Hosting
What it includes
- A server and its monitoring, someone who is warned when the website stops answering
- Daily backups, and the ability to restore the website within hours
- The SSL certificate (the padlock in the browser), renewed automatically
- The security updates of the CMS and the system
- Support in case of failure, with a known response time
Hosting is not the domain name: the domain is the address, hosting is the house. One can be changed without the other, and an association always keeps its domain name when it changes host.
The questions to ask
Where are the backups, how often, and how is the website restored? Who applies the security updates, and how often? Where are the servers, in the European Union or not? What happens if we leave: are the website and the content handed to us? A clear answer to these four questions is worth more than an availability promise in percentages.
Why pool it
One server for five websites costs barely more than one server for one website, and monitoring, backups and updates are done once for all. The programme shares the infrastructure between the associations of a cohort: costs are divided, performance stays that of professional hosting. It is the same logic as the shared foundation and the common workshops.
What can go wrong
- The website goes down and nobody is warned: monitoring is what makes the difference between one hour and one week of absence
- A forgotten security update, and the website serves spam pages without the association seeing it
- Backups never tested, which turn out empty the day they are needed
- Hosting in a volunteer's name, paid with a volunteer's bank card
In Kern4Good
The first year is included in the website. Then pooled hosting comes to 75 EUR per month per association, against 100 to 150 EUR observed for a single editable website; a static website costs less, priced in the quote. The servers are with a European host, data stays in the European Union. The association can also host its website elsewhere: the code and the content belong to it and are handed over. Details are on the Pricing page.
Further reading
What happens if we stop the hosting?
The website is handed to you (code and content) to be hosted elsewhere. Nothing is locked, and your domain name stays yours.
Is the hosting in Belgium?
The programme's servers are with a European host. Data stays in the European Union, which simplifies the GDPR.
Why pay for hosting when platforms are free?
A free platform is paid otherwise: advertising, an imposed address, content you cannot take away, closure without notice. Professional hosting buys continuity: backups, security, someone to call.
What does the 75 EUR per month cover?
The pooled server, monitoring, daily backups, the certificate, the CMS security updates and support in case of failure. Website evolutions (new pages, modules) are not included: they are quoted separately.