Overview

With over a decade of investment in hosting niche, BigRock is an Indian-based web host that is determined to empower small businesses, professionals, and individuals. It powers over 100,000 websites globally and has so far made sales of over 6000 domains since it came to being. Today, the company offers six different types of hosting as well as web design and domain registration services. A few years back, BigRock was incorporated into the Endurance International Group. EIG is a string of hosting providers with one primary goal in mind – to empower and grow one another. Other notable members of the group include HostGator and BlueHost which we’ve already reviewed in the past.

At this point, it is worth mentioning that BigRock has two websites that are identical. One serves residents of India, while the other is its global face. The .in site markets the hosting packages in Rupees while the .com site has prices in dollars. Therefore, if you land in either of the two sites just keep in mind that only the currencies differ but the values are more or less the same.

BigRock is a fully accredited registrar of domain names and is therefore fit to register, renew, resell, and replace domains names on behalf of its clients. Since going global it has attracted a good share of attention and is currently competing with web hosts established more than two decades ago. With its variety of packages and capacity to offer hosting on both Linux and Windows platforms, it can only indicate a company with a firm determination. But is BigRock really the hosting provider that you need?

To answer that, our BigRock review will dissect its hosting packages, pricing plans, the features it brings forth, strengths and shortcomings, and finalize by answering commonly asked questions. We hope by the end of this, you’ll have judged whether BigRock is worth considering or not.

BigRock Features

On this section, we review various features put forth by BigRock in the hosting business. We shall analyze its security measures, control panels, performance & speed features, refund policy, and customer service.

Performance and Speed

BigRock is a quite a force to reckon when it comes to performance and speed. It has in place various measures, technologies, and infrastructures that strongly boost its position. Let’s explore some of these:

Cloud Hosting technology

Besides being offered as a package, cloud hosting technology is one of the popular performance and speed booster in modern times. It involves merging resources of various powerful servers to synergize their capacities. BigRock charges quite fairly for using this type of hosting with various plans for any-size website.

Varnish Caching

This cutting edge technology allows frequently accessed pages to be retained in memory. The end gain is a boosted performance from eliminating the hassle by servers to load content from storage devices.

Instant scaling

This feature is available on VPS and cloud hosting packages. It allows you to adjust server resources relative to your usage. You can increase or decrease amount of resources to save on costs as well as to achieve a decent performance.

Content Delivery Network

BigRock offers this infrastructure on the cloud hosting package. Basically, it involves transferring data to the servers closest to your visitors’ location. As such, they can access content quicker and in more personalized form.

Unmetered bandwidth

Most plans for this web host have no limit on bandwidth which translates to faster server speeds. Visitors can send or receive content on your site at fair speeds.

Security

Anyone who’s been in hosting business long enough will admit to threats and risks associated with the industry. Therefore, a good web host must have sufficient measures to stay ahead of possible security threats. BigRock is not perfect but it at least has various express measures guarding web data hosted on its servers. Here are some of them:

DDOS protection

If hosting a project on BigRock’s virtual private servers, you’re automatically protected against denial of service attacks. The server-level firewall strictly monitors all the traffic that goes in and out of the operating environment where your website sits.

Juniper Network

The infrastructure provided by this company is authentic and safe for use for networking purposes. BigRock uses devices and software that Juniper offers for its hosting platforms.

SSL certificates

Although no SSL certificate preexists on any package, BigRock recommends getting one upon deploying your website. They offer to install it for you and charge no fee for the same.

Redundant system

BigRock’s Ceph-based storage mirrors site data on three separate devices on the network. This function ensures that in case a server crashes or fails, your data will be safe on the other backup systems.

Managed hosting

The web host takes care of server maintenance routines including operating system installations, provision of updates, and recommendation of safe marketplace to grab your applications. With this, the risk of internal attacks or failures are minimized.

Control Panels

BigRock features three control panels in all its hosting packages. For Linux environments, they offer cPanel, for Windows Plesk, and on Reseller accounts WHMCS. Each control panel has its own share of functions and features. CPanel and Plesk are handy in managing accounts with fewer websites while WHMCS can handle bulk functions in an account.

All the control panels are offered for free since they are demo versions. Therefore, their features are limited initially but you can always upgrade to unlock additional functions. So, what sections of your account can you control or view with the tools?

File managers

The control panels allow you to view the file system of your website on the server. You can add, edit, or delete files as often as you want to control the elements that you visitors view.

Billing status

From your control panel you can find out when your hosting plan or domain name subscription expires. Also, if you’re a reseller you can formulate custom prices for the packages that your company offers.

Scaling of Resources

The control panels allow you to view the amount of resources that your website consumes. Also, it features resource scalers that help you adjust CPU cores, memory size, and storage space.

Access to stats analyzers

BigRock allows you to reach AWStats that periodically keeps a log of how your site is performing. This is important when you want to find out how your website is faring against its competition.

Customer Support

At BigRock, you can communicate with the customer service either via a phone call, social media chat, or email. Calling is only possible for India residents or people whose telephone service providers allow international calls. For quick and easy communication, the company’s social media accounts are most preferable. They have a presence on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Google Plus. Additionally, they have a medium subdomain that puts all communication channels in a single place.

Emailing is also another communication medium that you can use. The good thing with it is that you can resolve recurring problems as conversation with the support staff is in a single thread. In our experience, the average response time on their social media accounts was in under five minutes while emails took about 10 minutes to be responded to.

Money Back Guarantee

BigRock’s money back guarantee period lasts for 30 days. The condition for a refund is that your account must have used resources within reasonable limits. Also, there should be no history of violation or abuse of the hosting platforms. Put otherwise, your account must have been operated within legal limits without violating terms, conditions, or stipulations guiding BigRock as a web host.

If you cancel your subscription within 30 days after registering, you are eligible for a full refund. Also, if you downgrade your plan and you cancel your hosting contract, you’ll receive the in between difference in plan prices.

Extras

Domain Services

Besides hosting, BigRock is a domain registrar with support of name spaces such as .com, .net, .co, .in, and .biz. It protects your domain name against theft or accidental transfers by notifying other registrars that it’s already booked. You can also renew your domain name, replace it, or sell it as easily as you purchased it.

DIY Site Builders

BigRock offers do-it-yourself site builders to new users for free and sometimes at a fee. The builders support drag and drop functions and are connected to stores with numerous themes and unique images.

BigRock Pros and Cons

This section points out the shortcomings and strengths that BigRock has as a web host.

Pros

Variety of hosting options

Whether you have a startup or an already established website, BigRock has a vast array of options for you.

Reliable storage

The host uses solid state drives for storage of web files and further stores them in other devices for increased redundancy. The drives are up to 5x faster than traditional SATA disks.

Unlimited resources

Some plans offer unmetered disk space, bandwidth, and CPU cores. Your web projects can only load faster under such setups.

Free virus protection

Some hosting platforms feature antiviruses which secure your hosting platform against unwarranted intrusion.

100% uptime guarantee

BigRock assures its clients 100% uptime and even includes multiple backup solutions in its infrastructure to foresee this.

Robust servers

As part of its infrastructure, BigRock has powerful Dell Rack servers that boast big memory and potent processing power.

Free site migration

The IT team assists you in migration of your website from another web host for free.

No setup fees

All plans have no setup fees as is common in other hosting platforms.

Multiple payment channels

You can pay via bank wire transfer, PayPal, and using major credit cards. The options are truly open.

All hosting solutions in one place

You can build a website, buy a domain name, and host it all without involving another service provider.

Open to global subscriptions

Anyone in any country can create an account on BigRock’s servers and host any nature of a website. The only requirement is being able to pay outstanding dues and compliance with company’s terms of service.

Long risk-free period

You have thirty days to change your mind once you subscribe to the hosting contract.

Cons

No free SSL certificate

Hosting providers are encouraging website owners to secure data by providing free SSL certificate. BigRock supports installation of an SSL cert but doesn’t offer any for free.

Bare bone plans

Most plans have only basic features with advanced essentials unavailable or too pricey.

Outdated software

During the writing of this review, the PHP version they offered was 5.5 while the latest is 7.x.

BigRock Frequently Asked Questions

For anyone who might still be puzzled with how BigRock works, here are answers to the commonly asked questions about the web host.

What size of a website is suitable to host on BigRock?

BigRock has the resources for a small, private website as well as a huge website with high traffic. The best way to assess whether the website you wish to host will work on its platform is to give specific details such as purpose, number of images, estimated traffic, etc.

Can I move from another hosting provider to BigRock without losing files?

Sure. The best way to migrate from another hosting provider to BigRock is to have the support team take care of the process. Also, you can back up the files in a separate location just in case some files are damaged during migration.

Which SSL certificate providers would you recommend to use on BigRock?

The best SSL certificates to use on any web host including BigRock are from Comodo, RapidSSL, DigiCert, GeoTrust, and GlobalSign. All these are accredited providers with pocket-friendly rates.

Can I use a domain name I registered elsewhere on BigRock’s hosting platform?

Yes. BigRock permits use of domain names that you registered with other providers to point to a website you host on their platform.

Which BigRock’s alternative web hosts are suitable?

Similar hosting providers to BigRock include SiteGround, InMotion, HostGator, and BlueHost. Their rates and hosting packages are almost similar.

Can I upgrade or downgrade a plan?

Yes, you can upgrade to a higher plan or downgrade to a lower plan at any time. If you upgrade, you’ll pay the difference in plan price. If you downgrade, the money that BigRock will now owe you will cover for the charges on the subsequent month.