Akamai is based out of Massachusetts, but it has offices and datacenters around the world. They are a globally recognized technology firm that is primarily focused on helping to improve the speed and performance of websites, mobile apps, and more. For those interested in web hosting, their primary service is going to be their content delivery network (CDN). This is a service that allows website owners to ‘deliver’ some or all of the content for their web pages from one of Akamai’s datacenters. This is much faster and more reliable, especially when trying to meet the needs of a global audience.
In addition to the content delivery network, they also offer cloud security services, performance enhancements, and more. This company is not a household name like many of the other major players in this industry, but they certainly provide a world class service that their customers can take advantage of.
Uptime & Reliability
Exceptional Reliability
As with all high end content delivery networks, uptime and reliability are essential. They operate out of some of the most advanced datacenters in the world, and always put stability at the top of their list of priorities. Most people will never experience any type of real downtime thanks to their fully redundant systems and advanced technology for serving customers. They also provide good quality protection from DDoS attacks, which can further improve your overall uptime.
Features
Diverse Tech Services
The features offered by this company include the content delivery network, which can help to provide delivery of audio, video, and other large files to customers around the world. They also help to improve the overall speed that a website can load by keeping files on servers that are geographically close to the people who request them. Security is another feature that is provided to those who need it. The cloud security options can help to keep files protected, and also address DDoS attacks that are becoming so popular.
Support
Professional Technicians Monitoring 24/7
The support for the service itself is very good. They monitor all their hardware and network connections 24/7 to ensure they can respond anytime something goes wrong. You can also reach out to them with any questions or concerns that you have, but in most situations, they will have already been aware of any issues that you are looking to report. The customer service support team is also helpful and willing to work with you to ensure you are happy with the overall service you get.
Pricing
Custom Pricing Options
They don’t provide much information concerning pricing on their website, which can be frustrating. You can find certain prices for certain services if you are willing to dig into it enough, but it would be much better if they had price lists to help at least give people an approximate cost to expect. To get a custom quote you will need to contact them and work with one of their sales professionals. They will then work with you to determine exactly what services you need, and at what levels, to ensure you are getting just what you need, and nothing extra.
User Friendly
Easy to Use CDN & Security Service
In order to get everything setup and running you will need to go through a variety of steps to ensure everything works the way you want it. If you’ve never used a CDN or similar service before, it can be a little overwhelming. Their team of professionals will be happy to help you through it if needed. Their website can also be difficult to figure out since they have so many different sections that you can look at, and so many options to consider. Once you’ve got everything setup, however, there won’t be any trouble and the service should just run properly as long as you need it.
Summary
Great Quality Content Delivery Network
If you need a content delivery network of you want to improve the security of your website, this is a good company to consider. The few issues that they do have aren’t really anything about the service itself but rather about getting things setup and running. Anyone who uses the service itself will find that it is effective and will keep your site up and responsive for your customers.
Pros:
- Reliable Service
- Operating Since 1999
Cons:
- Hard to Find Pricing
- Confusing for Those Without Experience Using CDNs