Virtual Private Server
In case you missed it, I am sad to say that it happened again. My website was overloading the server at my webhost, and instead of giving me a warning and a chance to fix the problem they suspended my hosting account and killed my access to both the files and my e-mail. Again!
The SiteGround support crew promised me last time that they would not do this again. If my site would cause more overloads, they would let me know about it so I could take care of the problem. But they didn't let me know. When I woke up this morning the site was just gone. And like last time, I didn't get to know what the problem was at all. I assume that it is the same "CPU overload" problem, but all I have is a WordPress installation and a statistics script. Fresh installs of both.
The difference from the last time was that I got really mad this time. Most because I was disappointed that I didn't get a chance to fix the error, but also because I am working on the next version of my site - and on four different commercial projects which are stored on this server. I need to access the server this weekend so I can finish these projects tonight and tomorrow, but suddenly it looked like I could expect a downtime that would last for a few days. I have shown a lot of patience with my host until now, since I absolutely love their 24/7 personal service and their great hosting features. I have turned down free hosting offers, even some amazing ones (thank to all of you who have offered me help, you know who you are and you know that I appreciate it!) just because I want to have all sites at the same single place. And I have really liked the amazing price level that SiteGround has. $5 per month is really, really cheap. But when this happened, I was ready to leave them and find a host that could atleast give me a chance to correct the errors before shutting off my access to my own site and telling my visitors that my account is suspended. I was so incredibly tired of this. All the friendly offers came to mind.
But I never got time to seriously consider moving to any other host. Mostly because SiteGround wouldn't let me do it. I was not given any other option than to upgrade my account to a VPS, a Virtual Private Server. Unless I did that, I wouldn't get access to my files. I wrote a number of angry messages to the support crew because of this, and I was probably a bit rude which I apologize for. But my account was suspended, and that was no good position for negotiations. So in a moment of desperation and anger, I purchased the upgrade. My boss was kind enough to sponsor the cost for the first month. Within only one hour my site was back online again, now on a VPS. Even at a situation where I am totally mad at SiteGround, I still get impressed by their incredibly quick service…
However, I have made one thing perfectly clear: If they EVER close down ANY of the websites they host for me, or if they ever restrict access to any of my accounts without giving me a warning and a chance to fix the error first, I will pack my bags and move every site I have to some other host. Since that is 12 full-scale websites right now (client sites included) and more are added all the time, I truly hope that I won't need to do this. What I know for sure is that this website will never have any problems again. I've been promised that by SiteGround support. Since the VPS is not sharing resources with anyone, I don't have any limitations in terms of CPU usage. In other words, the VPS should be able to handle websites with lots of visitors. However, the VPS hosting costs US$169 per month, which is a lot compared to the $5 I paid for a shared linux account per month. I will definitely need to find a couple of good long-term sponsors that can help me keep the website alive. I wouldn't want to add more advertisements, so I will soon make a public appeal for sponsorships. I already have two helpful sponsors which I will introduce soon, but I will need atleast two more.
Anyway, andreas00 is coming up soon. Like the teaser image says, it is actually andreas01 version 2.0 - but I have mixed in bits and pieces from my other templates as well so I'll release it as andreas00 - the final template in the andreasXX series. For now. More about that tonight…
…if my site is still online then…
Comment from Ainslie
Time: April 7, 2006, 19:02
How did you manage to overload the CPU?
I do wonder if the amazing specs that SiteGround offer can actually be achieved with the limit on php processes! I can only think that the overload is caused by volume of visitors that the specs should be able to support. If they can't then the whole thing is a bit of a con.
You know I sometimes wonder about running my own server rather than relying on somebody else. I never get round to it though as it seems like too much trouble. At $169 per month that doesn't seem so much trouble.