If you are looking for a new web hosting provider, carefully consider what kind of service you will be getting, and whether technical support will be available at all hours, even at 3 a.m.

Chris Paino, CTO of Atlanta-based eVestment, made his decision some years back using the 3 a.m test. "We had a list of hosting companies we were interested in, and I woke up at 3 a.m. and called them. Most of the calls rolled over to voicemail boxes or you got someone who was at an answering service," he told CIO.com.

But in the case of INetU, the hosting provider Paino eventually selected, a trained technician picked up on the second ring. There are, of course, other factors to consider in choosing from a crowded field of hosting providers. There's the complexity and scale of your project and the ability of the vendor to handle the technical and bandwidth issues. And there is price, not an inconsequential matter. You also have to consider the long-term stability of the hosting vendor, and whether there is data center redundancy, both in terms of connections to the Internet and to the power grid. 

For more on picking a web host:
- check out this CIO.com article