Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : Windows Hosting : DiscountASP vs. CrystalTech

[jd98]

I have been doing my homework on windows ASP.NET shared hosting providers and have narrowed down my choice to discountASP & CrystalTech. I am now struggling with making the final decision and would appreciate any thoughts/input/comments/experience that you might have.

My requirements are:
- ASP.NET 2.0
- SQL Server 2005
- SSL Certificate
- Daily backups
- Ability to backup SQL database in real-time

Site Description: Publish educational material. Users can navigate the site and see articles for free or login and see premium content with subscription.

Specific items of note:
- discountASP runs apps in isolated application pool, CrystalTech does not
- CrystalTech has phone support, discountASP does not
- CrystalTech is $16.95/month, discountASP is $30/month
- neither provide guaranteed uptime (compared to aspwebhosting.com which does for example - any others that guarantee uptime??)

[UH-Bobby]

Originally Posted by jd98

Specific items of note:
- discountASP runs apps in isolated application pool, CrystalTech does not
- CrystalTech has phone support, discountASP does not
- CrystalTech is $16.95/month, discountASP is $30/month
- neither provide guaranteed uptime (compared to aspwebhosting.com which does for example - any others that guarantee uptime??)

The isolated apps pool may have better performance than CrystalTech, but it all depends on how much the server itself is utilized. Phone Support isn't always everything, there are many good companies who only offer ticket based systems. That's a good size price gap, and although they are far apart, does discountASP offer something you got to have that CrystalTech doesn't?

The no guaranteed uptime really worries me. Most hosts always have a guarantee. This makes me think that can be up and down all they want and they don't have to compensate you or nothing for it. You may want to look for different hosting providers.

[Will-AH]

While there are a ton of things that can contribute to downtime, having isolated application pools goes a long way towards stability and uptime.

[RSNET-John]

Originally Posted by Will-AH

While there are a ton of things that can contribute to downtime, having isolated application pools goes a long way towards stability and uptime.

Agreed, I'd choose a host for that one fact alone. That was the biggest improvement with IIS6.

[iration]

Originally Posted by jd98

I have been doing my homework on windows ASP.NET shared hosting providers and have narrowed down my choice to discountASP & CrystalTech. I am now struggling with making the final decision and would appreciate any thoughts/input/comments/experience that you might have.

My requirements are:
- ASP.NET 2.0
- SQL Server 2005
- SSL Certificate
- Daily backups
- Ability to backup SQL database in real-time

Site Description: Publish educational material. Users can navigate the site and see articles for free or login and see premium content with subscription.

Specific items of note:
- discountASP runs apps in isolated application pool, CrystalTech does not
- CrystalTech has phone support, discountASP does not
- CrystalTech is $16.95/month, discountASP is $30/month
- neither provide guaranteed uptime (compared to aspwebhosting.com which does for example - any others that guarantee uptime??)

I would recommend going with Discountasp. I have been with them for a few years now for my ASP.NET hosting needs. I think their SQL backup tool is fantastic and easy to use.