AISO Green Hosting Review

AISO has been a trusted name in environmentally friendly web hosting since 1997. They were “green hosting” before anyone was talking about green. AISO has been featured in Inc. Magazines’ Top 50 Green Companies and was the first public data center member of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

On a personal note, I have found them to be extremely responsive and friendly. The owner himself has returned my phone calls (and even answers the phone on occasion) and chatted with me about my plan and his company’s commitment to being an environmentally friendly business.

Green Features:

Owns and operates its own data center and network that is powered by solar panels (and they have a live cam shot of their panels on the company website!)
The office is solar powered as well
Uses solar tubes for lighting, no electricity needed for lights during daylight hours
The data center is environmentally friendly in design. No wood used except for door frames.
They are in the process of designing a green roof for their data center
Accredited member of Co-Op America
U.S. Green Building Council Member

There’s actually not enough room here to list all the ways they operate as a green company. You really have to read it all on their website. Suffice it to say, they don’t just “talk the talk”, they walk the walk.

Plan Features:

Plan: ECOLinux1
Payment terms: Monthly or Annual
Cost: $7.25 if you pay for two years, $8.25 for one, or $9.95 if you pay monthly
Storage: 750 GB
Data Transfer: 5 MB
Domains: 1 domain
Set-up fee: $20
Support: Toll-free phone support M-F 8-5 PST

Update 2009: AISO just revamped their website and all their plans! You used to have to buy their ECOLinux3, just to get a database, but now you get THREE with the ECOLinux2 plan. They’re really done a great job for me, and now the plans are even better.

Any Caveats?

If you’re a business (or user) with need of multiple databases, then you’ll need to order the ECOLinux2 plan, which is $14.95 a month.
Phone support is M-F 8 -5 PST, so it’s not 24/7. However, they do monitor everything 24/7, so if there was a major outage or problem, they’d know and be right on it.
If you have technical requirements, such as running mysql or php applications, you may have some issues. AISO has been responsive, but I’ve had many issues crop up. I’d recommend them for simple websites, but send Canvas Dreams your business if you have php or mysql applications.