Omnis Review and Test Results

Review

HOSTING PLANS

Providing a complete range of affordable web hosting options, Omnis‘ services include dedicated servers, virtual private servers, colocation, and shared web hosting. All Omnis hosting plans utilize servers based in their wholly-owned Tempe, AZ datacenter and feature Tier1 fiber optic network connectivity.

Omnis offers two shared hosting plans, Linux Cloud and Windows Cloud. Features common to both plans include: unmetered disk space, unmetered bandwidth, unlimited domains hosted, unlimited subdomains, unlimited MySQL databases, unlimited e-mail accounts, unlimited e-mail forwarders, a choice of three webmail clients, a shared SSL certificate, and a free domain name (first-year only).

Both plans provide an intuitive proprietary control panel (screenshot below right) and an easy-to-use proprietary applications installer (screenshot below right) with access to 40 popular scripts. Available options include a dedicated IP address ($1.99 per month) and a Premium Site Builder ($7.95 per month).

Omnis proprietary control panel. Click to enlarge.

Features unique to Linux Cloud include SFTP and FTP with SSL/TLS, multiple FTP users, secure shell access (SSH), PHP 5.4/5.5/5.63, Zend Guard, Ioncube Loader, Python, Perl 5, and Ruby on Rails. Features unique to Windows Cloud include ASP, and .NET 3.5.

The Linux Cloud plan is priced at $8.95 per month for a 3-month term, $7.95 per month for a 6-month term, $6.95 per month for a 1-year term, and $5.95 per month for a 2-year term.

The Windows Cloud plan is priced at $10.95 per month for a 3-month term, $9.95 per month for a 6-month term, $8.95 per month for a 1-year term, and $7.95 per month for a 2-year term.

Both Omnis shared plans are backed by a 99.9% uptime guarantee; 24/7 in-house phone, chat, and e-mail support; and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Omnis proprietary applications installer. Click to enlarge.

PURCHASE PROCESS

As is our practice, we selected the cheapest available shared plan — Linux Cloud — for purposes of testing and review. Omnis utilizes a simple, straightforward, 3-step checkout process.

There is no attempt to trick you into transferring your domain name to Omnis. There are no asterisked introductory prices to worry about. There are no unwanted extras automatically added to the shopping cart. There are no set-up fees. The price you see is the price you pay when you order — and when the plan renews.

Available payment options include Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, PayPal, check, and money order. We selected our preferred payment method, PayPal, and submitted our order.

SETUP

Within seconds of placing our order, we received the Omnis “Welcome” e-mail which included a link to the control. Two minutes later, we received an e-mail with the following subject line: “Order for Service with Omnis Network has been randomly selected for review.” It provided the following information:

Your order for service with Omnis Network has been randomly selected for review by our Order Processing department. Random review of orders is important to increase your security. Orders are typically screened within 1 hour but may take up to 24 hours. We apologize for any inconvenience this delay may cause you.”

With our plans for a quick set up of our NCM Test Site crushed, we moved onto other projects.

Nearly 5 hours later, we received an e-mail with following subject line: “Order for Service with Omnis Network has been accepted.” It provided the following information:

Your order for service with Omnis Network has been accepted and is being processed. Some services will be available immediately in the Account Manager at https://secured.omnis.com/manage Some services require additional processing. For those services that are not immediately available, additional emails will follow with instructions on how to access them.”

Six minutes later we finally received the e-mail we had been waiting for. It included the information we required to set up our test site, including the nameservers and FTP login. We proceeded to upload our test site to the Omnis server via FTP. We then set up our Dotcom Monitor page-load speed and reliability testing and waited for the test data to accumulate.

USABILITY

Omnis provides a proprietary control panel with shared hosting plans (screenshot above right). While not quite as pretty as cPanel, or even vDeck 4, its compact interface (no scrolling necessary), allows for quick and easy access to just about every webmaster function imaginable. It is one of the best proprietary control panels we’ve encountered to date.

Omnis shared plans also utilize a proprietary applications installer (screenshot above right). While it is not the fastest installer around, we found it to be quite simple and newbie-friendly. Eleven minutes after completing the brief WordPress installation form, we received an e-mail indicating that the application had been installed.

Omnis 10-day Uptime Test Results Chart. Click to enlarge.

If we have any issue with the Omnis Applications Installer, it is the somewhat limited availability of scripts. Both Softaculous and the MOJO Marketplace installers generally provide access to more than 100 scripts, while the proprietary Omnis Applications Installer provides “only” 40. However, we do believe that the vast majority of webmasters will find it includes all of the scripts they require.

Overall, we found Omnis Cloud Linux hosting to be easy to use. However, the delay in receiving the hosting set up information tempered our enthusiasm.

Omnis 10-day Speed Test Results Chart. Click to enlarge.

TESTING

Page-load speed and uptime testing for our simple 1-page test site began on 2/22/15 and concluded on 3/4/15. We are pleased to report that Omnis proved to be reliable, recording a 100% uptime rating throughout the 10-day testing period — which included 1044 separate server reliability checks (see Uptime Test Results Chart above right).

Omnis web hosting also provided fast page-load speeds, averaging 1.4260 seconds to load our test page from 13 worldwide locations over the course of 10 days and 1031 separate checks (see Speed Test Results Chart above right). U.S. page-load speed proved to be even better. Omnis averaged 1.0160 seconds to load our test page from 7 U.S. locations over the course of 10 days and 558 separate tests.

Pros

• Unmetered disk space
• Unmetered bandwidth
• Unlimited domains hosted
• Unlimited SSD MySQL Databases
• Unlimited e-mail accounts
• Intuitive proprietary control panel
• Easy-to-use applications installer
• 100% uptime test result
• Fast page-load speeds
• Free domain name (first-year only)
• $1.99 per month dedicated IP address option
• PayPal payment option
• 24×7 phone, chat, and e-mail support
• 30-day money-back guarantee
• A+ BBB rating

Cons

• More than 5-hour wait for hosting order information e-mail as account was “randomly selected for review”
• Applications installer provides access to a somewhat limited number of scripts (40)

Conclusion

By virtue of its relative ease of use, numerous valuable features and technical merits — Omnis has earned 4.5 stars and is recommended by NCM Online.

Pricing and Features

Cheap website hosting company price comparisons based on 1-year term list price before coupon/promo codes or limited time/introductory offer discounts. These are the renewal rates for the second year of hosting. To ensure that you receive the most affordable Omnis Web Hosting pricing possible, please visit our Web Hosting Coupon Codes page for current discounts and special offers before making any purchases.

Plan	Linux Cloud	Windows Cloud
Disk Space	Unmetered	Unmetered
Bandwidth	Unmetered	Unmetered
Emails	Unlimited	Unlimited
24×7 U.S. Support
Tier 1 Network
Easy Scripts
SSD MySQL
Key Hosting Features
Free Domain Name
30 Day Money Back Guarantee
99.9% Uptime Guarantee
Unmetered Disk Space
Unmetered Data Transfer / month
Unlimited Hosted Domains
Unlimited Domain Aliases
Unlimited SubDomains
Free Site Builder
Shared SSL
Popular CMS Installers
Web Site Statistics & Logs
Web Site Promotion
Free $100 Google AdWords
Email
Unlimited POP3 / IMAP4 Mailboxes
Unlimited Forwarding Aliases
Roundcube Webmail
Horde IMP Webmail
Squirrelmail Webmail
Available Options
Dedicated IP
Private SSL
Premium Site Builder
Programming Features
PHP 5.3 / 5.4 / 5.5
Zend Optimizer/Guard & Ioncube Loader
Python
Perl 5
Ruby
ASP, .NET 3.5
Unlimited MySQL Databases and Users
Dynamic HTML, Javascript, AJAX
Account Management
Easy to use Control Panel
FTP
SFTP & FTP with SSL/TLS
Multiple FTP Users
Secure Shell Access (SSH)
Web Based File Manager
Comprehensive Email Management
Price per Month*	$6.95	$8.95

*Prices based on 1-year term before the application of coupon/promo codes and introductory/limited-time offer discounts. While you may pay less for the first year of hosting, the prices displayed on this page are the 1-year term renewal rates.

Company Information

Omnis was established in 1999 by a group of web services industry veterans with the simple and clear goal of delivering affordable yet innovative enterprise class web services. The network has been an associate member of the web hosting community since 1999. They currently serve over 400,000 domain names and web hosting accounts which is done professionally and effectively ensuring services are accorded.

In the beginning, Omnis Network working as endorsed registrar Provided web hosting and domain registration services. They have at present since expanded their scope to offer a full collection of web services to both individual and professional clients.

The company has fully-fledged having a large number of employees. Having established their Tempe, Arizona Office, they have a department offering a complete technical support with highly trained service specialist and on-site administrators that have practical experiences for over ten years. This support sector uses an approach that mainly focuses on the clients whose goal is to ensure that the customers create, register and maintain websites that are personalized to meet each individual needs.

Omnis Network has a data center that acts as a carrier neutral facility which is connected to two of the biggest POPs in the area. This benefits the customers since they can have direct access to connectivity from multiple carriers and locations. The data center is maintained in Tempe, Arizona with internet connections that are managed through IO and Phoenix NAP in Phoenix, Arizona. Their quality connectivity provides a network that is fast and reliable. The data center is functioned by uninterruptible power supply (UPS) operating between 125MW and 625 kVA automated generator.

The data center facility is divided into two data centers, North and South, each providing different services. The Northern center is a chamber with a very high temperature that is contained using the cold lane to achieve the maximum cooling efficiency. The Southern center is a chamber with very low temperature permitting collocation customers to hire cage space in any configuration desired. This facility uses Cisco equipment to receive 10 GB Ethernet connectivity from various path private fiber connections going to two geographically different locations. Both systems undergo a serious routine maintenance including a regular review by staff to know status of all controls.

Omnis facilities specialize in offering services of high quality. The company is recognized in offering double, assorted-entry fiber optic connections to known POPs for nearly unlimited connectivity options since they can’t control what happens outside their facilities. Their engineers and operations staff ensures that they perfectly control work every time giving guarantee to customers.

Omnis Network has maintained a perfect rating from the Better Business Bureau Online Reliability Program since 1999 in terms of affordability, flexibility and quality of Service. A rating used to represent Omnis Network is faultless ensuring commitment to top-quality customer service.

Omnis Network, LLC 3655 Torrance Blvd Suite 230 Torrance, CA 90503 877-393-4678 310-316-9600 Fax: 310-347-4075 Omnis Website Omnis on Twitter Omnis on Facebook Omnis on Google+ Omnis on LinkedIn

How to Install WordPress

This video tutorial will show you exactly how to install WordPress on your Omnis shared hosting account using their proprietary control panel and applications installer.