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If you’ve ever worked on your own website, or have found the need to create a website for your business, for example, you might have found yourself thinking, “Where is my website host located?” The answer to this question can reveal a wide range of privacy concerns regarding your online presence, your data’s safety, and how many people it can reach. Whether you sign up for an American or Canadian website hosting or Canadian web hosting service can make the difference in the type of audience that will be visiting your online business and even the types of laws that apply to it.
The location of your virtual private server or VPS can also make a difference if it’s located within the United States or in Canada. There are certain laws and regulations that can apply to one and not the other and vice versa. Likewise, you might gain different levels of access to your information depending on where the physical server where your website is hosted is located. Here are some other ways in which American and Canadian web hosting can compare.
Privacy Policies and Acts
While both of these countries provide their citizens with a lot of freedom, their data is treated in a very different manner. For instance in Canada, a person’s data security has a higher priority than that of the citizens in the United States. Due to public demand, Canada’s government and authorities are not allowed to track their citizens’ online activity or have unlimited access to user information via Internet Providers.
On the other hand, the United States offers more freedom and unrestricted access and full control to personal information that’s owned by companies. The Patriot Act in the United States legalizes the monitoring of individuals, organizations, and assets located within the U.S. Because of this, American authorities can monitor the online activity of their citizens and block their access to their own data without obtaining a court order or warrant.
Online Presence
Furthermore, having your website’s domain hosted in Canada or in the USA can have an impact on your online presence. For example, if you want to establish a Canadian-based business, or are currently operating one, then you will benefit from Canadian web hosting. The same goes for the United States. This is because search engines like Google will offer results based on a searcher’s location and will use your website’s IP address to determine if your website should be on the result page.
Infrastructure and Hardware Resources
Both countries also offer varying levels of infrastructure stability, quality, and reliability. Depending on which state or province your dedicated server is located in you will be able to notice fewer or more technical faults due to power loss, maintenance downtime, or restricted bandwidth speed. These factors can help you determine where you should host your website to receive the best Canadian web hosting service possible.
Data Location
Lastly, the location of your data can determine how fast you can access your data. For instance, if your data is located in Canada while you and your client base are based in the United States, then you and your clients may experience higher latency when accessing your online store. This being said, you may want to choose a server that’s located near you so you can have access to your data in real-time.
Additionally, if your data is located in a different country than your own, it might be harder to visit the data center facility and confirm that its characteristics match the descriptions the sellers are giving you. Moreover, choosing a hosting company in your current location can help support a local business and thus improve your country’s economy.
Try to consider these things when choosing a location for your website’s server location.