Hello,

I'm looking for a place to have my site hosted, i require ASP / ASP.NET / MySQL / MS Access / PHP(phpBB) / and of course the ability to make it .ca without any extra costs.

I'm looking for not so expensive host that has a fair amount of available space.

I've seen a number of places, but none have jumped out at me, any ideas?

Thanks,
Mike

What is the price you are looking for .ca domain? Have you any idea? what about 22$ for 1 year.

I actualy just got my domain registered.

Domainsatcost.ca
$12.95 /y

Now i need a host that supports:
ASP / ASP.NET / MySQL / PHP

anywhere around 7-11$ a month

You'll be able to host .ca domain with any of the host. Did you check the Shared Hosting Offers section Here (http://www.webhostingtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=4)? You can find some good offers on shared hosting!

Good luck!

$12.95 .ca domain is really cheap.
The cheapest price at Enom for .ca domain is $13.95

$12.95 .ca domain is really cheap.
The cheapest price at Enom for .ca domain is $13.95

Please beware and check with Enom first but before they didn't have a proper way to edit WHOIS info for .ca domains. The WHOIS changes would only be updated for the Enom WHOIS system and not updated with CIRA.

I've been looking around for some ASP/ASP.NET/MySQL/PHP hosts and it seems as though any host that does NOT include ASP, can have like 500gb space - Unlimited for only 6-9$ /month but the second you add ASP/ASP.NET it goes to like 10-100gb space and 9-12$ a month?

Is it really that hard to find affordable ASP hosts? or am I looking in the wrong places?

-Mike

I've been looking around for some ASP/ASP.NET/MySQL/PHP hosts and it seems as though any host that does NOT include ASP, can have like 500gb space - Unlimited for only 6-9$ /month but the second you add ASP/ASP.NET it goes to like 10-100gb space and 9-12$ a month?

Is it really that hard to find affordable ASP hosts? or am I looking in the wrong places?

-Mike
Given the example you have provided, the PHP-only host is clearly overselling. The ASP one is far more reasonable and likely to be able to actually provide the service they claim.

Try using 500gb on any host that claims you can do so. I can guarantee you'd be suspended pretty quickly, unless it's someone like Dreamhost or Hostgator.

$12.95 .ca domain is really cheap.
The cheapest price at Enom for .ca domain is $13.95

The two best one I've seen in the past were Netfirms (9.95) and Sibername (11.95). Other .ca registrars tend to charge between $15 and $50 per year.

Dreamhost is what I really want to go with. A co-worker told me about it and I instantly loved their package, the only downfall is, of course no ASP support. Which is something I need for a number of my site's are dedicated to ASP.

Dreamhost is what I really want to go with. A co-worker told me about it and I instantly loved their package, the only downfall is, of course no ASP support. Which is something I need for a number of my site's are dedicated to ASP.

Do you also need MS Access? or are these sites coded to use ODBC?

Some site's do use ms access yes.

I've been using ASP for quite some time, I've fiddled with PHP here and there, and to me it's quite similar to ASP, it's just another language so it's not a huge deal. The issue would be that I have 7 site's I want within my site, converting them ALL to PHP would be quite a haste, would it not?

Database's are no issue to be honest I can easily change a Access site to use MySQL, rebuilding a database isn't the issue at all, thats what XML is for :)

Would it be silly of me to switch to PHP if it means saving money and of course being able to convert my sites?

Mike,

One important factor you need to remember is that with Windows based hosts there is licensing involved and most of the time the techs are actually certified in what they do. The support and quality of a Windows host many times exceeds those of Linux hosts due to the fact that the pricing is higher (please note I said many times).

How much bandwidth are you actually planning on using? If you're just starting a site you probably won't see anymore than 1GB of usage per month.

You can try this web host (http://www.reliablesite.net) as it's the only "affordable" windows host I've been with that I like.
I agree with you on his bandwidth requirements, however I disagree that the support and quality of a Windows host is often any better than a Linux host.

Having certifications doesn't mean one has the knowledge and experience to do their job. It just means they could memorize for a test (in the case of an individual) and pass, or (in the case of a company) use Windows software.

I won't get into the stability and performance of the platforms involved, as we know who the clear winner is lol :D

Some site's do use ms access yes.

I've been using ASP for quite some time, I've fiddled with PHP here and there, and to me it's quite similar to ASP, it's just another language so it's not a huge deal. The issue would be that I have 7 site's I want within my site, converting them ALL to PHP would be quite a haste, would it not?

Database's are no issue to be honest I can easily change a Access site to use MySQL, rebuilding a database isn't the issue at all, thats what XML is for :)

Would it be silly of me to switch to PHP if it means saving money and of course being able to convert my sites?
That is only for you to determine. Would the time and money spent on converting be easy to recover in savings?

As a web designer myself, I would always recommend the best tool for the job. If that's ASP/Access or PHP/MySQL, then that's good. I would also ensure that I would use technologies that are available with mainstream hosts as well, so my client could move their site as needed, without worries of things breaking.

If you ever decide to switch from MS Access to MySQL, there is a nice program called Access2MySQL that can convert the .MDB into a MySQL .sql file, making it ready for import.

Well, I think for now I'm going to bite the bullet and take on Dreamhost to be honest, their package is just to good to pass up. Unfortunately they are PHP, but I think for now I'll get myself started and if in the future I desperately need to move to an ASP environment, then I will do so.

Years of web design everyone I knew was into PHP and didn't know anyone who knew how ASP even worked. So it "feels" like a downgrade, but heck, it's just another language. Once you have 6 languages your good at, i don't think its that hard to drastically switch over.

Thanks for all your feedback. and thank you larwilliams, your honesty and completely non-bias opinion was definitely helpful in this.

Thanks,
Mike

It just means they could memorize for a test (in the case of an individual) and pass, or (in the case of a company) use Windows software.


Have you taken a Microsoft cert test before just out of curiosity? It's not really a test you can memorize and pass.