Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : VPS Hosting : Need a Recommendation for Windows VPS

[delta88]

OK, I've been reading WHT for 4 days now and going through all of the different hosts, but haven't been able to find exactly what I'm looking for. I figure it's time to put my needs out to the group...

I have been hosting several small sites from my house on an old Pentium I 333mHz machine with 512 RAM running Windows 2000 Server for the past few years. My box can't keep up anymore, and isn't stable enough. The sites don't get much traffic at all, but a couple have some odd requirements that I think dictate a VPS as opposed to shared hosting.

Here's what I currently have. Hopefully you all can provide some recommendations. Thanks ahead of time!

10 domains
2 GB Disk space (current)
1.5 GB Bandwidth per monthly
All sites use ASP Classic or .Net
One site also requires FrontPage Extensions
MS Access Databases
MS SQL Express or SQL Server databases
Windows batch files to import nightly FTP uploads
Multiple POP3 email accounts
ASPUpload
ASPImageResizer
Nightly backups!

I would like to keep the expense low since this comes out of my pocket for organizations that I volunteer with. About $30 per month would be ideal.

Thanks again!

[M Bacon]

Try Server Complete. Its $35/month starting out.

http://servercomplete.com/vps-windows

[SC-Daniel]

Originally Posted by M Bacon

Try Server Complete. Its $35/month starting out.

http://servercomplete.com/vps-windows

Thanks for the recommendation

[gate2vn]

Do you have any preferred location? And managed or unmanaged?

[delta88]

M Bacon:I appreciate the suggestion!

Daniel: Can you address whether the Server Complete packages provide what I need listed above, or if certain elements would be add-ons?

gate2vn: Location should be in the US, ideally in the southeast as 99% of the users will be from the New Orleans, LA area. I'm torn between Managed/Unmanaged. I'm not slouch, but I'm also not a professional web server admin. My primary need for Management would be for server hardening, unless there's something more about VPS's that I don't know. This is my first with VPS, but I have managed windows NT/2000 servers (web/mail/database) in the past for a previous employer.

[SC-Daniel]

Originally Posted by delta88

Daniel: Can you address whether the Server Complete packages provide what I need listed above, or if certain elements would be add-ons?

Our Windows VPS come with full administrator access so you can install virtually any software you require. Our packages are strictly unmanaged, so the configuration of all services/software is your responsibility. The experience will be much like a dedicated machine. You will need to install all software yourself and configure your own routine backups.

[delta88]

Originally Posted by SC-Daniel

Our Windows VPS come with full administrator access so you can install virtually any software you require. Our packages are strictly unmanaged, so the configuration of all services/software is your responsibility. The experience will be much like a dedicated machine. You will need to install all software yourself and configure your own routine backups.

Thanks Daniel. What about the email requirement? Do you all provide an SMTP server which allows me to create multiple mailboxes? Also, is there a web-based mail client, or would I need Plesk for those features?

[M Bacon]

You're both welcome.

[SC-Daniel]

Originally Posted by delta88

Thanks Daniel. What about the email requirement? Do you all provide an SMTP server which allows me to create multiple mailboxes? Also, is there a web-based mail client, or would I need Plesk for those features?

You would need to install and configure your own mail server within the VPS.

Plesk is by no means required... You can do everything without a control panel with much less bloat.

[delta88]

Originally Posted by SC-Daniel

You would need to install and configure your own mail server within the VPS.

Plesk is by no means required... You can do everything without a control panel with much less bloat.

Holy crap! You're response struck me as odd, so I did a quick search and discovered there is such a thing as Free Mail Servers! I've only had experience with managing Exchange, and didn't know about anything else. Does anyone have a recommendation for a free Windows mail server with web mail?

Daniel, your response probably just made a sale. Thanks!

[SC-Daniel]

Originally Posted by delta88

Holy crap! You're response struck me as odd, so I did a quick search and discovered there is such a thing as Free Mail Servers! I've only had experience with managing Exchange, and didn't know about anything else. Does anyone have a recommendation for a free Windows mail server with web mail?

Daniel, your response probably just made a sale. Thanks!

The free version of SmarterMail and MailEnable are great --

http://www.smartertools.com/smarterm...-software.aspx

http://www.mailenable.com/standard_edition.asp

[M Bacon]

http://www.websitepanel.net/ is a good free windows panel if you don't want the bare minimum.

[Vasily Grodnenko]

Think that you will precisely will not regret having looked at Windows VPS hosting plans offered by bodhost.com - it has been a great host for me and I suppose that it can meet your expectations.

[M Bacon]

Never tried or heard of them before.

[gate2vn]

ME doesn't support IMAP in standard version. Some important features for antispam are not there too.
SmarterMail limits the number of mailboxes per domain

If you are looking for free mail server on Windows, hMailserver is a good one. You can use SquirrelMail or Roundcube as webmail.