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  1. #1

    Best solution for media rich website?

    Hello. I'm new here and I am in the process of getting my first website up and running. The site will have media rich content in terms of video uploads and photos. I am trying to find the best performance/cost solution for what I need. Here are the options I've come up with so far:

    1) VPS hosting in the $50/month range to start. I've looked at two options in particular: WebHostingPad which offers 300GB storage but only 512 RAM and 1TB bandwidth, and VPSLand which offers 50GB storage but 2GB RAM and 2TB bandwidth.

    2) A cheap hosting solution (in the $6-$8 range) combined with Amazon's S3 servers for storage and transfer of video and image content. Basically have all the non-media stuff on the cheap host and then all the heavier bandwidth/storage stuff on Amazon's S3 servers. I don't know much about Amazon's S3 servers and I am trying to find out more how they would work in conjunction with something like this.


    So those are the two options I've come up with. If anyone can give insight or thoughts on those it would be much appreciated. Also, if anyone has any other suggestions I'm more than open to hearing them. Thanks.

  2. #2
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    You don't have to go with a VPS or S3 to begin with - start out on a quality shared hosting provider and then upgrade as you need to. My advice would be that if you need to get large files distributed around the world fast such as media would be to use a CDN but you can always do that *after* your site gets popular and not in the hopes that it will get popular.
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  3. #3
    Thanks for the reply. Since you emphasized quality shared hosting, do you have any suggestions?

    Also, since the Amazon S3 servers are basically pay for what you use, would it really hurt at all to incorporate them into the website? My thinking is that if the website stays small, then the cost for Amazon S3 remains small. Then if the website grows larger the cost would grow to accommodate that but would hopefully be canceled out due to income from advertisements, etc.

    I don't really know much about what a CDN is except for what it stands for.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by mikeveli20 View Post
    Thanks for the reply. Since you emphasized quality shared hosting, do you have any suggestions?

    Also, since the Amazon S3 servers are basically pay for what you use, would it really hurt at all to incorporate them into the website? My thinking is that if the website stays small, then the cost for Amazon S3 remains small. Then if the website grows larger the cost would grow to accommodate that but would hopefully be canceled out due to income from advertisements, etc.

    I don't really know much about what a CDN is except for what it stands for.
    I can't really list any of the better providers because I haven't used them first-hand. You can run a search here and find what some of the more recommended quality providers are. http://www.webhostingtalk.com/search.php - it's a bit of work but well worth it in the end.

    As for a CDN - it is where your content is stored on multiple points of presence and delivered locally to your visitors instead of all of the content originating from your server. Basically if somebody in Asia downloads anything from your site that is located on a CDN - they get it from somewhere in Asia instead of your server in the US or Europe.

    Realistically I would start small with just a quality shared plan and add other services *as needed* so that you don't spend money you don't necessarily need to spend.
    Michael Denney - MDDHosting.com - Proudly hosting more than 37,700 websites since 2007.
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  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by MikeDVB View Post
    I can't really list any of the better providers because I haven't used them first-hand. You can run a search here and find what some of the more recommended quality providers are. http://www.webhostingtalk.com/search.php - it's a bit of work but well worth it in the end.

    As for a CDN - it is where your content is stored on multiple points of presence and delivered locally to your visitors instead of all of the content originating from your server. Basically if somebody in Asia downloads anything from your site that is located on a CDN - they get it from somewhere in Asia instead of your server in the US or Europe.

    Realistically I would start small with just a quality shared plan and add other services *as needed* so that you don't spend money you don't necessarily need to spend.

    Thanks again. I came across this hosting service: http://www.cheapffmpeg.com/

    They specialize in video hosting and are a shared hosting service. Their ratings are very good from what I can tell. Is this the type of service you are referring to that you recommend that I start with?

  6. #6
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    If you need FFMPEG (where videos are converted on your site) then maybe - I didn't look at their site and I generally advise staying away from any host with "cheap" in their name.

    You can use FFMPEG to convert videos on your local PC and then upload them to the server if you really wanted to or you could use .mov or .wmv format and most will be able to play them.
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  7. #7
    My goal is to have the site run itself as much as possible, so server side conversion is what I'm aiming for. The website I linked to in my last post doesn't seem that reliable after all as it's been down for the last hour.

    I found another one at http://vexxhost.com

    They have a special on right now for their UnlimitedPlus ($4.49/month) shared hosting plan which offers 4TB disk space and 40TB transfer.

  8. #8
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    If you think you're actually going to get anything near 4tb/40tb for $4.49/month then you need to wake up from whatever dream you are in. No offense is intended but to use anything near that would require at the least a dedicated server.

    Look for a provider with realistic limits that are in-line with the cost of the plan and if you're not sure ask
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  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by MikeDVB View Post
    If you think you're actually going to get anything near 4tb/40tb for $4.49/month then you need to wake up from whatever dream you are in. No offense is intended - you're not even going to be able to get that much in a dedicated server.
    Sorry, I'm still relatively new at this. After reading a few reviews they don't sound all that reliable anyways.

    I found another one at: http://www.cirtexhosting.com/shared.shtml

    They offer 30GB storage and 1.5TB monthly bandwidth for their professional plan which is $13.99/month for a 1-year plan. I found a 50% off coupon code so if I were to go with that it'd be about $6.99/month. They offer FFMPEG hosting as well.

    My main concern about the shared hosting sites is the speed. Once you get into things like server-side video conversion, I would want to make sure that the website maintains a high level of speed and functionality. That was another reason why I was looking at a VPS in the first place because I thought that would be necessary to achieve this.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by mikeveli20 View Post
    Sorry, I'm still relatively new at this. After reading a few reviews they don't sound all that reliable anyways.

    I found another one at: http://www.cirtexhosting.com/shared.shtml

    They offer 30GB storage and 1.5TB monthly bandwidth for their professional plan which is $13.99/month for a 1-year plan. I found a 50% off coupon code so if I were to go with that it'd be about $6.99/month. They offer FFMPEG hosting as well.

    My main concern about the shared hosting sites is the speed. Once you get into things like server-side video conversion, I would want to make sure that the website maintains a high level of speed and functionality. That was another reason why I was looking at a VPS in the first place because I thought that would be necessary to achieve this.
    Unfortunately any shared hosting plan that offers more then (guesstimation) 50gb Space and 200GB Bandwidth might as well be too good to be true. Their servers are "normally" oversold and will more then likely be a dis-service unless they can manage it insanely well.
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  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by mikeveli20 View Post
    The website I linked to in my last post doesn't seem that reliable after all as it's been down for the last hour.

    Are you sure of what you say? No downtime has been logged! (you know we monitor every 30 seconds)
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  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by tumbano View Post
    Are you sure of what you say? No downtime has been logged! (you know we monitor every 30 seconds)
    Yes, I had just finished a chat with a customer service rep and was about to give him a rating when it said I was disconnected. When I try to connect right now it tries to load the page and then gives me a Page Load Error with the message "The requested site did not respond to a connection request and the browser has stopped waiting for a reply."

    I was quite impressed with the web hosting services so I was disappointed when I was not able to connect to it for the last 7 hours or so.

  13. #13
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    Please try now and let me know
    -> Bibihost.com <-> Since 2010 Professional Hosting in EU and USA <-
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  14. #14
    It is fixed now. What was the problem?

  15. #15
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    A mod_security rule problem. It's now fixed
    -> Bibihost.com <-> Since 2010 Professional Hosting in EU and USA <-
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