Frequently Asked Questions — NCloud Host
Comprehensive answers for cloud hosting, VPS, dedicated servers, managed services, DevOps, AI solutions, backups, security and migration. Tailored for small & medium businesses across Kerala (Tirur, Kochi, Kozhikode, Thrissur), Mumbai & Delhi.
General — Cloud & Hosting
Q1: What is cloud hosting and how is it different from shared hosting?
A: Cloud hosting runs your website or application across multiple interconnected servers; if one server fails, the site keeps running. Shared hosting places many sites on a single server where resources are shared — that can lead to slower performance during traffic spikes. Cloud hosting gives better reliability, faster resource allocation and easier scaling; shared hosting is cheaper and suitable for very small static sites.
Q2: Which hosting plan should a small Kerala business choose first?
A: Start with an SSD VPS if you expect moderate traffic and need predictable cost. Choose managed VPS if you don’t have an IT team. If you anticipate fast growth or need high availability for apps, consider cloud hosting. We perform a short architecture review (free) to recommend the right plan.
Q3: Do you offer local support in Kerala?
A: Yes. NCloud Host is based in Tirur, Kerala and provides local support for Kochi, Kozhikode, Thrissur, Malappuram, Kollam and the rest of the state. We also serve clients in Mumbai and Delhi with remote & hybrid support models.
VPS & Dedicated Server Questions
Q4: What is a VPS and how does it benefit my business?
A: A VPS (Virtual Private Server) gives you an isolated environment with dedicated CPU, RAM and disk partitions on a virtualized host. It offers predictable performance, root access, and higher security than shared hosting. Ideal for medium-traffic websites, ecommerce, CRM/ERP and custom applications.
Q5: What’s the difference between VPS and Dedicated servers?
A: A dedicated server gives you an entire physical machine — best for heavy workloads and special compliance needs. VPS provides virtual slices of a server; it’s cost-efficient and highly capable for most SMB use cases. If you need massive single-node performance or hardware isolation, go dedicated; for most SMEs, VPS is the sweet spot.
Q6: Can I scale my VPS resources later?
A: Yes. Most VPS plans allow vertical scaling (more RAM, CPU, disk) with minimal downtime. For automatic horizontal scaling you’ll need a cloud setup or containerized architecture. We advise a plan based on your projected growth to avoid frequent resizing.
Managed Hosting & Support
Q7: What does "managed hosting" include?
A: Managed hosting includes OS and control panel updates, security patching, server hardening, monitoring, backups, and technical support for troubleshooting. We also offer optional managed application support (WordPress, Magento, custom apps) and DevOps services for automation.
Q8: Are server updates and security patches included?
A: For managed plans, yes. We keep the server OS, control panel components and major server-side packages patched and monitored. For self-managed plans, patching is the customer’s responsibility, but we provide guides and paid assisted options.
Q9: What are your support hours and SLAs?
A: We provide 24×7 monitoring and tiered support. Standard support response for managed customers is within 4 hours; critical issues are triaged immediately. SLA response times and uptime guarantees (99.9%) are available on higher-tier contracts — ask sales for SLA PDFs tailored to your plan.
Backups & Disaster Recovery
Q10: How often do you take backups and how long are they retained?
A: Standard daily backups with a 14–30 day retention window. For mission-critical systems we provide hourly snapshots and extended retention (90+ days) depending on the plan. Backups can be stored offsite for additional safety.
Q11: What’s your disaster recovery approach?
A: We offer disaster recovery plans with RTO (Recovery Time Objective) and RPO (Recovery Point Objective) options. This includes hot/cold failover, regular DR drills, and cross-region replication for cloud workloads. We recommend DR only for critical services where downtime is very costly.
Security & Compliance
Q12: What security measures are included?
A: We provide network firewalls, basic DDoS mitigation, malware scanning, regular security patching, application-level WAF (optional), SSH hardening, and monitoring. For advanced needs we offer vulnerability scans, pen-testing coordination and compliance consulting (e.g., PCI readiness).
Q13: Do you offer SSL certificates?
A: Yes — free Let's Encrypt SSL is included on many plans and we also support paid EV/OV certificates for enterprise clients. We manage installation and renewal if requested.
Q14: Can you help with compliance (e.g., PCI, HIPAA-like guidance)?
A: We provide guidance on secure architectures and practices that support compliance. For specialized compliance such as PCI-DSS, we coordinate with you and auditors to implement required controls — some services may require dedicated environments or partner certifications.
Cloud Consulting & Provider Partnerships
Q15: Do you work with AWS, Azure or Google Cloud?
A: Yes. We consult on architectures for AWS, Azure and GCP and also provide managed services on these platforms. We additionally design cost-optimised multi-cloud or hybrid approaches and can manage deployments end-to-end.
Q16: How do you help reduce cloud costs?
A: We perform cloud cost audits, rightsizing, reserved-instance recommendations, autoscaling policies, caching/CDN usage, storage tiering, and architectural refactors that reduce unnecessary resources. Many SMEs see 20–50% savings after optimization.
DevOps & Automation
Q17: What DevOps services do you provide?
A: CI/CD pipeline design and implementation, Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform/Ansible), containerization (Docker/Kubernetes), monitoring & alerting (Prometheus/Grafana), automated testing and blue/green deployments. We tailor DevOps to small team realities so you benefit quickly.
Q18: Do you support managed Kubernetes (K8s)?
A: Yes, we offer Kubernetes consulting and managed cluster setups (self-hosted or cloud-managed options). For small teams we often recommend managed clusters with clear runbooks to lower operational overhead.
AI & Model Hosting
Q19: Can NCloud Host help host ML/AI models?
A: Yes. We provide model hosting, inference scaling (horizontal and vertical), GPU or high-memory instance recommendations, and ML pipeline automation. We also help with cost-effective inference strategies (batch, on-demand, or serverless) for SMEs.
Q20: Do you provide data-security guidance for ML workloads?
A: We help with secure data handling, encrypted storage, access controls, and guidelines for safe model deployment and retention policies to meet legal and business privacy requirements.
Website Migration & Onboarding
Q21: Do you offer free migrations?
A: Yes — most customers qualify for free migrations for websites, databases and mailboxes. For complex enterprise migrations (many servers, databases, legacy software), we provide a migration estimate and plan. We aim for zero-downtime migrations when possible.
Q22: How long does a migration typically take?
A: Simple website migrations often complete within 24–48 hours (including DNS propagation). Complex app migrations (multi-service, DB replication) can take several days to weeks depending on testing and verification requirements. We'll provide a timeline after assessment.
Email Hosting & Deliverability
Q23: Do you provide professional email hosting?
A: Yes. We offer email hosting with SPF/DKIM/DMARC setup, anti-spam measures, and high deliverability recommendations. We also support migrating mailboxes from common providers.
Q24: How do you improve email deliverability?
A: Use proper SPF/DKIM/DMARC records, warm-up sending addresses, maintain list hygiene, monitor bounce rates, and use reputable outgoing SMTP infrastructure. We help implement these best practices.
Billing, Pricing & Trials
Q25: What payment methods do you accept?
A: We accept bank transfers, UPI, major Indian cards, and international cards for enterprise clients. For recurring billing we offer automatic payments with transparent invoices. Contact sales for enterprise contract terms.
Q26: Do you offer trials or money-back guarantees?
A: We offer limited trials or refundable setup credits on select plans. Full money-back guarantees are plan-dependent; contact sales or check the plan details for trial & refund policies.
Performance, CDN & Monitoring
Q27: Do you offer CDN integration?
A: Yes — we integrate CDNs (Cloudflare or equivalent) to speed up static content delivery and improve uptime. CDN integration is highly recommended for sites with users across India and metro cities like Mumbai & Delhi.
Q28: What monitoring and alerting do you provide?
A: We provide uptime monitoring, resource usage metrics, log aggregation, and alerting (email/sms/Slack) with dashboards for CPU, memory, disk, latency and application errors. Custom alerts available on higher plans.
Reseller & White-Label
Q29: Do you offer reseller or white-label hosting?
A: Yes. We provide reseller accounts, white-label control panels, billing integration and partner support for agencies and local IT firms needing hosting as part of their services.
Technical & Developer Questions
Q30: Do I get root/SSH access on VPS?
A: Yes. Most VPS plans include root/SSH access. Managed plans can restrict access or provide admin panels while the support team handles low-level tasks.
Q31: Which control panels do you support?
A: We support cPanel, Plesk, and headless VPS setups (no control panel). For container workloads we support Kubernetes dashboards and CLI-based deployments. Panel availability may vary by plan.
Q32: Which databases and languages are supported?
A: Typical stacks include MySQL/MariaDB, PostgreSQL, MongoDB and others. We support PHP, Node.js, Python, Java, Ruby, Go and containerized apps. For custom or legacy stacks we provide migration guidance.
Local & Metro Considerations
Q33: Does hosting locally in India/ Kerala improve performance?
A: Yes — local or nearby data centres (or intelligently cached CDNs) reduce latency for users in Kerala. For national reach with low latency, choose a plan with CDN and edge caching, or hybrid cloud that uses regional endpoints.
Q34: Can you serve clients in Mumbai and Delhi effectively?
A: Yes. We manage hosting for Mumbai and Delhi clients with optimized routing, CDN integration and cloud configurations tuned for metro traffic patterns. Our support operates across India.
Service Level & Guarantees
Q35: What is your uptime guarantee?
A: Standard uptime guarantee is 99.9% for managed cloud services. Higher SLAs (99.95%+) are available for enterprise contracts. SLA credit terms will be included in the service agreement.
Q36: Do you provide performance or security audits?
A: Yes. We offer paid and complimentary (for enterprise clients) audits for performance, security, and cost. Audits include concrete remediation steps and estimated savings or performance improvements.
Other Common Questions
Q37: How do I get started?
A: Call our team at +91 96 33 911 003 or use WhatsApp. We provide a free initial consultation and an architecture review for your site/application, then propose a migration or setup plan suited to your needs.
Q38: Do you offer discounts for bulk or annual billing?
A: Yes. We provide discounts for annual prepayment, multi-server purchases or reseller partnerships. Contact sales for custom pricing tailored to your requirements.
Q39: What if I need help after business hours?
A: For managed plans we provide 24×7 monitoring and emergency support. For standard plans we offer extended-hour paid support. Critical incidents are prioritised irrespective of plan levels as per SLA terms.
Q40: Can you provide references or case studies?
A: Yes. See our Case Studies page for examples (retail, hotel, healthcare, ecommerce, startups). We can share anonymised references on request for due diligence.
Still have a question? Call +91 96 33 911 003 or Chat on WhatsApp.