Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : Need some web hosting advice

[dbhnyc]

I have a client who is looking to drop an overpriced dedicated hosting box for some other solution. I am new to the webhosting world.

They have 2 main sites;

1. The main company site with the usual stuff (MySQL, PHP, Drupal, Joomla and they may be adding a simple e-commerce setup in the future.) They are starting a wordpress blog as well. Total size is about 1GB.

2. A simple html site for posting print jobs for their clients. They use static pages with .htaccess for directory level password access. They need about 30GB of storage as they keep everything they have ever published for a client online for them.

I don’t believe either of these sites have a large amount of traffic. They want something easy to use (control panel, easy script install, etc.) They have no web admins on staff and sometimes need some hand holding, so responsive customer service is very important to them.

They also host some small sites for clients so they will need multiple domains.

As for cost, they don’t want to pay more than they need but they are willing to pay a premium for good customer service and not be on an over sold server.

I am leaning toward a Managed VPS. My client is great at creating content but have little web server management skills. They will need hand holding.

A shared/cloud site might meet their needs but I am worried about performance.

Any thoughts/recommendations?

Thanks for your help.

[Kevin K]

You can surely look for a managed vps or you can also look into semi-dedicated hosting that would take away form the need for server management.

Semi-dedicated is for higher resource site that want the best performance on a shared hosting environment. These plans usually limit the site on a server to around 15-25 compared to hundreds on a regular share environment.

[agentscarn]

I just moved all of my websites away from a dedicated server at the end of December. I moved my business sites to MDDHosting.com semi-dedicated hosting (Cloudlinux). I moved my higher resource sites to a custom VPS at ioflood.com. Both Mike at MDDHosting and Gabe at ioflood have been extremely professional, very responsive, and done their fair share of hand-holding getting me setup. Hope this helps.

[tuxg]

A managed VPS or managed Hybrid from a good provider might help.

Prepare a small list of providers that come closer to your client's requirement, and check with each of them on what all they can provide and what they cannot. Check out the memory requirements of all sites put together also, and the growth plan for 6-mo or one year ahead.

[maniondagger]

I see some VPS cost the same money as shared web hosting accounts. So they will not pay more then.

[JFSG]

There are many managed VPS companies here like KnownHost and WiredTree that are reputable for their hand-holding support. Otherwise, like others have suggested, getting a semi-dedicated hosting plan may be a wise decision. MDD is reputable here so you won't go wrong with them.

[Muller]

As I know pretty good semi-dedicated server hosting plans could be got from gigapros - I run my website fast and can say that they can be good for your needs.

[reswertious-adam]

I'm sure you will find a quality VPS account which will be good for all your needs.

[Jerrick]

this usage seem to be around largest share hosting package to VPS.
the requirement usually can get all in share hosting package. But i still encourage to use VPS which is more stable and do have rootserver. It will more convince to have root server if you operate so many thing.

[dbhnyc]

Thank you all for your help and quick response.