What offshore hosting means

Offshore hosting means the server sits in a data centre outside your home country. The website, its files and its database are the same as on any other server. What changes is where the hardware is located, and therefore which laws and network routes apply to it.

What it does not give you

• No anonymity: the account owner, payment details and domain registration are still known to the provider.
• No immunity from law: a server abroad still falls under the laws of its location, and content that breaks those laws can be removed.
• No exemption from your own obligations: privacy, copyright and tax rules that apply to your business still apply.
• No replacement for security work: updates, strong passwords, backups and a firewall are needed wherever the server is.

Read the acceptable use policy and the terms of service before you order. They describe what is allowed and how abuse reports are handled.

Shared, VPS or dedicated: what changes

Other customers on a shared server can affect your site’s performance and, in rare cases, its security. A VPS or dedicated server removes most of that shared risk, but it moves the responsibility for updates and monitoring to you, unless you choose a management plan.

Check before you order

• ✓ Location: where are your visitors and your customers, and does the location make sense for latency?
• ✓ Acceptable use: which content and activities are not allowed, and how are complaints handled?
• ✓ Network: what port speed is included, and how is DDoS mitigation described in writing?
• ✓ Backups: how often are they taken, where are they stored, and how do you restore one?
• ✓ Support: which hours, which channels and what response time is promised in writing?
• ✓ Contract: the minimum term, cancellation terms and what happens to your data afterwards.

Test latency before you commit

Latency depends on the route between your visitors and the data centre, so measure it from the networks your visitors use. Ask the provider for a test address, then run these from a computer in the target region:

• Round-trip time: ping -c 20 TEST_IP on Linux or macOS, or ping -n 20 TEST_IP on Windows.
• Route and loss: mtr -rwc 50 TEST_IP shows each hop and where delay or packet loss starts.
• Repeat the test at busy and quiet times of day, because routes change.

Costs to compare

Offshore plans are priced like other plans, but the total cost includes add-ons such as extra IP addresses, backup storage and management. Compare the total for the first year, and include the time you would spend on administration if you do not buy management.

Keep your site safe on any server

1. Keep the operating system, control panel, PHP and applications updated.
2. Use strong, unique passwords and two-factor authentication for administrators.
3. Keep daily backups off the server, and test a restore.
4. Use HTTPS, with a certificate that renews automatically.
5. Read our cPanel security tips for the full list.

If you want to look at the options, see our offshore hosting page and our offshore dedicated servers page. Check the current plans and terms there before you decide.