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Thread: Your Ideal Host

  1. #26
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    Hey everyone, thanks for your input! It has been invaluable, and we're retooling our hosting services around it. You guys are great!
    Daniel B., CEO - Bezoka.com and Ungigs.com
    Hosting Solutions Optimized for: WordPress • Joomla • OpenCart • Moodle
    Data Centers in: Chicago (US), London (UK), Sydney (AU), Sofia (BG), Pori (FI)
    Email Daniel directly: ceo [at] bezoka.com

  2. #27
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    Pretty much what others have said re service, anti spam tools (personally I love spamassassin, it works), support, and uptime.

    I would add that the sysadmin be one who KNOWS how to configure a server properly. For instance, he or she doesn't make the mod_security settings so ridiculously tight that no dynamic script can possibly work. (or they stop working when mod_sec is added. Now THAT was truly a nightmare!)

    I'd also add that the hosting site have a very friendly and easy to use interface for account issues (I'm not talking about cpanel, I'm talking about billing, plan changes and stuff like that.) And if a special procedure is needed for upgrades or changes it should be very clearly spelled out in numerous places, including the email or ticket you get when you upgrade, not buried in the fine print in a TOS.

  3. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by KickassWebDesign
    I'm talking about billing, plan changes and stuff like that.) And if a special procedure is needed for upgrades or changes it should be very clearly spelled out in numerous places, including the email or ticket you get when you upgrade, not buried in the fine print in a TOS.
    I see you are describing about hostgator, well maybe they will read this thread one day and fix their system.
    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 !

  4. #29
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    Oh I forgot something. I really hate this trend toward having to pay for multiple months to get a deep discount, especially when there's only a 30 day money back guarantee and we all know hosting can go south with a change in Sysadmin. Personally I'd rather have fair and reasonable pricing monthly with no gimmicky discounting. If you're a good host you WILL keep my business. If you aren't then you won't.

  5. #30
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    I would say a host that has designed their own site and is not mascarading as one using a "web template".

  6. #31
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    paidhosting, I hope they do, since up until then I was singing HostGator's praises. And I also hope they get rid of that snotty CS Rep-- I've seen some other complaints on the board of a similar bad attitude, and I suspect it's probably only one (or maybe two) on their staff, and I happened to draw unlucky that day in phone roulette.

  7. #32
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    The single most important offer I miss from the vast majority of hosts is a small plan at a corresponding small price. Most of my websites are under 50MB and generate less than 5GB traffic; yet most hosts offer "small" plans for 10GB/ 100GB... this is too large and too expensive.

  8. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by markwolk
    The single most important offer I miss from the vast majority of hosts is a small plan at a corresponding small price. Most of my websites are under 50MB and generate less than 5GB traffic; yet most hosts offer "small" plans for 10GB/ 100GB... this is too large and too expensive.
    I agree, but most hosts also offer features to order your own custom plan , depends on the customer.
    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 !

  9. #34
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    Most of my websites are under 50MB and generate less than 5GB traffic; yet most hosts offer "small" plans for 10GB/ 100GB... this is too large and too expensive.
    They offer that much, but expect you to use way less.

    Small hosting accounts have been losing ground for a while now, as a hosting account can only be so cheap (unless you use it as a loss leader or start to make serious compromises when it comes to quality of service). Certain costs (support, advertising) remain almost the same, even if the sold account is smaller in terms of space and data transfer.
    Last edited by ldcdc; 11-27-2006 at 01:21 AM.

  10. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by dsavage666
    I'd like to see a company that believed in customer service and could admit fault when they make a mistake and then fix it without needing to be hit with a stick.

    (I know I'm living in a delusional fantasy land but having someone send me a canned response on how to troubleshoot the local installation of Outlook when every mail function on the server is down is a little hard to take.)

    Insane bandwidth, ludicrous server space, freebie scripts, et. al. are all incidental...95%+ uptime, MySQL and someone who gives a damn about my company would be kick butt.

    User name anything to do with a UK clan in Savage?
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    Savage Hosting Ltd - CLS | MCP | ITIL | PRINCE2 | Nerd

  11. #36
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    Quote Originally Posted by prodesigns_canada
    I would say a host that has designed their own site and is not mascarading as one using a "web template".
    lol please (and I have to ask) tell me that this isn't your only criteria to an ideal host?
    It's a Savage Universe out there!
    Savage Hosting Ltd - CLS | MCP | ITIL | PRINCE2 | Nerd

  12. #37
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    I'm probably coming from a slightly different background, but here's my ideal host:

    - LAMP server
    - full shell access
    - emacs/perl/php/top and all the other standard commands I might need
    - ability to write or install any scripts I want
    - ability to run cron jobs
    - ability to add new perl or php libraries
    - unlimited domains/subdomains
    - decent web log parser (analog or the like)
    - ability to create new users
    - CPU usage tracker
    - decent support (1 hr for site down, 24 hr for other issues)
    - decent uptime (this metric is hard for me to pinpoint... ideally 0 downtime. Anything more than 1-2 hrs per month and I would switch hosts)
    - something around 10gigs storage, 100 gigs/month bandwidth, or more (I don't use anywhere close to that, but room to grow is always nice)
    - ability to segregate users into different groups
    - clearly defined policies on what my CPU cap is and a warning when I'm getting close to the cap

    As a note, my current host provider provides everything except the last two.

  13. #38
    My expectations,

    1. Great service, attentive and feedback driven
    2. Offer great features at competive price (I hate $1 unlimited plans)
    3. Technically competent staff and good uptime history

    I wouldn't really look for lot other things. One who suffice the above must be a good provider.
    Web Hosting Blog - An exclusive blog on Web Hosting Industry and hosting related topics.

  14. #39
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    Ok, a somewhat new question, if you guys don't mind answering one more. I've noticed a lot of folks mention something like edifice does above: Offer great features at competitive price. What do you guys consider to be a competitive price?
    Daniel B., CEO - Bezoka.com and Ungigs.com
    Hosting Solutions Optimized for: WordPress • Joomla • OpenCart • Moodle
    Data Centers in: Chicago (US), London (UK), Sydney (AU), Sofia (BG), Pori (FI)
    Email Daniel directly: ceo [at] bezoka.com

  15. #40
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    Quote Originally Posted by GlobalWebDan
    What do you guys consider to be a competitive price?
    A relative lower price (not the lowest) for feasible features that work as expected
    Gonzalo
    "To venture is to risk one's life; not to venture is to lose one's reason to live"

  16. #41
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    ...I was thinking more along the lines of something like a number.
    Daniel B., CEO - Bezoka.com and Ungigs.com
    Hosting Solutions Optimized for: WordPress • Joomla • OpenCart • Moodle
    Data Centers in: Chicago (US), London (UK), Sydney (AU), Sofia (BG), Pori (FI)
    Email Daniel directly: ceo [at] bezoka.com

  17. #42
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    I would consider a decent LAMP reseller plan that allows a minimum of 10 domains and has individual consoles/email/stats for each one for a monthly of $20 or under to be fair. Arbitrary restrictions on number of mysql dbs or users at this level would be a negative, as would restrictions on email addys. Reasonable bandwidth and space limits would be acceptable, as long as the terms of overuse are clearly stated, and some mechanism is in place to alert client if limits are being reached (80% maybe???) and what options may exist. Offering an extra IP or two in that plan would make the value stellar. Though it's not that important to me, I think most folks in the reseller and webgeek arena would also like to see shell access and/or ruby/ROR, if possible. I'm thinking this would be your low to midrange reseller plan, a step or two before a dedicated server.

    I'm going to stress once again the importance of Customer Service, uptime, and an easy interface. Making clients jump through hoops to get things done is not the way to win loyalty.

    I happen to know there are reseller plans cheaper than that out there. I'd be willing to pay more than the "cheapest going rate" if I knew I was going with a company devoted to customer service. However, there are limits to the premium I or anyone else would be willing to pay. That's a balance a hosting provider needs to strike.

    I hope that helps.

  18. #43
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    Quote Originally Posted by GlobalWebDan
    ...I was thinking more along the lines of something like a number.
    That is relative but one option for shared hosting (most popular) could be:

    Linux platform, 2 GB web storage, 100 GB BW, 5 domains (parked / pointed) , 100 POP email addresses, 1 ftp, static IP, ssh, CGI-bin, 200 auto responders, anti virus, spam assassin, 1000 custom email filters, 3 mySQL, 3 mailing lists (limited), FP extensions, awstats, perl, ( Sorry I do not like php ), uptime 99,9% for all services, some known extras like Apache Error Messages , fast control panel, cron jobs, etc, email and chat 24/7 support, and no gimmick limits like daily hits or similar, all for $10 a month monthly payment.

    What I do not need:
    pre-installed scripts ( I prefer my own in case of moving) , site promotion, free domain, site builder and things like those
    Last edited by freeflyer; 11-29-2006 at 01:19 PM.
    Gonzalo
    "To venture is to risk one's life; not to venture is to lose one's reason to live"

  19. #44
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    My ideal shared hosting plan?

    Let's see...

    • A company that doesn't throw a rediculous amount of space at you and then not expect you to use it.
    • A company that doesn't throw a rediculous amount of monthly bandwidth at you and then complain when you use it.
    • A company that doesn't pitch a fit when you do anything but serve static HTML, citing excess CPU usage as an excuse to charge you more fees.

  20. #45
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    Quote Originally Posted by GlobalWebDan
    Ok, a somewhat new question, if you guys don't mind answering one more. I've noticed a lot of folks mention something like edifice does above: Offer great features at competitive price. What do you guys consider to be a competitive price?
    "Competitive price" for what kind of market?
    Personal/hobby sites? Professional/commercial site?
    Small sites or huge sites?
    Low budget hosts, or Higher end?
    Specialized hosting such as Zope hosting or generic hosting?


    For the low budget, hobby/personal sites, it's competitive if you can beat DreamHost offering similar features like RAID disks and clustered setup, I guess.


    For smaller hosts, I don't think people care a lot about competitive price,
    as we all (well, some of us, at least ) know that they are generally more expensive than larger hosts and
    people don't choose them for the price, naturally.

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