Frequently Asked Questions

GBE Hosting AND SERVICES OFFERED
Where is GBE Hosting and its Servers located?
How long has GBE Hosting been in business?
What uptime I can expect and is there any service guarantee?
How does the 14 Day Trial Work?

HOSTING FEATURES
Can I host more than one independent website? 30 Day Money Back Guarantee
What are the different methods I can pay through?
How long does it take for my account to be activated?
For Hosting my site with GBE Hosting, am I required to transfer my domain to GBE Hosting?
Do I need to register a Domain Name to open a hosting plan? Can I test my website before changing name servers to GBE Hosting?
What is Summary Disk Space?
Can I get additional FTP accounts with my hosting package?
If my database or websites files get corrupt, can you restore it from a backup?
After I sign-up, can I change my billing period and is there any discount?
How can I buy more add-ons once I've signed up for my account?
If my business expands can i upgrade automatically to a higher Hosting Plan?
Can I customize the available Chat/Guestbook/Forum scripts?
What is HSphere?
How do I cancel my Account?

Where is GBE Hosting and its Servers located?
GBE Hosting is based in the United Kingdom. All support, sales and technical operations take place from our office in Berkshire. However, GBE Hosting's servers are physically located in a state-of-the-art datacentre at Miami, Florida (USA). We are physically connected by 3, tier-1 providers. We manage our systems remotely as well as through a team of administrators located physically at the datacentre We are staffed 24x7x365. Click here for more.

Since GBE Hosting's servers are located in Miami, is my business at risk due to a Hurricane?
Our servers are located at the Nap of the Americas which is one of the most impressive datacenters in the world. With 750,000 sqft of datacenter space, it has everything necessary to withstand the worst hurricanes possible. No windows, 12 million pounds of concrete and steel ballast on the roof alone, a record 100,000 square foot PSI beam and concrete slab was poured as its foundation, is located outside the 100 year flood zone and, of course, is able to withstand a Category 5 Hurricane. In case of massive power outages, there are 6 massive generators in the upper corners of the building with almost 200,000 gallons of diesel fuel storage! The roof slope is designed to aid in drainage of floodwater in excess of 100-year storm intensity assisted by 18 rooftop drains. All equipment is located on the 2nd floor and up which is 32 feet above sea level (ground floor is already 14 feet above sea level). We don't have the same levee structure as other cities and we've been through category 5 storms before.

How long has GBE Hosting been in business?
GBE Hosting made its beginning in April 2002. Since then, we have seen rapid growth and have been recognized by our customers for excellent customer service and system reliability. We attribute our success to our highly qualified team of administrators and our state-of-the-art software and equipment.

What uptime I can expect and is there any service guarantee?
GBE Hosting guarantees 99.9% uptime. Uptime is covered under our Service Level Guarantee (SLA).

How does the 14 Day Trial Work?
Simple. Choose the hosting plan that you require and choose to Signup. From the billing option select 'Trial'. You will not be asked to pay any money. Your 14 day trial account will commence from the day you sign up. The Trial account is Fully Functional.

Can I host more than one independent website?
Our starter plan i.e. Personal Plan allows you to host 3 websites. Higher plans allow more websites. All these websites are managed using one Hosting Control Panel (CP). CP allows you to create multiple mailboxes for each of these websites and enable spam and anti-virus feature individually. CP also allows you to activate various features for each of these websites. The control panel can have only one user. Please note that this applies only to our shared plans.

30 Day Money Back Guarantee
We want to ensure you are happy with the service we offer, therefore we offer a 30 day money back guarantee on all our services. If within 30 days of starting your hosting plan (the day you open the account with us being day 1) you are not totally satisfied with our service, email us at billing@gbehost.com with your account name and reason for dissatisfaction and your account will be closed and any hosting fees returned.

What are the different methods I can pay through?
Customers may pay by us by Credit Card or Debit Card through the PayPal system.

How long does it take for my account to be activated?
Please allow 12 hours for your account to be activated. You will receive an email from Sales once your account is available for use.

For Hosting my site with GBE Hosting, am I required to transfer my domain to GBE Hosting?
No, you are not required to transfer your domain to us. You need to just change the Domain Name Servers (DNS) setting with your current domain registrar. GBE Hosting DNS information is emailed to you when you add a domain during sign-up

Do I need to register a Domain Name to open a hosting plan?
No, you are not required to register or own a domain to use us a s your host. You are able to register a 3rd Level Domain during signup. The 3rd Level domain name will be 'yourchoice.gbehost.com' - this domain name is free of charge. If you would like to register a domain name we can recommend 123-Reg for fast and cheap registration.

Can I test my website before changing name servers to GBE Hosting?
Yes, for each domain you add to the control panel, you'll be given an Instant Access domain alias through which you may test your site before its actually resolving and functioning as required.

What is Summary Disk Space?
Summary Disk Space is the total amount of space you can use across our servers. It is inclusive of web space (for your website files), mail space and database space. This space is based on average usage and not allocation. Every 24 hours, our system calculates how much total data you are storing on our servers (web + e-mail + database). At the end of a 30 day month, it would have 30 readings. The average of these 30 readings would be taken and that would be your actual summary disk space usage for that month.

Can I get additional FTP accounts with my hosting package?
Yes, under Linux you can create ftp-sub accounts in the Control Panel for free. Under Windows, you must request us to do so manually by emailing our Support Team. Such requests will be done for free.

If my database or websites files get corrupt, can you restore it from a backup?
Yes, we will do so for free. Simply create a new support ticket through your control panel.

After I sign-up, can I change my billing period and is there any discount?
From within your Hosting Control Panel you can change your billing period between 1-month or 1-year any time. You can pay balance amount from Billing Profile in Billing section of your Hosting Control Panel. Also you can view online invoices in Billing section for details of credits and debits made to your account. There is a 17% discount for paying annually. This equates to 2 months free a year.

How can I buy more add-ons once I've signed up for my account?
You can buy any sort of add-on, whether its a resource or a feature from within your Control Panel. If you want more disk space, you can click "Change" in front of the disk space indicator and increase your amount to the desired level. Similarly you can buy IPs, cold fusion accounts, etc.

If my business expands can i upgrade automatically to a higher Hosting Plan?
From within your Hosting Control Panel, you can easily change your Hosting Plan. There is no fee and you can change any time. When you change, system credits payment you made for a billing period beyond change date. It then charges your account for new plan fee starting from change date.

Can I customize the available Chat/Guestbook/Forum scripts?
Yes, you can.

What is HSphere?
HSphere is Control Panel software developed by Positive Software, Inc. (PSOFT.NET). We use their software to efficiently manage our servers and give our customers absolute control over their hosting.

How do I cancel my Account?
Email Billing@gbehost.com with your Login details. The email must be sent from the address registered against the Hosting Plan. Please ensure you have a backup of all information from your hosting plan before emailing us as once the account is deleted information will not be retrievable. Canceling your account does not relieve you of any outstanding debit on your account.