For years I was disappointed with shared web hosting because of slow page loads or spam blacklisting because another user on the same IP address abused their email privilege.
Server performance isn’t an issue with static HTML pages but it’s critical for PHP and MySQL platforms such as WordPress, Gallery, etc. Dedicated hosting was (and still is) too expensive for my budget but I discovered that a virtual server (VPS) provided the control I needed. With proper balancing of customers per server performance should be acceptable.
Unfortunately my experience with HostForWeb’s VPS wasn’t stellar; decent customer support but the performance was terrible. I compiled a list of wants and needs in search of a new web hosting provider.
- Linux VPS
- cPanel based
- Full support for PHP, MySQL, gd library, etc.
- Unlimited domains
- Unlimited bandwidth
The provider I found was Rackforce out of Canada. Mostly self-serve with on-line and telephone support but at $79/month it wasn’t cheap. Tech support was responsive and the server performance was excellent, unfortunately I winced at the fee during the years I was a customer.
Enter the economic downturn of 2009. All good aside $79/month is too much when competitors are offering shared hosting for $5/month. Dare I consider shared hosting again? It must have improved all these years later and the sub-$25 monthly fee was looking attractive. Some things might need to go (VPS and unlimited bandwidth) but others must stay (cPanel, PHP, and MySQL).
I took the plunge with a $24/month reseller plan at HostGator. Middle-tier pricing but a solid feature which met my needs. The cPanel interface is stripped compared to my Rackforce VPS but transferring a Linux hosting account isn’t difficult. A few days later I had everything transferred, DNS updates and all.
It’s been a month and no problems to report. PHP/MyQSL-based services such as WordPress are fast. According to mon.itor.us there is 100% up-time on the domains I’m hosting. Let’s hope I never get mentioned on Digg because the bandwidth fee could bury me. Maybe that’s not a bad thing either.
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