PublicBob
07-12-2006, 06:16 PM
OK, I've been researching this to the point where my head is spinning, and it's time to commit.
Currently, I've got 2 active domains at infoquest.com, one using about about 160MB storage and 1.6G bandwidth a month, the other 335/3.77. I've been there about 3 years and have been quite happy, but none of their plans will allow me to move to the next level. btw - I am not technically oriented and do not expect much from a host except reliability and reachability -- I've only used support 3 times in three years. There is also an almost unused site at Alentus, which I'll be moving to a new host along with 7 domains that have never been used at all and another 5-6 domains that will be created this week.
One of the new sites is going to start off requiring about 2G of storage, and I'd like to try out several scripts, including a forum (I used 2 remotely hosted ones back in 2001, but neither caught on, so I closed them), a blog, and possibly a wiki, as well as an experimental site using Noah's classifieds (or something similar). Also, frontpage support (I know, I know). Without knowing what will catch on, predicting bandwidth is practically impossible (best guess, below 10G a month)
To keep track of all this, I'm thinking a reseller account (or accounts) with a control panel handling multiple domains is the best approach. Since the technical details are of no interest to me, it's either that or managed (too many decisions on unfamiliar ground in a VPS), and managed is too expensive right now. Also, to experiment with various scripts without having to deal with setting up databases, etc., I'd like to start with what Fantastico or the Plesk application vault (or the new cPanel installer) has to offer, and then tackle my own installations.
My thoughts right now are to split the domains between 2 accounts, and at the moment I'm leaning toward dotable.com based on Aussie Bob's reputation (and you gotta love his name) and price, and knownhost.com based on size of storage for the dollar and the option of using Plesk, so between the two I can learn the two control panels. If anything "takes off" and requires more storage or bandwith, I'd probably switch that domain or domains to cartikahosting or fluidweb, but I'm not sure I'm ready for H-Sphere and can't justify $50 plus a month until the sites at least pay for themselves.
One big worry is he 2gig storage requirement. What with all the talk about oversellng, am I going to run into problems right away at the 4 or 5G account level? If I have to go to 10, the 2-account approach goes down the financial drain.
Here's a PARTIAL list of hosts I've looked at, the ones that passed the initial scanning. I won't give my thoughts on each one, but most were dropped because: they were too cheap (gotta be huge overselling), reports of bad tech support, reports of unreliability, reports of rude tech support (the "it's your fault for being a stupid customer" approach), limited disk space, too expensive (over $50), too new, or too close to Dotable and not as good a reputation:
Dathorn, bliksemhosting, SJR, Rochenhost, resellerzoom, Bluewho, liquidweb, rackspace (a whole other set of issues), micfo, myriadnetwork, downtownhosting,
powweb, a small orange, vertivo, lunarpages, skynet, dotster, innohosting, site5 sonet7 and of course hostgator.
What's missing from the remaining contenders are phone support (yes, I've read the threads) and Urchin.
Is there anything I'm missing here or are there any further suggestions for questions that need to be answered? Sorry for the length of the post.
Currently, I've got 2 active domains at infoquest.com, one using about about 160MB storage and 1.6G bandwidth a month, the other 335/3.77. I've been there about 3 years and have been quite happy, but none of their plans will allow me to move to the next level. btw - I am not technically oriented and do not expect much from a host except reliability and reachability -- I've only used support 3 times in three years. There is also an almost unused site at Alentus, which I'll be moving to a new host along with 7 domains that have never been used at all and another 5-6 domains that will be created this week.
One of the new sites is going to start off requiring about 2G of storage, and I'd like to try out several scripts, including a forum (I used 2 remotely hosted ones back in 2001, but neither caught on, so I closed them), a blog, and possibly a wiki, as well as an experimental site using Noah's classifieds (or something similar). Also, frontpage support (I know, I know). Without knowing what will catch on, predicting bandwidth is practically impossible (best guess, below 10G a month)
To keep track of all this, I'm thinking a reseller account (or accounts) with a control panel handling multiple domains is the best approach. Since the technical details are of no interest to me, it's either that or managed (too many decisions on unfamiliar ground in a VPS), and managed is too expensive right now. Also, to experiment with various scripts without having to deal with setting up databases, etc., I'd like to start with what Fantastico or the Plesk application vault (or the new cPanel installer) has to offer, and then tackle my own installations.
My thoughts right now are to split the domains between 2 accounts, and at the moment I'm leaning toward dotable.com based on Aussie Bob's reputation (and you gotta love his name) and price, and knownhost.com based on size of storage for the dollar and the option of using Plesk, so between the two I can learn the two control panels. If anything "takes off" and requires more storage or bandwith, I'd probably switch that domain or domains to cartikahosting or fluidweb, but I'm not sure I'm ready for H-Sphere and can't justify $50 plus a month until the sites at least pay for themselves.
One big worry is he 2gig storage requirement. What with all the talk about oversellng, am I going to run into problems right away at the 4 or 5G account level? If I have to go to 10, the 2-account approach goes down the financial drain.
Here's a PARTIAL list of hosts I've looked at, the ones that passed the initial scanning. I won't give my thoughts on each one, but most were dropped because: they were too cheap (gotta be huge overselling), reports of bad tech support, reports of unreliability, reports of rude tech support (the "it's your fault for being a stupid customer" approach), limited disk space, too expensive (over $50), too new, or too close to Dotable and not as good a reputation:
Dathorn, bliksemhosting, SJR, Rochenhost, resellerzoom, Bluewho, liquidweb, rackspace (a whole other set of issues), micfo, myriadnetwork, downtownhosting,
powweb, a small orange, vertivo, lunarpages, skynet, dotster, innohosting, site5 sonet7 and of course hostgator.
What's missing from the remaining contenders are phone support (yes, I've read the threads) and Urchin.
Is there anything I'm missing here or are there any further suggestions for questions that need to be answered? Sorry for the length of the post.