Shared Hosting Providers ...
Sep 11, 2008
After my days and days of research, even here on WHT, I'm still not sure which is my best choice for a shared hosting provider for my needs. I am NOT looking for the cheapest. I want the best and will pay for it. I'm a tech consultant (obviously not in the website arena) and will be hosting at least 3 sites (personal and business). Here is what I am looking for:
(I registered my domain names with Dotster and in 3 days I still can't get anyone to answer the phone and the live chat has been a 15-20 minute wait just for an answer on their hosting plans, so round the clock support is important!)
24/7 support that is quick to respond
Reliability and high % of uptime
Great sitebuilder tools
A company that doesn't oversell with UNLIMITED and cheap plans
A company that has high ratings in customer satisfaction
Ability to purchase my hosting plan online using Paypal is a plus
I've read about lots of nightmares here and I'd really like to avoid them. Until I started doing my research, I had NO IDEA how many hosting providers there are! I expected to make some comparisons and be able to make an informed decision,
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Jul 8, 2009
I am writing a low memory/cpu/bandwidth CMS php/mysql program to be open source.
In the process I want to make it as safe as possible but I realize that shared hosting and some vps systems can make intial security ideas not viable. So I would like to ask you about your usual system setups and how hard it is for the users to do certain things.
I assume you do not allow shell for shared, but maybe vps. Do you allow a customer to easily password protect a directory? What about mod_rewrite as a option for them?
As far as httpd.conf changes such as wildcard characters before domain names, is that something that would not be an issue for you in 'normal' environments? And of course alias folders too.
What about the ability for the client to add a non-html folder to use? In other words client's html folder is
/var/www/client1/htdocs and ability to add
/var/www/client1/newfolder
Most of this is basic stuff, but I remember in the old days that shared hosts seldom allowed things like this.
It is not so much the program will need it, but there are some extras I can program in for them if these is a normal access or requestable items. And as far as securing the program I would instruct them where to put many things that protect configs and uploaded images and such.
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Apr 26, 2009
I have a domain from go daddy but I want to use free hosting for that domain. any one know any free hosting providers.
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Mar 28, 2009
This post is the result of a frustrating 2 week search for a decent dedicated server provider in Europe.
My conclusion is: there isn't one. At least not without paying a heavy price, often double or triple of what you'd pay with a US provider. And even at that price, you often get a service that is far far bellow the quality of service you receive with many US providers.
I simply can't believe that things that are considered rather normal and expected in the US require you to pay a premium price with many EU hosting providers. I'll list just a few:
99% Network SLA
Seriously? 99%? Most providers I see in the US have at least 99.9% if not 100%. Running a good network is essential for every hosting provider. Do they distrust their networks or are they simply incapable of managing a stable reliable network for their clients?
Hardware Replacement SLA
This is a good one. Many hosts I found either have none, or they have insanely horribly... horrible ones! One example: 8 hours within office time. So what if your server goes down on Friday night? You'll be doomed until Monday, and even then it can take them all day to fix it as far as their SLA is concerned.
Others require you to pay a premium price to get a better SLA. I saw one host that wants something in the area of 150 euros for a 2 hour hardware replacement SLA. I could get another server for that.
Support
This is really a gem. Trying to find any sort of fully managed provider is nothing short of impossible. Many advertise it, but if you contact them and ask specific questions the answer is mostly "Huh? You want what installed / configured?". I did manage to find some German ones that provided decent answers, but they were German only.
Price
Last but not least, I simply cannot believe the price difference I see when comparing US to EU providers. I usually find the following combinations:
- Cheap server, expensive addons, expensive SLA options
- Expensive server, cheap addons, expensive SLA options
- Cheap server, expensive addons, horrible SLA with insane price to upgrade to a better SLA
I don't understand how the EU providers expect to receive double or triple of what you pay in the US for perhaps half or one third of service.
Reading LeaseWeb support horror stories and lately a lot of Ecatel ones too I really do wonder how those companies plan to operate in several years. I'm pretty sure that if it weren't for their larger clients they would seriously reconsider the way they operate.
I have been in the hosting market for roughly 6 years now. Started from shared to VPS to dedicated. All those 6 years, the service has improved with most companies I've had business with and service expectations have also risen quite high.
However, here in Euroland it seems providers live in some sort of relaxed state where after work hours, things are not really their problem anymore until next day.
So tell me, what am I missing here? Am I nuts, or is it really such a big difference? Why is there such a big difference and what do you think will happen in the future with many big European hosting providers?
And please don't take this personal if you live in Europe. I live in Europe myself and I really tried to find a service acceptable both in price and features, but so far this didn't work out at all.
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Jun 9, 2008
I represent a small company ~10 users, that has a domain name registered with a company like godaddy. The domain is not hosted as yet.
I would like to find a good service provider that can provide us with email hosting, i.e. we would like to get 5 email accounts with 5GB or more, larger the better.
The users will be accessing the email through Outlook and if possible through webmail.
Over time, we would like to host the website and build a site as well but that is not an immediate need
Finally, the hosting company should have good customer service.
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Apr 7, 2008
Hey how would rate hostgator and liquidweb support on a scale of 5.
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Jan 15, 2009
I have a client who wants to build a subscription online training site. This site will be hosting proprietary videos that need to be streamed (vs. downloaded).
Can anyone recommend a reliable hosting provider that:
- Supports ecommerce
- Supports streamed Flash video
- Provides a way to control user's access to videos (only access what they've purchased)
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Nov 24, 2008
Hosting providers and DDoS attacks!
Hello guys! I am looking for a reliable hosting provider! I mean the most important thing for me know is to be sure that my future hosting company will manage to protect my websites against DDoS attacks fully! What hosting company according to your opinion can be considered as the most stable hosting solution against DDoS attacs?
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May 28, 2008
In Sg, Which Hositng Providers' Email server is the most stable one? SgHosting, Poznet or Ipmirror...etc?
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Jun 27, 2008
I'm looking for unmetered bandwidth adult hosting service providers with Europe-based servers, want to keep this project on the low side.
Has anyone been trying hosting with Exmasters.com?
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Oct 12, 2008
Can we host a domain spanned over different servers?
Eg: domain.com
domain.com/blog hosted on host1 (dns.host1.com)
domain.com/forum hosted on host2 (dns.host2.com)
domain.com/wiki hosted on host3 (dns.host3.com)
Can this be done? How to implement this?
What are the features or facilities required to host like this.
Many of the free or cheap hosting companies and servers get closed very soon. They are not so reliable.
So if we can host the Blogs and Forums on a different servers and other content on low cost servers,
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Nov 11, 2008
I am posting here my experience with Theplanet and also looking to gain insights into unethical practices by hosting providers who are turning into practices of utility and credicard companies. I have been a loyal customer of Serverbeach for 4 years, I have been a loyal customer of Theplanet for more than a year .. I outsource my server administration to admins who setup , configure and manage my servers. Recently Theplanet disconnected our server as our credit card on file expired which I beleive is the right thing to do .. What ticks me off is the fact that they are charging a reconnect fee - FOR WHAT - to click a button? Just Ridiculous. THese dedicated companies are following the path of utility companies and credit card companies which slap various fees on their customers and milking customers .. sure a reconnect fee is understood if the account is not in good standing and such incidents are common on the account . What surprises me is this is the first time in 1+ year and they refuse to waive the fee , it is not the question of fee but the ethics and practices is what I am concerned about. NOw a reconnect fee , what next ? a server restart fee ? which direction are these hosting companies moving towards?
Well I explained the situation and that email is not always the best communication a phone call could have helped. Who would not agree that that single email might have stuck in a junk folder? THey had my full contact information if only they are genuine , they would call and understand what is the issue , have at risk management practices in place so their sales rep could contact me right after 3 days of non payment. But NO they rather wanted me to contact them as they take it for granted that I have been their customer for more than a year and It is not easy for me to move out to a different provider I would not have any option but to pay considering the time and effort involved in migrating to other hosting provider.
ThePlanet - Sorry but on the ethics issue I would not mind spending 100 x the reconnect fee to move to other provider who understands customers.
I am reaching out to all the individuals who sign up with these companies and respond to this post any such experiences.. HIdden fees charged by these companies ? Have you noticed how credit card companies change their billing cycles and you received the bill only to know you missed the payment due date .. ..
That said please let me know which is the best dedicated server company which I can sign up with which does not enforce hidden fees such as these and is ethical and understands and listens to customers.
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Apr 23, 2009
I'm trying to find at least three web hosting companies to choose from to host a Joomla websites on a shared server. Would consider dedicated if the deal was right. I have a friend of mine who wants to create a church website, and is looking for the best deal. I use Netfirms which I have never had an issue with, but I didn't want to be bias, and would like give him other options to choose from.
Is there a good WebHosting Review site, I could check out, or maybe someone could recommend their top three. I reading threw the forums here and I noticed there are not that many complaints with Hostgator. Again, I just want to see if there was anything out there better.
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Apr 2, 2009
This question gets asked a lot in our Helpdesk and I figured I would post our knowledgebase article here to help anyone else wondering the Pros and Cons of Unlimited Domain Shared Hosting vs. Reseller Hosting. If anyone has anything else to add, I appreciate any feedback on how we can improve our KB article.
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Given the present state of shared hosting, many clients may ask "Why would I need a Reseller account if I can host unlimited Addon and Parked domains within a single shared hosting account?". There is certainly enough Disk Space and Bandwidth provided in many of today's hosting packages, so why bother to purchase a Reseller account?
Many don't realize the drawbacks of hosting large numbers of domains within a single hosting account until they've already packed tens of them onto a single package.
So how do you know whether a Reseller account or Shared Hosting account is right for you? The answer is in how you plan to provide access to others and how "mission-critical" the sites are. You should consider the following factors when deciding on hosting a large number of domains:
1. Who will be managing these sites?
2. How important is site security between sites?
3. Will these domains need dedicated SSLs?
4. How resource intensive will these sites be (RAM, CPU, MySQL)?
In a nutshell, Reseller plans are for those who wish to host websites for other sub-clients and a shared hosting package is for a single individual managing multiple personal domains. We'll go over the 4 points above in greater detail.
1. Who will be managing these site?
If you personally own multiple domains and wish to host them within the same hosting space, you can easily do so with an Addon or Parked domain. An addon domain will allow you to host a new domain within a subdirectory of your hosting space. A parked domain will allow you to have multiple domain names point to the same content. Since addon domains reside within the same user space as your main domain, you can manage all of your domains with a single login. You can see the problem if you want to provide another user with access. Since all accounts are managed with a single set of login credentials, if you give another user access to their addon domain you are also giving them access to your main domain. If you have vital information stored on your main domain and you are hosting another domain as an addon domain for someone else, you cannot provide them access to their hosting without compromising the integrity of your main domain.
When hosting sites as a Reseller, your clients in turn will want access to their account and will want exclusive rights to their disk space and server resources. With a Reseller account, each sub-account you create gets its own username, password, and isolated user space on the server. Individual clients of yours have access to their user space and their user space alone. In addition to the isolation with regards to access concerns, each account also gets their own cPanel access. All of the same great features that you use to manage your sites can also be given to your clients. Next time client Y wants to add an email account, you don't have to do it for them for fear of giving them access to your cPanel, you can simply give them their login details and they can manage their own email accounts.
2. How important is site security between sites?
This is along the same lines as point 1. This is not necessarily related to who you are hosting for, but what content you are hosting. Imagine that you are a webmaster and you are hosting your own personal site-in-a-box community forums (such as PHPBB or vBulliten) on your main domain and a company website for a paying client on an addon domain. It is not uncommon for popular scripts to have security flaws in older versions. Script authors will often update security flaws in later versions of their software. For this reason, it is very important to keep scripts up to date on your site. But let's assume you forget to update your scripts for a couple of months and an unscrupulous individual takes advantage of a well known security hole. Using this exploit, they gain access to your forums and any subdirectories. Since you are hosting another domain as an addon, they now have access to this domain's content as well. A site defacement on this company's site may not bode well for you when they are considering you for web master services in the future.
If these two domains had been separate into two individual users (i.e. two subaccounts created through a Reseller), their content would've been inherently isolated server side by Linux's user management. Sure, your forums still would've been affected by the security hole, but the break-in would've been isolated to your site alone.
Going back to our example, let's say that instead of a corporate website as an addon domain you are hosting an image gallery site for all of your cats. In this case, it may not be a big deal if a compromise in your main domain spreads to your addon domain. After all, they are both owned by you and you're only losing some time and effort to restore these sites from your local backups (which I'm sure you've actively maintained ). But then again, you are losing time and time is money. If these sites had been separated into individual users, again, you'd only have to restore one site's content.
The idea here is isolation. Reseller plans provide you with the peace of mind to know that if one of your users doesn't keep up with their site's content as actively as they should, their actions won't negatively impact the content hosted on other domains. If you and those you host in your addons are diligent webmasters, maybe this point won't have much bearing on your decision. Only you can say for sure.
3. Will these domains need SSLs?
As of this writing, SSL certificates must have a dedicated IP address to be installed. If you are hosting multiple domains on the same shared hosting package, you can still install an SSL (or purchase a dedicated IP address and install one) but you are limited to exactly one SSL on your account. If you are hosting multiple domains on the same package (and consequently the same IP), you must choose which domains gets to have the dedicated SSL.
Sub accounts of Resellers can each be placed onto separate IP addresses and, as a result, can each have their own dedicated SSL installed.
Of course, both shared accounts and Resellers' sub accounts can use the server's shared SSL free of charge. However, some clients prefer to see their domain in the URL bar when they visit https.
4. How resource intensive will these sites be (RAM, CPU, MySQL)?
We've already established that disk space and bandwidth will be no problem. But what about CPU, RAM, and MySQL resources?
It's important to be aware of the resource needs of your website. As administrators, we have to make sure all users "play nice" on the server. We can't have user X eating all of the CPU cycles computing pi to the trillionth decimal place while you are trying to serve web pages to your loyal visitors. We have to monitor the actions of all of our users and in the event someone is stepping beyond the bounds of acceptable resource consumption, we have to take action. In most cases, this entails disabling the abusive script, but in extreme cases we have to suspend the abusive user account to prevent other domains from encountering performance degradation on their sites.
If you are hosting 100 domains as addon domains, all serving nothing but static HTML pages, maybe you will stay off the radar.
But considering most sites are more complicated than static HTML, you may want to be aware of how many sites you host as addons and what content they serve. If you're hosting the latest and greatest Joomla modules, with up to date news feeds, integrated forums modules, polls, blog posts, etc your site can certainly require a degree of CPU to serve your pages. Now imagine you have 5 or 10 of these sites all hosted as addon domains. The resources these sites need to generate their content can quickly add up and before you know it you've got a friendly email from Acenet, Inc. in your inbox wondering why your user is consuming 2 of the 8 CPU cores on the server. That may be an exaggeration, but you get the idea. In the event your resource usage becomes so excessive that we have to suspend your user, now all of your sites are down instead of whichever one may be the direct cause of the spike in CPU, RAM, or MySQL consumption.
If each of these had been separate Reseller accounts, the offending account could've been suspended temporarily while we work through the cause, leaving the rest of your domains live and kicking.
The conclusion here is that you need to be aware of the needs of your sites in a general sense. Hosting unlimited domains within a shared hosting space is certainly a nice feature. For those webmasters who have multiple presences on the web, it's very convenient to be able to manage all of their personal domains from a single control panel. For those entrepreneurs who are hosting multiple domains for other individuals, the features and security associated with a Reseller plan and the inherent isolation of Linux users is a must have.
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Jul 31, 2014
I'have a problem with my aps setup on sanbox.When i create on customer ccp when i click finish i have this error. I must only test.
Error: Instance of application with id 124 and version '1-4' can not be provided: There is no resource of class 'Shared hosting Apache' with provisioning attributes 'Web Cluster' in subscription with id 1.:There is no resource of class 'Physical hosting (IIS)' with provisioning attributes 'Web Cluster' in subscription with id 1..If i add the shared hosting apache resourse i get this error : There are no "apache" services that satisfy given attributes: "Web Cluster".
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Jul 13, 2005
I am developing a website for a client of mine (the client is a close friend and know's that he is getting a newbie). This site will be larger (project wise) than anything that I have ever done (everything I have done in the past has been FrontPage). We will be using several third party applications that need to run on the server as well as our own custom developed applications. We do not yet know how much access to the server's deeper structures we will need for all of the applications that we want loaded on our server to run. Things we have in mind: oscommerce, mysql, php5, apache, linux, vbulletin, blogger, phpbb, adserver, ect... Would these things run ok on a shared host and would I have full authority to configure them without needing full access to the server? Or will I need access to the entire server (dedicated server) in order to have full customization capabilities? I guess all I am trying to figure out at this point is will shared hosting for a large project limit our abilities to use 3rd party apps, or do most 3rd party application designers build their stuff to work in a shared hosting environment anyway? If we need to get a dedicated server we will, but if we can get away with shared hosting for a while (especially during development when the site will not be generating revenue) it would be nice to avoid the price of a dedicated server. Many thanks for your comments, insight, and expertise! Also, if anyone can sight some common scenarios that may require a dedicated server over a shared hosting plan, that may help me to understand what the limitations of a shared hosting plan vs. a deicated or virtual dedicated server are.
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Aug 17, 2008
Here is my dilemma, thanks to a thread in these forums I was directed to a hosting website called pc-core.net and I was interested in using them, because it does not appear that they oversell at all. My question is regarding the fact that they have the shared hosting for $12/month with ~5gb of disk space and 50gb of transfer. I then just looked at reseller hosting for the heck of it, and noticed i could get a reseller hosting account with 45gb storage and 450gb of bandwidth for $10/month. Even though I wont be selling hosting, or anything like that, can I use a reseller hosting account like a normal shared hosting account?...just with more space and bandwidth?
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Jun 13, 2008
I'm new to the VPS scene, so could someone tell me the difference between VPS and say shared hosting or dedicated hosting? Actually I really like to know what a Virtual Private Server actually is.. I know shared hosting is typically a single account on a server with several hundred other accounts which is used primarily for the sole purpose of hosting websites, and I know that dedicated hosting is functionally the same as colo except that you rent the server, instead of having your own purchased server plugged into some network. So what is VPS?
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May 6, 2008
Do website builders generally go with shared hosting or dedicated server? I mean, if they work on several websites would they get a dedicated server instead of shared? From what I understand through reading shared hosting is basically if you only have one website. So one with multiple websites would go with a dedicated server?
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Apr 23, 2008
I would like to know the different between the shared hosting and reseller hosting?
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Sep 25, 2009
How long do you wait before moving from shared to VPS or dedicated? Apart from security and speed, what are the benefits of dedicated hosting? This says [url] that shared is better than dedicated because you have to do less..
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May 16, 2009
I have visited a website ( i dont remember the address or its name) which had some tools to check stuff like the whois of the domain, the location of an ip etc.
Also it had a tool where you have your servers ip, and if the ip had several sites on it (shared hosting enviroment) it would make a list of all the sites with that ip....
where I can find that tool or something like that?
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May 3, 2009
I am thinking about moving hosts and I have some RapidSSL SSL Certificates and PositiveSSL (Free from Namecheap) SSL Certificates
I was wondering can I get these moved over to the new host, if I could bring the SSL Certificates without having to have either get a re-issue of the SSL Certificate or buy new ssl Certificates.
I still have the CSR, Private Key from WHM/cPanel and I would be moving to another WHM/cPanel shared hosting account
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Jun 20, 2008
I have decided to change my current webhost. Recently I have started seeing a lot of downtime. For a long time I was thinking about moving to a VPS. Unfortunately, I don't have any experience managing one. But I am willing to take any hardship to learn setting up and managing a VPS. The main set back here is that my budget is (very) limited (max $12/month). I have seen some hosts offering VPS for rates that are within the above budget.
Can you plz suggest which is better for me? Shared or VPS?
I own about 10 websites presently, but the number is going to increase as I am planning to take web designing seriously. But none of them are high traffic, infact my current monthly traffic is only 15-20GB.
What I want is a host that provide somewhat good customer support ( support ticket system that gets responded within an hour is fine with me), good uptime and allow me to host multiple domains hassle free.
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Dec 10, 2008
I have been using a shared hosting. My current host has had some unreliable services from time to time in the past. Lately, the primary reason for my decision to leave my current host is that few (or more than few) of my paid subscribers and non-paid visitors said that my website has been down for some time or for weeks or more even *after* they were able to view the site; however, it IS up and running fine for the majority of the users and myself.
What are the possible reasons for being able to view the site for a while but then later find the site down to a few users for weeks or more but the site is up and running fine for most of other people and myself? The "down" shouldn't be "selective" to some people.
Before leaving the current host, I need to know why it happens so that I can choose the right host and the right plan (and shared hosting vs VPS).
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Oct 25, 2008
About two months ago, my site was hosted on a shared server. I had no problems on a shared server, but I felt like trying something new, so I switched over to a VPS. Right now I have a plan that offers 384MB RAM, 150GB bandwidth, and 15GB disk space. I do monitor my resources, and I'm finding out that I'm hardly using any RAM at all. I check the System Usage meter a couple times a day, and it's always at 100%. My CPU usage levels reach 10% at most.
Should I stick with this VPS or downgrade to a smaller plan? I'm obviously not using up all my resources, so I think it's kind of a waste to fork out $40/month for something I'm not completely using. I'm unsure on whether or not I should go for a smaller VPS or a shared server. I mostly want to lower my budget to a maximum of $20/month. If I do go to a smaller VPS, I would need managed services. For a shared server, I would need at least 100GB of bandwidth, PHP5, and SSH.
I am leaning towards going back to a shared server, but I would like some second opinions.
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Aug 2, 2008
I am considering going for a VPS after lurker here for a while. I currently have 2 shared hosting reseller accounts that are really outdated. I need to upgrade but didn't know which way to turn.
I only host my own sites at present but might start niche webhosting in the future. I feel I should move to to vps but still dont know why. I guess I dont want to get let behind with technology.
I have around $40 a month to spend, any help would be great.
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Oct 9, 2008
As you know, many HP like dreamhost, bluehost, ipowerweb, hostgator, 5site, brinkster, netfirms.
So, i wonder that is there a rank try to sort these HP order by speed, support, and all over.
I had been used dreamhost and thinking they are the best shared hosting.
I'm also looking for a ranking in shared hosting but dont know where to find, can you tell me?
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Apr 7, 2009
I use shared web hosting service to get my website online. I'm wondering how many people use dedicated servers or virtual private servers instead and pay from $20 to several hundreds of dollars? Will I face any big problem with shared web hosting package which makes me choose dedicated servers?
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May 11, 2008
I have started building a site that allows registered users to upload video clips.
Until now I have always used shared hosting, but my host says I need a dedicated server with ffmpeg installed to allow video uploads.
(This annoyed me because when I asked about this shortly after buying a year's worth of shared hosting they told me I only needed to pay $75 and it would be sorted).
Anyway, I can't justify the cost of a dedicated server, so I need to learn a bit about shared hosting with ffmeg installed.
Is it worth it? Can shared servers cope with bandwidth demands? Are there any reputable and reliable hosts offering it?
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Dec 24, 2008
100% Uptime or Never Down shared hosting.
100% Uptime or Never Down shared hosting.
if your site is up ALL the time in the past 6-12 months, monitored by server uptime service,
please mention your host on this thread....
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