Suggest you investigate Web Hosting - TotalChoice Hosting.

Excellent service, excellent uptime, excellent pricing.

Been with them since 2003 and have no complaints.

Most VPS solutions out there are fully managed from the perspective that You (a VPS owner) have no access to the actual top level server where all your linux patches and updates are required to be set. the only thing you have to manage is click update in your control panel, and set it up to back up at your convenience. They are a bit more involved than just a standard virtual hosting account though, but it's reasonable... NOTE: some are worse than others, I would recommend something that's using Virtuozzo and Plesk (from Parallels) as they are much easier at that level to work with.

The reason for the post was they are having problems as an unlimited virtual hosting account is not enough for their site.

I would NEVER EVER EVER host with a datacenter / host provider that would change an IP address on me. Basically you've got to have done some really really bad stuff to have an IP block pulled from you (the only reason your ISP should need to change your site / server IP address on you, unless you requested to update your account) When you have a VPS crash and they move you to a new one (<20mins) you retain your old Ips it sets it all up for you (done it once or twice over the years)... Granted... updating your DNS could be a pain, but if you're using only the nameserver avenue, it's really easy and takes minutes to fix.

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Ron Boyd
website consulting (design, optimization, marketing) :: Follow Me: @orionsweb

Looking after a VPS is the same as a server the only bit that is done for you is the kernel update, all the server security is left up to you as is install of anything you require, solving any issues that occur is also your responsibility unless it's managed.
That's not what I said, I never said the IP block was being pulled, I was referring to recovering from a disaster.

Take the recent explosion at the Planet, the servers were offline for a couple of days. If I'd had clients there affected by that I'd have restored them from backups to other servers in other locations, this would have got them up and running fairly quickly but their IPs would change (you can't move IPs between hosts).

For the clients self hosting DNS then it's upto them to update to the new IPs after I've done the restore thus increasing their downtime over those who use our name servers where the new IPs are set during restore.

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I too, was booted from Bluehost, though I was well within their "advertised" limits of bandwidth, cpu, disk usage and everything else. There was no "working" with Bluehost on their decision to remove my site, but after making a post directly to the CEO's blog, they did extend the time frame from 4 days to 8 days, which gave me a little more time for research, moving the site, etc. I agree with several of the posts above about making sure you compare "apples to apples" to make sure that you get everything you were getting with Bluehost - such as cpanel, server type, etc. I did LOVE them until they kicked me off. I wound up moving to Lunar Pages, primarily because they have all types of upgrades available from basic hosting at the same price as Bluehost all the way up to dedicated servers. In hindsite, that's the biggest problem with Bluehost --they only offer a "one size fits all" package and as you grow, they can no longer accomodate you. Having gone through this before, that's my biggest recommendation - make sure you go with a company that will allow you to grow and offers the same services you are accustomed to. Good luck!

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Legends of America is a travel site for the Nostalgic and Historic minded. Focusing on the American West this content rich site features ghost towns, outlaws, local lore, historic people, and even a ghost story or two. http://legendsofamerica.com

That is the reason why I ended up hosting for others as I can tell the frustration they have gone through. My hosting service provider is good and I have no problem with them. My clients are happy so I am happy as well. Yes, it is important to have the expansion of growth when needed. My provider lets me know when it is taking up too much CPU load and give me advice for upgrade when necessary. But as I have said, there is a price to pay for quality hosting. Nowadays you can find alot of hosting competing in prices ended up having lots of problems for users. I rather pay the right price and not facing the hassles.

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This is correct, however I've only ever found managed hosting, but even then you still need to do updates, and it's advisable that you turn on your VPS firewall etc. Generally speaking about 1-2 hours with someone who knows the system should be enough to give you the basics to look after a VPS on your own. Again I'm speaking about using a VPS system like Virtuozzo / Plesk. Some set ups would still leave you confused after a full weekend course on how to run them, lol...

Didn't say that you said that I was only trying to figure out how your Ip could get changed without you knowing about it. In the Planet meltdown you speak up you would still know about it and be able to change your nameserver IP, negating extra downtime.
If it's just one site or a couple of domains with one owner it's pretty simple. If though you have several sites with different owners then updating dns for all those sites can be a major headache yes.. I keep one (1) set of name servers for each VPS / Server to help keep it a bit more simple, and only recommend a remote managed DNS service for those that want that freedom and control on their own sites and know what they are doing. Again speaking as a site owner it has it's positives and negatives, as a host provider I actually keep track of those with remote DNS and let them know ahead of time or asap of new settings that are required.



I tell them up front while the server techs are rebuilding or while I'm setting up the new servers etc. IPs are the first thing I request from the datacenter (or have available ahead of time) so that by the time the server is live their sites are too.. I call it customer service. =o)

You do have very valid points though... There is a bit more work with a VPS, but it is less than a fully dedicated system. My point was that the set up of a system like Virtuozzo will allow for seemless upgrades in CPU, space, RAM allotments etc. with 0 downtime.

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Ron Boyd
website consulting (design, optimization, marketing) :: Follow Me: @orionsweb

You are assuming you've managed to get hold of the person that controls the domain name to give them the new information, unless of course you're managing your clients domain names. Any delay in getting in contact with them adds to the total down time.

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That is why I always ask the clients for registrar access to make changes to the domain names setting to have a transparent transfer with 0 downtime. This is done when they want to move the hosting over to my servers and it normally takes around 24 - 48 hours for the transfer to be completed. But I always advice them to keep their own servers until 1 week to make sure it is total resolved.

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We do pretty much the same for our clients... Good service!

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Ron Boyd
website consulting (design, optimization, marketing) :: Follow Me: @orionsweb

One other user mentioned my recommendation - HostMySite.com.

As he said, superior, US-based technical support truly 24x7, and very customer focused. I am a professional software and Web developer and have dealt with numerous hosting companies. HostMySite.com just gets it right: Well-trained staff, favorable but not bottom-scraping pricing, powerful control panel features, flexible offers covering a range of shared, virtual, and dedicated plans with Windows and Linux.

I don't trust $9.95 plans - I prefer to pay $20 per month and have superb facilities, high throughput, and great support that speaks good English. That is HostMySite.com.

They are the real deal and a good host is hard to find

Sorry. Ignore this.