Hosting! - Any reviews/warnings or recommendations?

[darren13]

Hi,
I'm looking into changing hosting suppliers for our site. It's a little daunting as the site is absolutely critical to our business. So I want to get it right.

The reason for the move, is that we can run any php or database stuff on the server we're on and the company can't upgrade us to a new server which will meet our requirements. So we're pretty limited on this server - although it did fulfil our requirement over the last few years of being reasonably reliable and cheap!

If anyone has any information which would help me choose our new provider that would be great. Ideally we would like them to have both their servers and customer service staff based in the UK.

Many Thanks,
Darren.

[Tamaloo]

Darren

Have you visited www.thehostingchart.com?

[timmathews.com]

I have used ipowerweb in the past, before I had in house servers... They are dencent.

[cyanide]

Darren

Have you visited www.thehostingchart.com?
Is this your site?
I've rescued numerous clients from several of those hosts listed.
I wouldn't go by any of these ranking/reveiw type sites. Many are influenced by paid reviews.

Before anyone can make recommendations, you need to detail what you requirements are.

[darren13]

Hi guys - to clarify briefly on the above - (sorry, I meant we can't run any php etc!) - anyway! -

We expect the host to offer:

99.9% or above uptime
Customer service responses within 24 hours
a server I can use php on
a server I can use a MySQL db on
perl/cgi
access to server logs
5 or maybe 10 Gb bandwidth
3Gb (ish) storage
preferable server/company located in UK

Basically, we'd like to run an nms formmail script, a tell-a-friend script, have access to server logs, start a forum using phpbb and generally have a site that was available all the time too!
Is there anything you think I should add to the list of requirements above?

Thanks for the info,
Darren

[timmathews.com]

How about the kitchen sink?
LOL
Only kiding m8

[darren13]

...chuckle...you're on the right track Tim,

I was in 'Carlsberg Advert' territory there for sure, where the staff are all very attractive (semi-clad) ladies (possibly of Scandinavian origin) who serve you a cold one (condensation on outside of glass) and give you a shoulder rub as you wait to sign up for free hosting for life!!! Ha!

:D

[greeneagle]

I have one client with IPowerWeb and their Stats lack in comparison almost as badly as their support does. Last time I checked there was no 24-7. Temporary redirect issues have always been a problem there and still are.

All kinds of issues with EV1 Servers also!

See if you can find what you need here:

http://www.hostindex.com/
http://www.hostfind.com/

This one is one of my favorites:
http://www.findmyhosting.com/

I have been fine with GoDaddy - No Real Complaints for over a year.

It depends on your needs though.

Whatever you do --- Select a known reputable source with real 24-7 support.

Ken

[kgun]

Do not use ip01.net (http://www.ip01.net/). They have costed me hours of problems even if their service is stable. It is more than service.

I host MultiFinanceIT.com there. I also ordered a new domain PercentileBands.com (My speciality in finance). I have collected all my registration at my Norwegian hoster, Domeneshop (http://www.domeneshop.no/) so I have control of the name servers and there are no problems by changing hoster. It is very important that the control of the name servers is at a reliable hoster.

My Norwegian registrar has sent nearly 50 requests to move the registration to them, but they reject to do any modification. Now they do not answer my emails longer. I am going to change hoster, when the periode expires. Only small changes is done to MultiFinanceIT as log as it is hosted by ip01.net. And I do not implement PercentileBands.com as long as I can not change registrar.

I had no problems moving the registrar for ForumNorway that is hosted by and were registered with imhosted (http://www.imhosted.com/).

[Weedy Lady]

I have my site hosted with fxstudios.net and the CP has everything I think you want. The customer support is terrific. The prices are reasonable. And you can have a free 14 day trial to see if you like it or not.

I made the permanent move after just 5 days of my free trial period.

This is the 4th hosting company I've used and it is the only one I would recommend unconditionally.

Isn't it worth looking at? Tell them The Weedy Lady sent you. Not for profit for me, just to keep up my great relationship with them.

The only thing you said you wanted was a company in the UK, and fxstudios is in Canada. Not sure where their servers are located. Don't care. They do a great job.

[grosolo]

do not use readyhosting.com. No matter what you do.

[jawn_tech]

I'm connected with a particular hosting service, but there's also a lot of other great linux hosts out there that would serve your needs as well.

[webhost1]

might look at quik.com They are US base thou.

[darren13]

This one is one of my favorites:
http://www.findmyhosting.com/

Ken

Ken, thank you - findmyhosting seems to be a very handy site indeed - although the forums seem to be unavailable at present. I will check back there soon.
Darren.

[dharrison]

Whatever you do Darren, steer clear of EasySpace and/or IOMart. They are rip merchants and I still get customers who have been ripped off by these outfits.

I use www.gnhosting.co.uk for my hosting. They have PHP-based servers for a good price and their support is OK.

HTH

[kgun]

What you risk about posting this type of information:

I got an email from a major hoster that told that a person wrote negative about their company on a blog.

That email told that if you was able to reduce that persons blog posts on the SERP's you should get USD 100.

The only way to fight this is:

1. Be serious and be earnest.
2. Write about it all over the internet so long as there is no serious place to complain about bad services. There is not in Norway yet.
3. Join the fight for Internet Freedom. (http://www.savetheinternet.com/)

Read more of my experience with iP01.net here (http://www.webproworld.com/viewtopic.php?t=66429).

And they are still not stopping. Some days ago I got an email about asking my Norwegian registrar to send a new requirement about moving the registration of PercentileBands.com . I told my registrar to do it with the following message:

"I do not believe them before I see it."

Do you think anything has happened? Of couse not. The are laughing at my registrar and me. I have also reported it to the Norwegian police for economic criminality without response.

P.S.
I still have that email.

[dharrison]

If that was directed at my post, kgun, all I can say is one petty post from one person in our colossal community is the least of this outfit's problems.

Magazine articles, Trading Standards (and the like) and an online petition signed by 200+ disgruntled customers is more likely to cause a stir.

Shall I PM you the link? It makes for interesting reading.

[darren13]

Hi DH,

Yes, please pm the link - I'll have a butchers,

~Ta,
D

[dharrison]

Sent to you Darren just now.

BTW look at signature 124. By being totally obscene, a key member of staff also added their name to their anti-petition.

**puts tongue in between teeth and bottom lip** Dur Thickies!

[darren13]

Sent to you Darren just now.

BTW look at signature 124. By being totally obscene, a key member of staff also added their name to their anti-petition.

**puts tongue in between teeth and bottom lip** Dur Thickies!

Ho ho ho - yes, interesting reading....will definitely steer clear of that little outfit methinks....looks like they've annoyed a lot of people.

Thanks for the info,
Darren.

[kgun]

Yes, Pm me the link too.

[dharrison]

I have just PM'd you Kjell.

Happy reading! :)

[kgun]

Thank you.

[dharrison]

Actually, almost on the same subject: Could anyone tell me of a reputable secure server?

I am in the middle of a quote and the manager I saw wanted a quote for both Nochex and Secure server, so he could compare.

Please advise.

Many thanks

[kgun]

What about Apache-SSL (http://www.apache-ssl.org/)

based on OpenSSL (http://www.openssl.org/)?

I have no experience with that platform myself.

Thawte (http://www.thawte.com/) and Verisign (http://www.verisign.com/) supply the professional solutions.

Are the free solutions good enough for your needs?

[dharrison]

I thought of Verisign and Thawte but they are authentication certificates (and according to Verisign support are a part of PayPal).

I shall try the others. Thanks for that Kjell.

[kgun]

Do you have problems with PayPal? My youngest daughter bid for sunglasses on eBay and paid via PayPal. No problems.

She had her sunglasses in less than a week.

So from that experience, I can reccomend PayPal and eBay.

But the other services I mentioned are free, and they may be good enough for your needs.

[dharrison]

I have no issues with PayPal. They are using Nochex (because they are UK only) if they do go that route, but he wanted to compare prices.

Hmm, I am gonna have to figure this one out.

Thanks anyway Kjell.

[kgun]

"We currently use LinkPoint with LinkShield thru LoudCommerce (http://www.webmasterworld.com/webmaster_business_issues/3068802.htm). We did use Verisign for awhile but after comparison and costs, LinkPoint was a bit cheaper. About $25 a month and no extra transaction costs.
Of course, with Verisign, you get that Verisign logo which means something to some people and some think that it is a good item to have".

Link: LinkPoint Fraud Protection - LinkShield (http://www.loudcommerce.com/internet/payment-gateway/linkpoint-linkshield)

[nevboyle]

Have a chat to the people at www.hostmysite.com
They are very helpful and worth checking out.

[darren13]

Have a chat to the people at www.hostmysite.com
They are very helpful and worth checking out.

Thanks nev - will have a look see.

Darren.

[darren13]

Just found this other thread with loads of good info - am checking Dreamhost out now and they seem to have good reviews.

http://www.webproworld.com/viewtopic.php?t=69638

D

[Webnauts]

Thread moved here in the Hosting Issues forum. :)

[jjstrade]

I have had a great experience with bluehost. Their customer service is excellent and extremely prompt. I utilized their ticket response system once and was amazed at how quickly it was addressed.

Hope that helps.

[darren13]

Okay - I finally moved our hosting to Dreamhost before Christmas - really helpful people with various questions and queries I had both before I paid the bucks, and after - which I suppose is when things can tend to go wrong, so very reassuring so far.

Doesn't look like I'll even scratch my monthly bandwidth or storage allowances with our present set up, so I can now think about doing the things I had planned for the site (in time...)

Would highly recommend them, and I can say they are not just another firm who takes your money - they are one of the better firms I have dealt with full stop, and that means online, offline, anything. I'm just waiting for my cheque to turn up now for this wonderful ode to dreamhost that I'm writing! Ha! Think they do offer a cut if you recommend your friends, fyi.

They were good for me and cover all the points (page 1 of this thread) that I required, at roughly the same cost per year as I was paying with 123-reg. And the bandwidth/storage allowances are massively over what 123 gave - I had 5Gb bandwidth with 123 and with Dreamhost it's 2000Gb. Speaks volumes!

I'll try to post back after another couple of months to give another comment for you guys.

D

[Envydia]

Siteground is the best with 15 minute response time. They always answer me within 10 minutes, and they have helped me with everything I have needed for my site.

[kingofoverkill]

Darren,

I'm glad you found a better host. Can you give us an update on how it is going now?


Okay - I finally moved our hosting to Dreamhost before Christmas - really helpful people with various questions and queries I had both before I paid the bucks, and after - which I suppose is when things can tend to go wrong, so very reassuring so far.

Doesn't look like I'll even scratch my monthly bandwidth or storage allowances with our present set up, so I can now think about doing the things I had planned for the site (in time...)

Would highly recommend them, and I can say they are not just another firm who takes your money - they are one of the better firms I have dealt with full stop, and that means online, offline, anything. I'm just waiting for my cheque to turn up now for this wonderful ode to dreamhost that I'm writing! Ha! Think they do offer a cut if you recommend your friends, fyi.

They were good for me and cover all the points (page 1 of this thread) that I required, at roughly the same cost per year as I was paying with 123-reg. And the bandwidth/storage allowances are massively over what 123 gave - I had 5Gb bandwidth with 123 and with Dreamhost it's 2000Gb. Speaks volumes!

I'll try to post back after another couple of months to give another comment for you guys.

D

[darren13]

Had no problems with Dreamhost at all. Been very good at responding when I ask them questions, friendly and helpful, and I've purchased another package with them since.

I can't really say anything bad at all about them - compared to my experience with 123-reg, Dreamhost ranks much better in my opinion. I don't think I'll ever scratch the bandwidth, and service is good, no complaints so far! If I really had to scratch the bottom of the barrel, ftp takes sometimes a fraction of a second to connect compared to 123, but we are talking a second or two at max here, and that's not really an issue, just something I've noticed.

You can check other forums for comments too.

Regards,
Darren.

[arcon5]

I posted this in another thread:


I would strongly recommend HostNine (H9) (http://www.hostkb.com/scripts/redirect/web_hosting.html).

Im a customer of theirs and they are amazing!

See some reviews at:
http://www.webhostingstuff.com/review/HostNineCom.html
http://www.hostninereviews.com/