I've been lurking the board for a couple days now and found a lot of good information. I've looked at a lot of different hosting packages, but I'm just not finding precisely what I'm looking for. Basically, I want a host that runs PHP 5 with quality support response and resolution times with minimal downtime. I don't need a lot of support, but when I do I'd like quick precise communication.

Anyway, anyone have suggestions on hosts that do run PHP 5. I really just want some known supporters I can browse their packages right now.

Thanks for any help.

J

BlueWho do. It's not publically listed on thier site but they have one php5 server available which they will sell you an account on (same plans as for thier regular account).

PHP 5, MySQL 4.1, PostgreSQL 7.3 (I think from memory).
Safe mode is off, open basedir is off, php is running as an apache module, plain old .php file extentions, ssh access is available.

You can see the phpinfo here http://tinyurl.com/al3ox

BlueWho's support is generally very good.

Thanks for the info, but I'm not comfortable with the plans offered and the fact bluewho.com is run thru a vBulletin board. I appreciate the information though.

Well, it's not like they're using a free forum software. :P

On a more serious note, while it may make the site look a bit amateurish, their format makes it so that everything is out in the open.

but I'm not comfortable with the plans offeredDoes this mean you find them expensive? If so, what is your budget and what are the expected space and data transfer quotas?

Yes, the site being run thru a message board is very amature looking. A web host should certainly have a professional looking site. I'm a developer so it bothers me when I see that kind of setup.

I do consider Blue Who overpriced relative to competition. The bandwidth and storage provided just isn't competitve to say PowerVPS or jodohost reseller packages. I'm unsure wether I can get php 5 from either, but each seems to come highly recommended in this community. As such, I think it's reasonable to look for competitive pricing/features. So, I don't consider Blue Who out of my price range, just not competitive with an under developed site.

As far as space and bandwidth go, I'm looking for something in the 2GB/40GB range. Based on the packages I've seen with php 4.3 for certain I'm expecting a $18-25/month starting point. This is really just a starter setup for me as I'm breaking into a service business where I'll be the sole site admin. I'm interested in a reseller account because I have multiple domain launches with seperate content planned and I'm not yet ready for unix/linux/freebsd admin duties of VPS. In the near term I'll likely only be running 2-3 sites with perhaps 2 sub-domains until my services and content mature. Long term I could be looking a several dozen sites.

Having said that, I would also prefer a company with plenty of room to expand hosting as my business needs grow. I'm really quite open to different possibilities. I really just need to know who can fufill my prefered development platform requirement so I can start narrowing down a list of candidates. I really appreciate any thoughts.

J

I think you may be looking for Linux hosting, but if Windows would be OK then look for a host that uses Helm control pabel with Helm Extensions.

Helm Extensions allows multiple versions of PHP to be installed and switched on your domain. Most hosts with HEX will be running PHP4 and 5 with it so that you can switch between the versions on your site at will.

Have you tried using the search feature on 'PHP5' to get a list of previous discussions on this? I believe there were a couple threads a few weeks ago which brought up a few differnet hosts who provide shared hosting with PHP5 support.

Welcome to WHT, by the way! :wavey:

Yes, the site being run thru a message board is very amature looking. A web host should certainly have a professional looking site. I'm a developer so it bothers me when I see that kind of setup.

Sigh. Book. Cover. Judge. Search here, you'll find out that BW, and sister company httpMe have a reputation to be desired. If you base decisions on business partners largely on how thier website *looks* then you got big problems buddy.

I do consider Blue Who overpriced relative to competition. The bandwidth and storage provided just isn't competitve to say PowerVPS or jodohost reseller packages.

Good fast support and peace of mind costs money. Want support - pay more. Simple equation really.

I did indeed look thru older threads with aid of the search function, unfortunately most end up as debates about the viability of PHP5 or indicate how one might find more info. Of course there are also posts similar to the last posters comments, which doesn't further the process. After looking thru dozens of threads and turning up limited results, I decided to take an alternate route hoping to find someone developing for the PHP 5 platform that might have a suggestion or any particular names.

Thus far I've found Bluewho, DreamHost, A2Hosting, AceWebHosting, CRIHosting, ServerSeed and WebOnce offering PHP5 in one form or another. Some of these don't offer a reseller package though, which makes the list quite small for my requirements. If I find someone that offers PHP5, I bookmark them. So I'm building a list to later narrow down with responses to a questionaire for my final decision. I'll then be archiving the responses and links into a document of my experiences.

Some of my issues would be moot if I were willing to tackle a VPS setup. However, until my applications are further off the ground I don't want to be tied up in server config problems on a platform I'm unfamiliar with. I'm developing on a windows XP box with php 5 and MySQL 4.1 installed. I have limited experience with Unix derivative admin issues. I only installed Linux once in like 98 and since then I worked on the Windows platform exclusively. Until recently I was an ASP developer and only began PHP a month ago. So, I need a fully managed server at least until I'm ready to move my hosting to the next level(VPS and dedicated).

I'll be building a database of sorts compiling PHP 5 hosting options and make it available to others once I complete this process.

Since you say you want to use Windows then look at Windows hosts using Helm & Helm Extensions as I said earlier. You will then be able to get a Reseller account that has ASP, ASP.Net etc together with PHP4 AND PHP5. You will have the ability to switch between PHP4/5 at will on a domain so you can check any scripts to work with both versions. I.e. you could develop a script in PHP4, test locally, then upload to your site and temporarily switch to PHP5 to check it works.

I do appreciate your comments on Helm. It's just difficult to wade thru the abbundance of options and identify the best solution for my needs.

I think you misunderstood my post. I do not prefer a Windows platform. I'm merely more familiar with it in terms of administration as would apply to a VPS solution. However, I'm not really interested in assuming those responsibilities and prefer a managed server solution in my current circumstances. I'm somewhat interested in a shift to linux/bsd to expand my knowledge.

Additionally, I do not plan to develop for PHP 4 at all nor return to ASP and I have no plans to expand into .Net. I'm happy working with PHP 5 at this point and prefer it's object model to the above. I would honsetly prefer a server with PHP 5 as the primary development platform and as little overhead as possible. This is the real world though. My preference may not be met and I can certainly accept (acctually expect) a dual support setup at least in the near term. Like I said though, I eventually plan to move into a VPS or dedicated server platform purpose built to PHP 5 applications.

Like I said, I appreciate your input and the options it offers.

I believe there are Linux hosts that offer PHP5 alongside PHP4 by using a .php5 extension as the mapping.

There may also be some that run a particular server with primarily PHP5 for clients wanting that option.

The problem at the moment is that PHP5 has compatibility issues and a fair amount of scripts that work fine on PHP4 will not run on PHP5.

Many of the common apps like phpBB etc are being updated to run on PHP4, but the fact is that offering PHP4 ensures compatibility for the majority fo users.

From a hosts point of view, upgrading generally to PHP5 would present very big issues when they get bombarded by angry customers asking why their sites no longer work.

It's a case of providing tried and tested serviecs that work for teh majority of clients needs.

You might be able to get a managed VPS or server for a reasonable price. There appears to be a wide range of cheap servers around at the moment.

I can't offer you any specific advice on Linux as I've never really used it enough, but I;m sure you'll get some replies recommending a managed VPS/Dedicated supplier.

If your looking for a mod_php5 environment (php5 running as an apache module under the user 'nobody') you may have a slightly harder time finding a matching host and a smaller vps may indeed be the way to go at the moment.

In the testing I have done, there are very few differences between php5 as a module and php5 as a cgi, except that as a cgi, your php scripts run as your user, which has both it's good and bad points.

Windows and FreeBSD providers have the advantage of proper versioning in their compiles of PHP, can can offer the module of php4 and php5 together, while Linux hosts don't get this same courtesy (WHY?!? I dunno. Drives me BATTY! :D) and have to have one run as a module and one as a CGI, because apache will get confused and crash if you try to load both.

If your really concerned, pick a host who has a money back period, so if your not happy, you can simply move without any fuss.