A: It's very easy to upgrade a cloud server. Just buy some additional nodes, then assign them to the machine. The system will shut down your machine, upgrade it, and bring it back up automatically.

A: This depends entirely on how much data is stored on your system. Upgrades are usually completed within a minute, but downgrades can take up to an hour.

A: Each cloud server is made up of one or more units called nodes. A node is allocated a guaranteed share of CPU and RAM resources as well as SAN storage space and monthly bandwidth. The more nodes you assign to a cloud server, the more physical resources will be dedicated to your system. Unlike many other providers we do not oversell or share any resources between machines.

A: Cloud server systems with 9th Node Networks are very easy to get up and running with pre-installed software and require very little experience to get started. However, remember that this is not a managed service by default (please read below for Managed Service options), so you will be responsible for maintaining your server. We therefore recommend that you take the time to gain a basic understanding of Linux administration.

A:9th Node Networks does offer an optional Monthly Maintenance package for a monthly fee of $45. You can use this maintenance package to enhance the support on your shared managed hosting, or to offer you pro-active managed support help for the setup and management of your cloud server.

A: You can host any services you like from your cloud server, including web hosting, Rails applications, or even an Asterisk voice over IP system. You will have root access to your cloud server so there's no limit to what you can run, as long as it doesn't violate our terms of service.

A: There is no limit to how many services, domains, or applications you can run from a 9th Node Networks server. However, you need to make sure you allocate enough resources to deal with the services you expect to provide.

A: Once backups are enabled on your system, it will automatically be backed up every day, and archived every week and every month, so you will always have the opportunity to roll back your cloud server in case something goes wrong.

A: If you break your system, you can quickly get it running again, either by restoring a recent backup, or by deleting it and creating a new VM with a clean installation.

A: At any time you can create a new cloud server from any of our templates.

A: All data is stored on a RAID10 SAN, and if you have backups enabled for your system these will be stored away from the primary data store.

A: All systems come automatically configured with 1 dedicated IP address.

A: We do not provide centralised database servers, however creating a MySQL cloud server is quick and simple, giving you full control over your database.

A: Absolutely. We recommend configuring iptables on all cloud servers, as well as keeping up-to-date with patches to keep your systems secure.

A: We fully support Windows 2003 and 2008 with 2012 coming shortly.

A: All charges are monthly and will be automatically paid from your card, and services can be cancelled at any time. Invoices are available through the web interface.

A: Yes. You can purchase a dedicated IP address for a shared hosting setup on checkout. Cloud servers come with a dedicated IP automatically.

A: We do not currently offer shared hosting on Windows-based servers. However, you can get a Windows Cloud server.

A: Once you have ordered your domain through us, allow 24 hours to pass before your domain is accessible to the world. If you are transfering your domain to us, then change your DNS nameservers with your current registrar and allow 24-48 hours before your domain is available.

A: Each site varies, so we work directly with you to understand your needs and provide you a quote that covers those needs. We find that on average, new sites take about 10 hours of development work, for a brand-new standard wordpress site (5-7 pages). We sell blocks of time for that amount, biled at $900.

A: On average, a new site takes 2-4 weeks from start to finish. You can speed the creation of your site by either bringing or working with us to develop a clear site vision, having copy and appropriately-sized images ready to go, avoiding many last-minute changes, and providing regular feedback during the development process.

A: We develop e-commerce sites, typically based on the WordPress content management platform. We will provide you a quote for the recommended plug-in and server resources based on the size and complexity of your store and product database.

A: Absolutely. We're happy to show you examples of prior development work that are relevant to the type of site you are looking to develop. Send us a request with some details and we will respond with some examples to give you an idea of what to expect. Stay tuned for the launch of our online portfolio, coming this year.

A: Mostly, yes. You can set up our analytics system, run a 40-point website checkup, or apply our spam-filtering service to servers hosted anywhere. We do not currently offer monthly maintenance add-ons for non-hosting clients.