I’m about to put up my first site and I’m trying to orient myself in the vast ocean of web hosts out there. Please help if you can. I know the first step is to define my needs. Here are my main ones:
100mg storage (with room to grow)
25Gig bandwidth (at least)
RealMedia Server support (necessary)
Budget $150usd/month (approximate)
Are there any hosts out there where this is possible?

Also, I’m running my e-commerce/streaming-intensive site from western Canada. Am I limited to Canadian hosts, or can I host it in the States or elsewhere. Any advice will help. Tks.

you can try Tera-byte.com (http://Tera-byte.com), I host my sites with them and they have been great. They offer a Virtual Dedicated Server, w/ 2 GB of Space and 50 GB of Transfer. You can install any applications you want, (ie. your RealMedia Server Software.)

--btw they are based in Edmonton, Alberta
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:: Alex Wojcik

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I would also recommend Tera-Byte. However, I would still do a search on here about them since lately I think there has been a lot of talk about them.

I'm from Canada as well. I've had very good luck with hosting companies over the years that I've been on the net. My first site was in 1995 and was hosted by my ISP. They used to think I was using a pile of bandwidth then as I did a gig a month back then, today I do over 30.

I've had 2 accounts with Softcom for over 3 years now: http://www.softcomca.com and the service and server that I am on have been excellent and I would highly recommend them. They are also in Canada.

I tried Tera-Byte, but didn't like the fact that they have nothing but grade school kids working the phones for support and can't answer anything. The package may look attractive, but the service sure wasn't. I also don't like their hosting platform. I like to be able to run CGI scripts in any directory. With Tera-Byte's new platform you can't as the CGI bin is parallel to your main directory. Bottom line. I didn't like the company. A hosting company depends on its customers for its revenue, but with Tera-Byte they have gotten to big for their own heads now and the customer doesn't count IMHO.

I am using Aletia Hosting for some PHP/MySQL hosting. I have only been with them for 2 months, but so far so good. They are not a Canadian company and don't have any real phone support, but for their basic plan I get 5 MySQL databases and can run CGI in any directory. I would recommend them, but remember I've only been there for 2 months so far, so who knows what a year will bring.

I'm from Canada as well. I've had very good luck with hosting companies over the years that I've been on the net. My first site was in 1995 and was hosted by my ISP. They used to think I was using a pile of bandwidth then as I did a gig a month back then, today I do over 30.

I've had 2 accounts with Softcom for over 3 years now: http://www.softcomca.com and the service and server that I am on have been excellent and I would highly recommend them. They are also in Canada.

I tried Tera-Byte, but didn't like the fact that they have nothing but grade school kids working the phones for support and can't answer anything. The package may look attractive, but the service sure wasn't. I also don't like their hosting platform. I like to be able to run CGI scripts in any directory. With Tera-Byte's new platform you can't as the CGI bin is parallel to your main directory. Bottom line. I didn't like the company. A hosting company depends on its customers for its revenue, but with Tera-Byte they have gotten to big for their own heads now and the customer doesn't count IMHO.

I am using Aletia Hosting for some PHP/MySQL hosting. I have only been with them for 2 months, but so far so good. They are not a Canadian company and don't have any real phone support, but for their basic plan I get 5 MySQL databases and can run CGI in any directory. I would recommend them, but remember I've only been there for 2 months so far, so who knows what a year will bring.

I have had good luck with Tera-Byte. No problems to date (been using their services about a year).

I popped onto www.softcomca.com for a peek since I'm always interested in looking at what hosts offer. Nice packages except for one thing; I never trust a host that promises unlimited bandwidth.

On the CGI topic, restricting CGI scripts to their own directory is a good deal more secure than letting them execute from any directory, and if setup properly it can also be more resource efficient.

Originally posted by NyteOwl
I have had good luck with Tera-Byte. No problems to date (been using their services about a year).

I popped onto www.softcomca.com for a peek since I'm always interested in looking at what hosts offer. Nice packages except for one thing; I never trust a host that promises unlimited bandwidth.

On the CGI topic, restricting CGI scripts to their own directory is a good deal more secure than letting them execute from any directory, and if setup properly it can also be more resource efficient.

I have 2 basic accounts at Softcom ($9.95 each). One account does over 30 gigs a month. The other does around 5 gigs. I've never been forced to upgrade nor had any of my programs disabled. Like I stated earlier it's been about 3 years that I have been with them with zero problems, and very good support.

With Tera-Byte they took off one of my CGI scripts, not sure why as it is not a resource hog and has never had any problem with anyone else. The only thing I could think of at the time was that Tera-Byte was using RAQ's and they were never very efficient with Perl based scripts, but then again the script I wrote should have never been taxing on any server resources to begin with, so my honest opinion is that they were maxing out each RAQ they had.

I've been a Perl programmer for over 15 years now and a C programmer since the mid 70's and have written some highly complex programs that weren't even remotely taxing on CPU usage.

Regarding what you have been told about greater security with a CGI in it's own directory, that is not true. Running CGI in a parellel directory is also more taxing on server resources. By putting the CGI bin parellel to the main directory you have no choice on where your scripts are executed from and this can be a big issue if you are using more than one script.

If you are running scripts on a server that allows you to execute CGI in any directory, then you tree each script as needed. Also every *nix server I've ever dealt with was using CGI wrap. It's standard practise for any hosting company. You should also know how to create .htaccess files no matter what type of *nix system your using.

Security on the server end is the hosting companies responsibility. Directory protection on any *nix server is your responsibility.

IMHO Tera-Byte took a hosting platform that limits the ability to run CGI efficiently, and did so knowingly. Less than 15% of all hosting companies run their servers this way. The only reason I see for this is so they can overload their servers again with virtual accounts.

Originally posted by Freddy
I'm from Canada as well. I've had very good luck with hosting companies over the years that I've been on the net. My first site was in 1995 and was hosted by my ISP. They used to think I was using a pile of bandwidth then as I did a gig a month back then, today I do over 30.

I've had 2 accounts with Softcom for over 3 years now: http://www.softcomca.com and the service and server that I am on have been excellent and I would highly recommend them. They are also in Canada.

I tried Tera-Byte, but didn't like the fact that they have nothing but grade school kids working the phones for support and can't answer anything. The package may look attractive, but the service sure wasn't. I also don't like their hosting platform. I like ...........................................................

Do they support php?

No not that I'm aware of yet. They sent me an e-mail some time back that said they planned to introduce PHP late this year, but I haven't heard anything since.

I highly recommend a host based in Vancouver. Pacific Online http://www.paconline.net We have about 6 separate sites hosted with them.

We have a similar site in terms of bandwidth as you mentioned. We have been with a bunch of different hosts over the years from the worst to the mediocre and now excellent. Pacific Online has unbelievably good support and service. Issues are solved immediately whether it's technical or billing. I would like to see their rates a bit cheaper but have found that the lack of aggravation in dealing with them is worth every cent.

If you have any questions feel free to email me.

THEY COST A FORTUNE!!! sheeez...