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  1. #1

    Reliable hosting recommendations

    Hi
    I'm building a database-driven book sharing website - currently hosted on Dreamhost, who have been hving serious issues for weeks.

    I'm looking for a new hosting company, with the following requirements -

    1) Reliable.
    2) Fast.
    3) Must provide Perl 5.8.x, MySQL 5.x, SSH and SFTP access
    4) Must allow me to install my own perl modules (without going through helpdesk)
    5) Must not have email sending limits - some hosts seem to limit you to around 200 emails per hour. My site needs to notify users via email when certain actions take place, such as people wanting to borrow books from them, or send emails inviting other users to join communities. (Note this is not spam/bulk email, it is all user-initiated, and people can easily opt-out).
    6) Really, no idea what disk/bandwidth limits required, but probably not huge amounts - I'm not hosting any multimedia stuff, it's mainly just HTML/javascript/css.

    Nice, but not essential -
    1) Perl FastCGI
    2) A Subversion repository

    I'm willing to pay more than the lowest, oversold, providers - but preferably not much more than the $20 a month mark at the moment.

    Any suggestions (especially based on personal experience) welcomed...I'm going mad here!

    Thanks
    Jay

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    If you're comfortable doing some admin work, consider getting a lower-end VPS. There are lots of good vendors out there tha can handle this - see the offers forum and I'm sure you'll find several that fit your budget.
    Panopta | Never Blinks
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  3. #3
    I would also recommend that you consider getting a VPS instead of a dedicated server.

  4. #4
    Join Date
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    I recommend medialayer. I'm not sure about installing your own perl modules or the email sending limit, I suggest you shoot them an email.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Panopta View Post
    If you're comfortable doing some admin work, consider getting a lower-end VPS. There are lots of good vendors out there tha can handle this - see the offers forum and I'm sure you'll find several that fit your budget.

    I think if you go for a VPS , the management part is bit tough.

  6. #6
    I recommend that you conside VPS>dedicated
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  7. #7
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    A Small VPS whould be perfect for you

  8. #8
    I wonder why is there such an landslide of VPS recommendations on WHT these days
    The requirements look pretty generic and all webhosts worth their salt shuold be able to provide at least that...

    /me wanders off to the good ol' days...

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by thesoftwareplanet View Post
    I wonder why is there such an landslide of VPS recommendations on WHT these days
    I think it's a combination of the virtualization technology reaching the point of production-level performance and stability, and hosting companies getting sufficiently knowledgeable about managing and supporting VPS customers. There are now strong advantages to a VPS over a low end dedicated server from a reliability and expandability standpoint.

    For customers with restricted budgets that in the past might have had to choose between either a low-end dedicated server with cheap, unreliable hardware or shoehorn into a shared hosting plan that puts restrictions on what they can do, VPSs are now a much more viable option.
    Panopta | Never Blinks
    Advanced Server Monitoring and Outage Management Solutions

    http://www.panopta.com | sales@panopta.com

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Panopta View Post
    I think it's a combination of the virtualization technology reaching the point of production-level performance and stability, and hosting companies getting sufficiently knowledgeable about managing and supporting VPS customers. There are now strong advantages to a VPS over a low end dedicated server from a reliability and expandability standpoint.

    For customers with restricted budgets that in the past might have had to choose between either a low-end dedicated server with cheap, unreliable hardware or shoehorn into a shared hosting plan that puts restrictions on what they can do, VPSs are now a much more viable option.
    Agreed what you say is right, but only from a technologist point of view.. still for an average joe webmaster managing a VPS becomes an extra burden (+ the learning curve attached to it)

  11. #11
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    I personally hate VPSes and would take a low end dedicated over one any day.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Patti View Post
    I personally hate VPSes and would take a low end dedicated over one any day.
    From what I've seen, a quality VPS will provide better performance than a low-end dedicated quote often due to the much faster processors and disks on the VPS node. But, that's disucssion for another thread.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by thesoftwareplanet View Post
    Agreed what you say is right, but only from a technologist point of view.. still for an average joe webmaster managing a VPS becomes an extra burden (+ the learning curve attached to it)
    Yes but did you see that op wants SFTP, not all providers provide that on shared environment.

    Cheers
    12+ years -same website , new server [SSD Inside] providing shared/reseller hosting only !
    These things we do not provide/offer : Unlimited Storage ! Unlimited Bandwidth ! But Why? Cause, we were unable to put such a large number on our pages, it just would not fit.
    So check out the numbers that actually fit >> << the page as well as your budget too !

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Energizer Bunny View Post
    Yes but did you see that op wants SFTP, not all providers provide that on shared environment.
    But many quality hosts do provide SSH / SFTP, including MediaLayer - as already suggested.

    Self-installing perl modules is something CPanel allows you to do but I find it a PITA managing the libraries with it. Isn't it safer and easier just to drop in a ticket and let the host add the module? If you really need to install server-wide modules yourself then shared hosting is out - you'll have to go with a VPS.

    My other concern would be the e-mail. Limiting the rate of sending mail is really a requirement for keeping the server stable, and most hosts will set a limit somewhere around 200-500 per hour. So, how many e-mails do you actually need to send?
    Chris

    "Some problems are so complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided about them." - Laurence J. Peter

  15. #15
    Yeah, A vps is better then a dedicated for your work.

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by thesoftwareplanet View Post
    I wonder why is there such an landslide of VPS recommendations on WHT these days
    The requirements look pretty generic and all webhosts worth their salt should be able to provide at least that...

    /me wanders off to the good ol' days...
    Because he'll need a VPS to install his own Perl Modules and usually to run a SVN repository too. Beside of the fact that almost any shared host have limits on the number of emails that an account can hourly send (or at least should have)
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  17. #17
    4) Must allow me to install my own perl modules (without going through helpdesk)
    If you can wait, webhost should have your desire perl module install within the same day.

    5) Must not have email sending limits
    Not quite possible on a shared hosting account. You have to either get a vps or dedicated server. This give you the freedom to send as many emails as you want.
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  18. #18

    Thanks

    Ok, looks like the consensus is to go with a VPS.
    I've had a poke around, and I'm thinking the basic package at zone.net a go ($25 per month).

    I'm reasonably competent with Linux, so should be able to find my way around it.

    Thanks for the advice.

    Jay

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