Cool Handle Review

Cool Handle Company Overview

CoolHandle started to provide web hosting solutions to their customers in 2001. Their aim was (and still is) to introduce and surpass a new standard in web hosting through feature-rich services, a high reliability and a wide variety of hosting products. Another commitment is friendly, respectful and helpful customer service. CoolHandle's data center is located in Los Angeles, California.

CoolHandle is a green webhost - that means, they only use Green, Certified Renewable Energy Credits ("REC's"). They purchase 125% of their energy usage in renewable energy REC's from all over the United States. In this way, they help to protect the environment and give clients the opportunity to do the same.

CoolHandle provides all hosting products one can think of: shared web hosting aimed at individuals, business class hosting, reseller hosting, VPS hosting, email hosting and dedicated server hosting. Their entry-level shared hosting plan starts from $4.95 and includes a free domain name, unlimited bandwidth and unlimited storage space.

CoolHandle gives a 30-day-money-back guarantee and provides their customers with 24/7 support by telephone and email.

Price Value

Cool Handle's budget hosting plan starts at $4.95 /month, plus a one-time $5.95 setup fee. The feature-rich shared hosting plan provides a free domain for life, unlimited bandwidth and unlimited storage. What we like (and that's not usual at other hosting providers) is a domain privacy option. This allows the domain's owner to cloak his address and telephone number at the domain registrar's owner database, wich is public. Anyone, that was called at night by somebody wanting to sell him something knows what we mean. In this way, the customer's privacy is protected.

A web-based FTP manager adds more functionality to the 5 included FTP accounts. Additionally SSH and shell access is possible. Programming gurus will be content to hear, that the following features are supported by the package: PHP5 with custom php.ini, Perl, RoR, C/C++, Python, CGI, Frontpage Extensions, Tomcat Java Server, custom Cron Jobs, Flash Video, Shockwave and more. The package includes 5 mySQL databases and phpMyAdmin. However, if PostgreSQL is needed the next higher package has to be purchased, beacuse the basic hosting plan does not include that one. Most people won't need that, however.

52 applications can easily be installed even by newbees through the Fantastico installer. This allows the simple deployment of forums, galleries, content management, communities and online shops. 5 mailboxes and a shared SSL certificate are included in the basic plan as well. Up to 5 domains can be hosted and 5 domains be parked at this account. Additionally, a 30-day-money back guarantee and 24/7 customer support adds to the value of this hosting package.


We rate this hosting package to be of high price value.

Reliability and Performance

Cool Handle has no self-owned data center. Instead, they share their Los Angeles-based data center with the 12 largest Internet providers in the US. This has several advantages for CoolHandle's clients. The company can provide a much higher reliability, performance and quality in this way, than they ever could finance on their own. CoolHandle is connected to the internet via multiple Level-1 backbone providers.

The data center has highest physical security and network security standards, like 24/7 monitoring, redundant UPS power sources and diesel generators, a fire suppression system and emergency diesel generators.

CoolHandle believes in massively overbuilt hardware and redundant connectivity. They keep their links under 50% utilization. When 50% are reached, they add additional capacity. This allows to absorb traffic bursts and keeps network and server performance very high.

CoolHandle deploys Intel-based high-end server technology and state-of-the-art data security with proactive hacker/virus-protection.

CoolHandle's data center and servers are of very high quality.

Features and Control Panel

Cool Handle provides cPanel to their customers as a control panel. This software is intuitive, easy to learn and offers all functionality one can think of. CoolHandle's clients can manage all aspects of web hosting accounts through this mature software. With cPanel it is easy to create new email addresses, change databases or see statistics, e.g. how much data traffic or storage was used this month.

CPanel is our favourite control panel. It's simply the best standard software to manage web hosting packages.

Support

CoolHandle provides 24/7 support to their customers. There is a toll-free telephone number. We found out, response times are good, support staff is friendly and the advice they gave was helpful. There is also a help desk ticket system and support by email. Many hosting providers nowadays use a live chat. CoolHandle does't - we do not really understand why. However, the other support options are extensive. Additionally, there is an large knowledgebase and many Flash video tutorials.

We rate CoolHandle's support to be good. Although, they deploy no live chat, their support is responsive and offers a toll-free telephone and a ticket system.

Conclusion

From 2001 until today, CoolHandle emphasizes high quality standards, customer satisfaction and a wide varity of web hosting products. As a green web host, they consume certified renewable energy only.

The price value of their shared hosting plan is high, as are the price values of their reseller plans, VPS hosting and dedicated servers.

Although they share their data center with other providers, CoolHandle offers a high quality in reliability and performance. They use the industry-leading cPanel as a control panel.

The 24/7 customer support by telephone and ticket system is good. We don't understand, why they don't offer live chat as well, but the other support methods are sufficient. CoolHandle offers a 30-day-money-back-guarantee.

We see CoolHandle as a very good and solid web hosting provider. Their wide varity of services allows for fastly growing web site projects to stick with the same provider at any size or necessary performance.