Looking for a new host.

[swoops]

Hi, we are looking for a new host (possibly dedicated if we need to) for our forum and website (www.foreverdelayed.org.uk/forum) as we have been asked to move from our current hosting due to growing too large. Here are our stats for the current month.

Disk usage 208.16 Megabytes
SQL Disk usage 445.59 Megabytes
Disk space available 4,291.84 Megabytes
Bandwidth usage (current month) 45,370.35 Megabytes

Any advice or reccomendations on what to go for?

Does anyone have any opinions on Dreamhost shared servers and would this be any good for what we need?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[encryption]

Your site defo looks like its Dedicated Server worthy ..... my forum is smaller than yours and I've gone dedicated......

I would definitely check out SuperbServers.... fantastic servers / network / uptime...... very pleased with them..... been with them since sep 2004 and have had only a couple of occasions of downtime in Aug 2005 due to a DDOS attack..... otherwise cant complain..... though they are a little on the expensive side.... but you get what you pay for


EDIT

Mind you they provide only unmanaged servers so it will be up to you to manage yourself or hire a company who will manage it for you

[swoops]

Thanks for that but we are on a budget!

We paid $30 a month with asmllorange and we are looking for a similar figure although we could probably manage another $10.

It seems ASO are getting rid of quite a few forums, it's a shame they have always been great hosts

Any more suggestions.....Please!

[sross]

I have a fully dedicated box with Realwebhost.net but used their semi-dedicated plan for a while when I was your size, they are very vb friendly. I suffered through so many hosts -!!SUFFERED!!- and am with these guys for good approaching 2yrs and still loving it. My site is http://www.apug.org and their site is http://www.realwebhost.net
Sorry if it seems like I'm pimping them but they always go out of their way for me so I try to put in the good word when I can.

Sean

[encryption]

http://www.realwebhost.net - that website loads very slowly at my end.... it doesn't speak to well about their service as a webhosting company.... esp if they are hosting their own site on such a crowded server, it potentially shows what their shared service would be like for CPU hungry forums.

Since you're on a dedicated server, you can't really compare service..... its an apples to oranges kinda story since swoops is looking for a shared host

[steven s]

http://www.realwebhost.net - that website loads very slowly at my end.... it doesn't speak to well about their service as a webhosting company.... esp if they are hosting their own site on such a crowded server, it potentially shows what their shared service would be like for CPU hungry forums.

Since you're on a dedicated server, you can't really compare service..... its an apples to oranges kinda story since swoops is looking for a shared host

I believe they have been adding new servers and splitting the load.
I have had a few minor issues but problems have always been resolved quickly and often with a personal phone call.
Can't comment on their dedicated stuff though.

[simsim]

We paid $30 a month with asmllorange and we are looking for a similar figure although we could probably manage another $10.

It seems ASO are getting rid of quite a few forums, it's a shame they have always been great hosts

Are you expecting ASO (or any other host) to keep you on a shared server while your forum is being qualified for a VPS or dedicated server? I gave your forum a visit, it's extremely fast loading! I wonder why would you step away from a host you'd been describing as great!

As what encryption has said: you need to switch to your own server.

[hugh_]

Layeredtech have been good to me so far (touch wood!)...

hugh

[majorxp]

Exabytes has been great for me. I don't get any sort of referral bonus/fee/etc so I'm only giving them kudos because they deserve it...

http://www.exabytes.com/products/hosting/windows/

great service and great price

[encryption]

Exabytes has been great for me. I don't get any sort of referral bonus/fee/etc so I'm only giving them kudos because they deserve it...

http://www.exabytes.com/products/hosting/windows/

great service and great price

wow that seems like a lot of space + BW ...... esp for a windows hosting environment.... you'd expect something like this for Linux based hosting but to have licensed windows server host at those levels seems odd to me

[Joshs]

Thanks for that but we are on a budget!

We paid $30 a month with asmllorange and we are looking for a similar figure although we could probably manage another $10.

It seems ASO are getting rid of quite a few forums, it's a shame they have always been great hosts

Any more suggestions.....Please!

There is no way $40/month is going to get you a dedicated or even probably a good VPS.

wow that seems like a lot of space + BW ...... esp for a windows hosting environment.... you'd expect something like this for Linux based hosting but to have licensed windows server host at those levels seems odd to me

Why does space + BW have to do with it being Windows? Its not like you pay more for a Windows license to dish out more resources. Typically most larger datacenters offer Windows at no cost.

[encryption]

well for the webhost, they have to pay at least $15 more each month for each server with windows license than they would on a Linux one..... so all things being equal (considering identical hardware for a Linux / Windows server), typically you'd expect a higher break even point for Windows based servers. But the pricing on those plans is even lower than some of the lowest Linux based hosts I've personally seen.

And from a cursory glance of the package, I've seen MS ACCESS as well (which isn't free) so its only adding to their costs....

I guess I should've clearly stated what I meant is that they are offering a lot of hosting space + BW in a price range rarely seen even from Linux hosting.

Could you give me some links to the datacenters who are offering Windows at no cost ? I searched for about 2-3 weeks last May when we were looking for a dedicated Windows server to setup Streaming Radio servers and I didn't find a webhosting company that could price match a Linux based server having the same hardware config.

Nearly ALL of them offered Windows at at least $15 more for the windows based servers.

[Joshs]

well for the webhost, they have to pay at least $15 more each month for each server with windows license than they would on a Linux one..... so all things being equal (considering identical hardware for a Linux / Windows server), typically you'd expect a higher break even point for Windows based servers. But the pricing on those plans is even lower than some of the lowest Linux based hosts I've personally seen.

And from a cursory glance of the package, I've seen MS ACCESS as well (which isn't free) so its only adding to their costs....

I guess I should've clearly stated what I meant is that they are offering a lot of hosting space + BW in a price range rarely seen even from Linux hosting.

Could you give me some links to the datacenters who are offering Windows at no cost ? I searched for about 2-3 weeks last May when we were looking for a dedicated Windows server to setup Streaming Radio servers and I didn't find a webhosting company that could price match a Linux based server having the same hardware config.

Nearly ALL of them offered Windows at at least $15 more for the windows based servers.

1. Depends on the datacenter. The place we use, Windows is available at no additional cost
2. $15 is pennies if thats how much you are getting charged for Windows
3. Offering a lot of hosting space + BW has nothing to really do with Windows versus Linux
4. We use The Planet and they are one of the ones that offer Windows at no additional cost. There are MANY DCs that offer windows for free. Softlayer being another one.

[encryption]

Intel 2.4GHz Celeron Processor
1GB RAM,
80GB HDD

For $139 / month. No wonder they can afford to give you a free license of Windows 2003. Merging OS / Software costs into the price of the hardware isn't a new trick. Lemonade is free, but the cup's gonna cost ya a buck principal mate.

Moreover, during my initial searches, I was getting quoted a minimum of $15 (more each month) for Windows 2003 Web Edition (a stripped down version) and upto $30 more each month for the standard install.

While I do agree that $15 extra / month is pennies, if you're primary concentration is forum hosting, it makes a significant difference towards your breakeven. For me it does because I can't overload my server with forums, though I'd very easily tank up plain html sites on the server to break even and earn more.

I dont think you're getting what I am saying with regards to hosting space + BW. My point is not the amount of space and bw being offered on a windows versus linux based server, my point was the amount being offered in the price range mentioned since I am stating what I am, under the assumption that a Windows server will cost you more to operate than a Linux server.

So webhosts can still offer enormous amounts of BW and space, it's just odd (for me) to see it in that price range on a windows box. That is the basis of my initial comment.


EDIT
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Not to mention for every server they sell for $139 with Redhat, they probably recover the price of 2 windows Licenses, so it only makes it cheaper

[Joshs]

Intel 2.4GHz Celeron Processor
1GB RAM,
80GB HDD

For $139 / month. No wonder they can afford to give you a free license of Windows 2003. Merging OS / Software costs into the price of the hardware isn't a new trick. Lemonade is free, but the cup's gonna cost ya a buck principal mate.

Moreover, during my initial searches, I was getting quoted a minimum of $15 (more each month) for Windows 2003 Web Edition (a stripped down version) and upto $30 more each month for the standard install.

While I do agree that $15 extra / month is pennies, if you're primary concentration is forum hosting, it makes a significant difference towards your breakeven. For me it does because I can't overload my server with forums, though I'd very easily tank up plain html sites on the server to break even and earn more.

I dont think you're getting what I am saying with regards to hosting space + BW. My point is not the amount of space and bw being offered on a windows versus linux based server, my point was the amount being offered in the price range mentioned since I am stating what I am, under the assumption that a Windows server will cost you more to operate than a Linux server.

So webhosts can still offer enormous amounts of BW and space, it's just odd (for me) to see it in that price range on a windows box. That is the basis of my initial comment.


EDIT
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Not to mention for every server they sell for $139 with Redhat, they probably recover the price of 2 windows Licenses, so it only makes it cheaper

You can look at it whichever way you want, I am not going to argue at length on this. I simply stated that you were wrong on some stuff that you said. Also, Redhat costs money like Windows does. Obviously they have the costs built-in. Also, I don't know about you, but as a customer do you pay for the cup that holds the lemonaide separately? Obviously the vendor pays for the cup as a built-in cost. Its not necessarily a trick, its how stuff works for the most part.