A really GOOD hosting for a medium-sized website

[Andy_Miller]

Hello everybody!

I desperately need a new GOOD ISP.

This is what I need:
-NOT very expensive;
-Unix\Linux\FreeBSD;
-PHP/MySQL;
-Cron support;
-Protected directories;
-Web-mail;
-High bandwidth;
-Good customer support, of course.

Reason? My site was down too often and the number of visitors was too unpredictable. It jumped from 400 to 60 within one week. I ordered a profound examination of my web-site at http://www.dotcom-monitor.com (web site and network monitoring company). In their report the following reasons were mentioned:
-"Slow Website Response"
-"Slow Web Page Response"
-"Varying Website Response from Different Geographical Locations"

I'm sure it is Extcom's (my current provider) fault, but communication with the Customer Support brings only promises and excuses. This persuades me that it's high time to move my site to a completely different place.

:(

Your advice? I have two companies in view but ALL your recommendations are welcomed :)

[ADAM Web Design]

Important Hosting Atribute: You get what you pay for, multiplied by a factor of 10.

If you go dirt-cheap, you're gonna get flea market service.
If you go mid-end, you usually get the best value. If you go high-end, you get companies like Interland without a clue.

So spend the few bucks from "dirt-cheap" to "mid-end" for peace of mind, but don't get into the big company game with it.

Welcome to the wonderful and cut-throat world of web hosting, where thousands of geeks stab each other's jugular veins to please millions of other geeks.

Anyway, I have but one recommendation, and it doesn't come from someone who knows Linux (NT guy): Sectorlink. I've got a dedicated box with them, and I'll have had it for two years as of December 21. I've been with them 3.5.

They're reliable (no downtime at all in over two years, and minimal if a dead hard drive isn't factored in before that).

They know their stuff; if I get a question, I get it answered (once, within 60 seconds of having asked it on their trouble ticket system).

And they've always treated me very well as a customer.

The best host around, bar none.

Again, I don't run any Linux stuff with them, but I do recommend and trust them highly.

Who were the two companies you had in mind?

[roban]

Bluehost

[Jdude217]

canaca.com

[Puremojo]

ipowerweb.com

Been with them 3 years and never been happier.

[vwebworld]

How much bandwidth do you need.... anticipate using?

~Roland