Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Reseller Hosting : All Hosts Suck.

[tsystems]

All hosting companies have their problems. After hundreds of hours shopping and years in the business I can't find any single reseller host that I trust to keep me in control of my and my customers destiny.

It's not that they are all bad. Many of them provide excellent service, services and even value.

The trouble is that they become victims of their own success, and over time become something other than what I signed up for.

What I need now is automatic tools to keep my accounts backed up from provider to provider. When I have problems I can flip a few settings and move accounts as fast as DNS TTL expires.

I know that this is terribly complicated from a technical standpoint. I know that dynamic content doesn't fit well with this. I know that I will create as many problems as I avoid until these tools and my skills become perfect.

But at least I will be in control.

Are there any tools out there that help with this? I think I am looking for scripts that port settings and files between Hsphere based hosts without the hosts necessarily supporting them.

[buddhafinder]

If your time is worth much, maybe paying a higher price would be worth it. While high price does not always equal high service, lowest price must equal overstretched resources or no profit for the host.

I would think a higher priced server that invests some of the extra income into lower server loads and increased monitoring will leave you not having the disruption of moving.

Another idea - could you have two servers (much cheaper end) with mirrored content? Then you could just flip your settings to send people to the mirrored site? Maybe your content is too dynamic for that to work ...

[tsystems]

You first statement is true, but I don't feel it is pursuable. Even if I could find a good host that provided that. I can't be guaranteed that it would last. And many problems are not due to server load alone.

Your last statement is exactly what I am after. I have little dynamic content. I know how to do all this manually, but it is to much work and prone to errors. The cost of two accounts is not a problem.

[buddhafinder]

I see. site5 has a good reputation, and hostnexus is pretty good, too. You could have the "backup" site on a very cheap host, though - slightly increasing the likelyhood of simultaneous problems.

[BF-Gary]

Did you find all your hosts via this forum? Just curious as to if you moved from the monthly favorite to the monthly favorite?

[NyteOwl]

Actually it's not that hard to keep multiple servers mirrored. Rsynch and a lot of other tools will do it. You'll use up some bandwidth each day (amount depending on what gets copied and how often) but it's feasible to do. The trick is to carefully organize it prior to implementation. One thing I'd advise is keeping (per RFC) multiple DNS on different subnets, and setting TTL to say 10-12 hours, or 2-8 if you're really insecure.

[CD Burnt]

sounds like a job for a daily backup to an offsite location (a backup space provider)

combined with

keeping the dns TTL low (perhaps an outsourced dns solution)

[buddhafinder]

1and1 comes to mind as a very cheap server. I'm not sure I'd put a primary site there, but a mirror there could make sense.

[Vortech]

Originally posted by tsystems
And many problems are not due to server load alone.

I take it you use CPanel, thats one of the things I hate about it and another reason we dropped it. Running all those services on one system never seemed to make sense. Maybe you should look a clustered reseller type setup like H-Sphere. That might work better for you.

If it's high load issues ether you have to find a CPanel host or server with no many people on it or another CP that can spead that load over a number of systems.

[WireNine]

HostGator has very good reputation for their reseller plans, you should certainly look into them

[firestarter]

Better to have your own dedicated server and your own techs so that the things will remain always under your control.

[WO-Jacob]

Originally posted by firestarter
Better to have your own dedicated server and your own techs so that the things will remain always under your control.

Don't forget your own data center, your own pipes... but why stop there... you could own the block the dc is on... or the power company that keeps you lit...

Ok, maybe I went a little overboard.

People don't opt for their own dedicated server with their own techs because that's the point of buying services from a 3rd party. It's not your core business, so you don't want to have to deal with it.

[firestarter]

WebOnce

I just sugsted an option so that thing remain among his hands. You and we all know that we cant have our bit pipe and I do feel that webhosting does need a lot of attension and people who have a dedicated team tend to have more peacefull night sleeps.

Thread starter, tsystems has shared his views and is reaaly asking for a solution and I was just telling that he can go for a dedicated server.

Me think, moving between hosts and pulling own hair seems to be more painfull than having own dedicated server.

[WO-Jacob]

Originally posted by firestarter
WebOnce

I just sugsted an option so that thing remain among his hands. You and we all know that we cant have our bit pipe and I do feel that webhosting does need a lot of attension and people who have a dedicated team tend to have more peacefull night sleeps.

Thread starter, tsystems has shared his views and is reaaly asking for a solution and I was just telling that he can go for a dedicated server.

Me think, moving between hosts and pulling own hair seems to be more painfull than having own dedicated server.

Well, get a dedicated server, sure, would help, though he's concerned (i believe) also about the support from the host, which could be helped by going with a third party server administration company. That way if you did have server problems, you could switch DC's, and if you have admin problems, you can just switch admins. You enable yourself to further refine the control you have over the situation.

[firestarter]

Well, get a dedicated server, sure, would help, though he's concerned (i believe) also about the support from the host, which could be helped by going with a third party server administration company. That way if you did have server problems, you could switch DC's, and if you have admin problems, you can just switch admins. You enable yourself to further refine the control you have over the situation.

Thats the best solution