There's a real basic reason why trials aren't offered by serious providers and that is that the first month's payment is usually a write-off. Renting a server for $50-$100 absolutely does not cover the cost of setting up a customer account, corresponding with them, putting together a server, and provisioning it. You can of course add the cost of the space, power and bandwidth. The first month's payment basically goes to cover the cost of doing all of that and none to the cost of the actual server. While a lot of that work can be automated, it still takes time and time isn't free either.
Offering trials, free or at a fraction of the cost of a month could and would likely initiate a flood of trial orders in which you find yourself spending a good amount of time setting up servers and end up paying to work. This just opens the door for even more fraudulent/abusive orders where they just want to send out a batch of spam and they don't care if they're canceled within 24 hours. If I'm a spammer and I can pay $60 for a full month, or $15 for a week, where am I going to go? "Let me call all my spammer friends and have them order trials from X and Y host." The flood is in and the host is bleeding.
In my opinion, the "trial" period should be the month to month contract that most hosts in our industry operate under. That we went from yearly contracts to month to month alone is risky enough. We don't need to go week to week.
Which brings me to what to look for in a dedicated provider:
First & MOST IMPORTANT: How long have they been in business? And how much of that time they've had solid reviews?
- Most hosts that cut corners don't last very long, or they are widely known to have issues. This also implies to avoid brand new hosts. There are inherent growing pains associated with dedicated server hosting. Only use these if they have a killer sale AND your content is somewhat disposable.
Second: Where are they? How is their network? Location is important. If your server is in Seattle and your customers are in Florida, you are unnecessarily adding a significant amount of latency. Make sure their network is solid and offers good connectivity to your customers.
Third: How is their support? This partly comes from my first point, but make sure their support can cover your needs. If you need 24/7 support, make sure they have it. If you need phone support, make sure they have it. Etc. etc.
Encapsulating all of those is of course price. Can you afford their services? Are their prices justified? You will find a wide range of pricing for the same server config, similar network and identical location. But there's so much to the price that isn't those things (See #1 and #3).
I'm sure there are more factors to take into consideration, but I think those are the most important.
JoseQ
