It just won't work!
Here is another chapter in the amazing story called "Andreas hosting problems"…
Despite the fact that my site is hosted through an expensive VPS hosting package since a couple of months back, I keep on having problems with my websites. Many of you have noticed database errors and downtime, as several of my websites have been down most of today. My patience has taken many hard hits from previous problems with the hosting, but I have sticked with my host because of the good customer service and the great feature set. But I am tired of the crashes, enough is enough.
I am now looking for a new host, not only for andreasviklund.com but for all my sites (15 domains and sites in total). I want to put all sites in the same place, to make it easy to work with them all. I have a list of things that the hosting package must have, and I have a list of priorities where "uptime" and "reliability" are more important than price and features. I am very interested in sponsored VPS hosting, so I welcome all wild ideas and discussions about possible sponsorship solutions. I also welcome recommendations from those of you who have experiences of different hosts VPS packages. No recommendations for shared linux accounts, please! That is not an option anyway.
Sorry for the mess…
Comments
Comment from James
Time: July 12, 2006, 4:52 am
If you're dead set on going VPS a very popular and highly rated VPS provider is PowerVPS (http://www.powervps.com/). They were on my short list when I was considering VPS solutions. I've decided to hold off and go for full dedicated since I have the training and experience to manage a full box on my own.
If you want a full dedicated solution at near VPS cost, and excellent tech support, I would definately recommend putting SoftLayer (http://www.softlayer.com/) on your short list.
I migrated a high traffic client over to their Intel Pentium D 920 setup with 2GB of RAM and dual 250GB 7200rpm HDD a few months ago and it significantly out performs their old server which had 4GB of RAM and dual PIV processors. The network throughput and uptime is exceptional and support is fast and friendly.
What I like most about SoftLayer is the scalability in package selection. If you're somewhat familiar with Linux, the web and web hosting, you can easily configure a powerful full dedicated box for well under $200/mo. Considering the going rate for full dedicated boxes with support, $200/mo. is almost unheard of for a quality host.
HTH.
James
Comment from Keith Ashwood
Time: July 12, 2006, 10:08 am
We have our own dedicated server with lots of room. We have it through here:
http://www.server4you.com/us/. We been there some time and in over a year has not been done. Our package is no longer even offered. Its above the Dual power option. If this has the features you need and depending on your bandwith we might be able to help. Just let me know.
Keith Ashwood
Comment from Andreas
Time: July 12, 2006, 10:22 am
Thanks, all of you! I will check all your recommendations. The reasons why I don't aim at a dedicated server are pretty simple:
1. I think that it would be a bit overkill. And…
2. I don't have the skill or experience to run an own server. It has to be fully managed and monitored by someone else…
Comment from Keith Ashwood
Time: July 12, 2006, 11:35 am
I quess it really depends on what you want to do with it. I changed hosts so many times I don't want to do it again ever. It is nice to be with someone stable.
Comment from greg
Time: July 12, 2006, 2:35 pm
rackspace.com
best server host in the world, and 100% fully managed fanatical support, you will pay for that though ;)
Comment from Michael Pate
Time: July 12, 2006, 2:55 pm
My only experience with a vps is Bytemark. I found them to highly reliable. I would still have the account except that I decided that managing my own server was more hassle than I needed.
Comment from Jesse
Time: July 12, 2006, 7:04 pm
I think one that should make the short list is http://www.inmotionhosting. I had almost perfect uptime.
Comment from Matt
Time: July 12, 2006, 7:04 pm
I would give netfirms.com a shot. They're very professional, and after two years of use I've yet to have a problem. Their 'FAQ's have covered pretty much any question I've had about the hosting account.
Very professional, quick, with no downtime so far.
Comment from Andreas
Time: July 12, 2006, 7:41 pm
What I am curious about is if you have had sites with good traffic (5-10k visitors per day) on these companies VPS packages. How is the customer support? Has something serious happened during your time with the company? (and so on…)
I am really tired of hearing "We can't see any error now. Please tell us how we can recreate the error" everytime something has crashed and the CS has fixed it without telling me what was wrong from the start…
Comment from Mark Olson
Time: July 12, 2006, 9:12 pm
I also use siteground for my hosting and I have just received the famous…we want you to switch to this VPS hosting package. Siteground may have amazing costomer assistance, but I am very skeptical of their push to VPS hosting packages.
I run a very small personal site, which is where I keep my blog and some other things. But if you are using siteground, you better not have any bells and whistles like a photo gallery. I do store my photo's on flickr, but it would be nice to show them within the theme of my site without going over board on my cpu consumption.
I have been placed on some sort of restriction by siteground because my gallery is using too much CPU. So I guess sitegroud is only good for a page of html and oh … not much else. The thing is, I get less than 100 visitors a day.
Sorry to hear that you are having so many problems Andreas - even after you have given Siteground more money for "better services". Maybe they should tell the consumer this in their what seems to be a great deal.
Comment from seanrox
Time: July 12, 2006, 9:15 pm
Andreas, it really sounds like you need a dedicated machine. I know you mentioned that you don't have any system admin skills but you could read up on it or pay someone a small fee to maintain it for you.
I'm stumped on how 5-10k of visitors per day would crash your site and/or the machine you're hosted on.
One of my hosting machines has 40 different sites hosted on it getting well over 10k of visitors and it never burps or goes down and it's not a top notch machine. It's a dual PIII 700 machine with 2 gigs of RAM.
Maybe your current hosting company needs to update the server software to resolve your problems?
Comment from randy
Time: July 12, 2006, 9:41 pm
check out httpme.com
they don't hide their uptime http://status.httpme.com/
they have an awesome community. register an account and ask your questions you will be most happy with the answers.
support is awesome, again check the forum for examples.
We use their services.
Comment from Phoenix Turley
Time: July 12, 2006, 10:05 pm
I love netgate.net for hosting. They are wonderful. Good people. Wounderful customer service3. Real tech support. Real people and real phone numbers. I have been with netgate for 7 years and they are worth every penny and more. Tell em Phoenix sent you.
Comment from Andreas
Time: July 12, 2006, 10:05 pm
Mark Olson: Two weeks ago I would have recommended you to go for their VPS. But now I'd say "Look for something better". Even the most expensive VPS (the "Elite" package) has caused three serious crashes in the four months that I have used it.
The e-mail server died, causing hundreds of e-mails to dissappear for me over two weeks. GD lib was dead so a lot of image features in different galleries didn't work, and in order to get it working again the support had to re-compile the Apache services. Then the MySQL database got corrupted beyond repair. I was told that they would restore a four month old backup to get it working again. When I questioned the nonsense in that question, the error was suddenly fixed - and I was asked to tell the customer support how they could re-create the error. As if I would know that. And finally, I paid for the "Elite VPS", but discovered that in reality I had only got the features of a "Standard VPS". This was changed at discovery, but still…
So… The customer service at SiteGround is really good. But I am extremely disappointed at the lousy limitations of the shared hosting accounts and the unstable software of the VPS packages. And the "please tell us how you caused this"-questions from the techies has now ruined the day for me twice. So while SiteGround is not bad, I'd recommend you to not do what I did. Look for something better right away.
seanrox: Something has been seriously wrong with my VPS, no doubt about that. But since I can't tell my host how they should do to recreate the errors, they can't fix it. And yes, everyone tell me I should go for dedicated server. We'll see. I could actually place an own server at my office if I wanted to. But honestly, I don't. Anything outside cPanel is unknown ground, and I really want to avoid that…
Comment from Andreas
Time: July 12, 2006, 10:12 pm
Ok, this is getting too much, I need some time to review the suggestions I have got and the ones I had since before. The next step will probably be to find a website sponsor to cover the costs for a reasonable time ahead. But not tonight, I need a day off to launch a new site… =)
I'd also like to ask people who send me login details to prepared accounts on their own servers that I appreciate your help and I am sure you mean well. But I have many good options now, and what I need to do now is to narrow the list down - rather than getting more options to consider. I truly appreciate your support (seriously, you guys are amazingly generous!) but since my website is my full-time job today I don't want to rush right into something without having considered all options and carefully selected a way that feels good.
Thanks, give me some time now and I'll do something good out of this.
Comment from Gordon Tatler
Time: July 12, 2006, 11:07 pm
I have been using UK based names.co for over 12 months, and have NEVER had any problems - 100% uptime, a range of packages, php, MySql etc
Comment from dandyna
Time: July 12, 2006, 11:10 pm
I have experience with several hostings and have to say that the best service I've got was from SurpassHosting
Comment from Jasper
Time: July 13, 2006, 4:48 am
Hi Andreas! I am sorry to tell you this, but I think with a website that reaches 5-10k visitors daily, you're doomed to get many replies to your posts :-)
To structurize it a little bit: tell us your exact needs. Everybody has been with bad and good hosts, but that's just subjective. What you need is a stable, powerful solution for your needs, but no one can tell you exactly what you need now. So please state diskspace, bandwidth, resources, required serverlocation etc etc.
BTW, no I am no representive for a hostingcompany or whatever :) Just a dude with some experience, that's all.
Comment from Jonathan Lyon
Time: July 13, 2006, 5:21 am
Here's a deal, if you can help me out with CSS I'll provide you free hosting for all your sites for a year and may well be able to give you some business as well.
My brother owns his own
Comment from Jonathan Lyon
Time: July 13, 2006, 5:24 am
web hosting company. Check it out here http://www.ontheweb4life.com. Let me know what you think.
Cheers
Jonathan
Comment from Peter
Time: July 13, 2006, 3:39 pm
I use both httpme.com and rackspace.com…
info on VPS http://httpme.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25479 (they may be "sold out" right now….) They add boxes as they go.
rackspace.. well is rackspace. I run a windows box and a RedHat on them….
you should be able to get a rackspace redhat box w/ PLESK for something around 575 a month. (and somethiing like 1TB of upload bandwidth)..
Comment from James Stewart
Time: July 13, 2006, 10:26 pm
Well not sure if you have heard of http://www.GarageCoLocation.com they offer a good 3.00 dollar a month hosting. Although they dont offer VPS only the shared hosting or dedicated server plan but they do have a good reseller plan. For a flat fee you the ability to host 50,000 sites, with their own MySQL databases. You can get the reseller plan just for you but what is cool since you can host people and they have their own interface to manage their site you can even charge them through the paypal if you wanted them.
Just an idea. :)
Comment from Benny
Time: July 14, 2006, 6:24 am
Andreas,
honestly all "cheap" hosts are crap no matter what anyone think or say. Think of it … how on earth should any one be able to run a thing for $3 or $10 or even $100 and be able to have a "super support and a totaly fail safe system"? In case you find one with a "PRO infrastructure" please mail me a.s.a.p. IF you are looking for a pro host you also need to pay for it. Same as ISP, there IS a difference between 10mbit and 10mbit. Using 10mbit as a private customer and pay $20/month for it is NOT the same as a PRO10mbit dedicated even if the speed "might" be 10mbit on both. The $20 is UP TO 10mbit but the 10mbit at $500 is ALWAYS 10mbit 24/7/365. Same with webhost. Looking for PRO stuff = more $$$ to pay and if running a company go for the PRO stuff and not all the cheap things around the world. There is about 5.000.000 so called webhost around the world and most of them ;) is running from some once "boy room" with all the things you DON'T ;) want! Andreas, you are a PRO so GO pro and find a host in SWEDEN, swedish support, swedish feedback and all other things in Sweden. More to pay? Yes but you get it back when you problems stops!
// Benny
Comment from Best Hosting Ever
Time: July 14, 2006, 8:29 am
Comment from CoolGoose
Time: July 14, 2006, 9:05 am
Well i have max 2 months and i will make my own web hosting company and i don't agree with what you say. The problems appear only from the ignorance of the people that should offer support or maintenance. Imho the problem appears only because people add something like over 1000 sites and oversell like crazy on a server that they claim it's an dual xeon whatever but with only 1 gb of ram. I know that this sounds like a advertisement but i prefer to have some athlon 64 3000+ with 1/2 gb of ram and a max of 125 customers per server. The top plan will be a 70-75 euro one with 125 gb space 1.25 TB traffic with a max of 2 clients per server. And if you say that's overselling the bandwidth i will point you at a little clause from the TOS that says you can't have streeming sites or download only sites like rapidshare.de or something like that.
Thanks for your time. (as we all know that time costs money :))
Alexandru Bucur
Comment from Benny
Time: July 14, 2006, 10:25 am
Alexandru - now ;) there will be 5.000.001 web host out there …
// Benny
Comment from CoolGoose
Time: July 14, 2006, 11:03 am
Yap ;). But when you think that there are 5 000 000 000 sites or something like that and there are at least 2 milion peoples that have problem like andreas there's a big piece to take :). And i think that 70 euros for a 125 gb 1.25 tb trafic with only another customer on a athlon 64 3000+ with 1 gb ram is good considering that it beats lots of other vps semi-dedicated offers :P
Comment from michael
Time: July 14, 2006, 3:59 pm
Hi Andreas - I sent you an email when you initially asked about hosting, and another when you indicated that you had mail server issues. Seems that posting here might be better :)
I work at Rackspace, and had several possible options for you. Drop me a note - my work email is on this comment, or you can get me at myname @ mydomain.
Warm Regards,
Michael
Comment from Andreas
Time: July 14, 2006, 4:22 pm
Michael: Yes, I know. =) I will send you an e-mail soon, as Rackspace is one of the most interesting options to me. I like the idea of having "fanatical support". I would be happy to pay for a service like active error prevention, if all the other pieces fits in the puzzle.
Comment from Manfredi
Time: July 14, 2006, 6:36 pm
Grazie a te sono riuscito a risolvere un mare di problemi Grazie
Manfry
http://www.manfry.eu
Comment from puppyscent
Time: July 15, 2006, 12:16 pm
Andreas,
We just signed up for a BantamVPS account with http://www.railsmachine.com. Their niche is in Rails hosting, but it also happens that they've kindly provided an attribution to you and your work (see the bottom of the main page).
I wish you luck in your search for not only fanatical support but truly reliable hosting.
- Mike
Comment from Filip
Time: July 16, 2006, 10:40 am
Http://www.dommel.com = NEVER DOWN
Comment from Andreas
Time: July 16, 2006, 1:41 pm
Filip: I couldn't find any VPS service at that site. And the 20GB traffic that their best hosting package offers will not be enough. I need atleast 200GB, preferably more.
Comment from Brent
Time: July 16, 2006, 10:18 pm
Comment from yugnats
Time: July 24, 2006, 1:03 am
check those guys out andreas, they have packages you will be interested in and they are a very reliable company.
Comment from john Allsopp
Time: July 12, 2006, 1:49 am
Andreas,
try pair.com
We've been using them for years, wth quite a few domains hosted, running php, rails, and other apps as well as lots of vanilla HTML.
Very good tech support (Rails is a bit of a pain as they won't give you root on even your own boxes), fantastic uptime.
HTH
john