail, PHP, Perl.Space: 500?GB
Traffic:?5,000?GB
Domains: unlimitedSame as basic, plus an additional 50 MySQL databases, Frontpage extensions, Index server, and WebTrends reports.Space: 750?GB
Traffic: 7,500?GB
Domains: unlimitedSame as intermediate, plus SQL Server and unlimited MySQL databases.
* All prices on this site are based on a two-year signup.
What EasyCGI Says
World Class Web Hosting ServicesEasy CGI has custom developed an infinitely expandable shared web hosting platform which allows for complete flexibility. This strengthens our ability to offer new features and cutting edge technology upon availability. Our control panel allows the customer to administer every aspect of their account at any time, from any location. Easy CGI′s three tiers of shared Web hosting solutions make the Company′s services suitable for a wide range of individuals and companies looking to host websites ranging from simple to complex. The result is superior flexibility and increased self-reliance over all account features.Many hosting companies outsource their technology needs or keep their servers in a remote location. At Easy CGI we maintain our own Data Center located in the same facility as our corporate headquarters. Extensive system monitoring allows our support staff to quickly assess and resolve problems that may occur.
Easy CGI Support StaffThe Internet and Web Hosting industries are built on relatively new technologies that are still constantly changing. A Web Hosting company must have the experience and knowledge to help its customers through the process without creating confusion. Our highly knowledgeable staff is trained with this in mind. We provide quick resolutions to technical problems, allowing the customer to focus on more important aspects of their business. The Easy CGI AdvantageEasy CGI strives to be on the leading edge of the Web hosting industry through superior technology, competitive pricing, and excellent customer service. Becoming an industry leader through maintaining steady customer and revenue growth, while continuing to provide excellent service, is Easy CGI’s vision for the future. With thousands of hosting companies to choose from, it’s no easy task to pick a company that provides the best service and support. Easy CGI is committed to making your web hosting experience the best it can be. Don’t take our word for it, see for yourself.Easy CGI offers an incredible amount of storage, unlimited FTP accounts and the ability of 3500 GB of monthly data transfer. They have made some recent upgrades that have greatly improved their capabilities, including the availability of up to 500 email accounts with the basic service.
Although, Easy CGI is lacks some important features, such as subdomains, a website builder and a shopping cart and this places it under our top choices. Nevertheless, if you must have ASP (Active Server Pages), then Easy CGI, even with their basic package, can support this option.
Standout?Features
Same Day SetupMerchant Account AvailabilitySMTP ManagementAlternate MX Records24/7 Systems MonitoringHosting Package: 
Easy CGI provides 500 email accounts that include email forwarding, aliasing, auto responders, webmail, SMTP, email catch-all and spam protection. They also offer unlimited domain aliasing with all of their service packages. Easy CGI supports password protected directories and you can benefit from a 24/7 system monitor.
The service supports PHP, Perl, Active Server Pages (ASP), a shared SSL certificate and downloadable raw logs. They do not support FrontPage, Microsoft Index Server or FrontPage subwebs in the Basic Plan, but you can get this support in either the Intermediate or Advanced plans.
Easy CGI uses its own proprietary Control Panel software that is logically organized and simple to navigate through. The control panel consists of 14 categories that include email, database, domain and FTP account management as well as access to help and support.
The Help and Support section provides complete, easy to understand tutorials covering every feature along with setup guides for configuring programs (such as Outlook Express), email instructions and CuteFTP.
Ease of Use:
The Easy CGI control panel is pretty generic when it comes to features.? Compared to the other popular control panels, it’s slow and clunky.? It has almost no graphics, which makes it ugly to look at.? However, it’s still high functioning and you can get the hang of it in 15 minutes or less.? They offer all of the traditional customer support options, which help make things easier because they have good people behind them.
Support and Service: 
You can’t go wrong with the customer service Easy CGI has to offer.? They have email, telephone and live chat support. ?Live chat is recommended because there’s less waiting time and you can ask more than one question without the operator feeling the need to rush you to get to the next call.? Their support page is similar to what we have seen on other web hosting sites.? Upon further analysis, the content in their knowledgebase is identical to the content we have seen in other similar knowledgebases.? This detracts from the credibility they fostered by doing well with their contact methods.
Site Creation Tools:
Easy CGI doesn’t offer a Site Builder tool, but they do have the option to include photos, galleries and online shopping carts with your webpage.? A sitebuilder tool would have definitely helped. ?However, the presence of these other tools means that they didn’t completely lose out in this area.
Server Access: 
Easy CGI does allow you to create unlimited FTP accounts, but they don’t offer Cron Jobs or Anonymous FTP. ?Both of these features are handy if you have them, but their absence isn’t going to send a site down the drain in terms of server access.? Their FTP system is more than adequate for the file transferring needs of most users.
Marketing Tools:
For marketing tools, Easy CGI offers the Google and Yahoo vouchers, Google webmaster tools and Ratepoint.
Reporting and Statistics:
Easy CGI uses Awstats, which is one of the best statistical analysis programs out there, to look over its user traffic.
Summary:
Overall, Easy CGI is an extremely flexible web hosting service service that allows for add-ons and quick up grades if you should need extra storage or email accounts.
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