Need some help with webhosting

[Sultry_Selenia]

Good morning :p

I've been poking around and looking into possibly switching webhosts. My problem is I'm not sure what type of plan to go with. I can't find any really good information covering the advantages and disadvantages of each. I figured I'd ask here since I'm sure a lot of you have first hand experience with this kind of thing. Thanks in advance for any help!

I know how dedicated and shared hosting work - the main types I'm trying to find out more on are virtual hosting, collocated, and semi-dedicated. Most of the stuff that I've found just seems to be either really vague about these, or just geared towards selling the service more than telling me about it. So I'm pretty much in the dark.

My main concerns are having as close to 100% uptime as possible and not having bandwidth issues because of being on oversold shared hosting.

[martinsc]

i use servage.net and i am very happy with them...
no issues with them

[Donfoolio]

the people I deal with are always up. As for space and bandwidth most if not all companys let you upgrade when you need it. I don't know what you want to host but dedicated is more for experts who know how to use root access, and virtual is for most people new to webmastering and is fine for a TGP. But it is not fine for a pay site. So depending on what you do, one might be better than the other. The place I deal with ( see sig ) has been really good to me support wise and I have not had any downtime at all in the 6 months I have been using them.

[Roby]

Check my sign maybe this guys on icq can help you.

[Lycanthrope]

Virtual (aka "shared") Accounts - typically for smaller sites that use less bandwidth and resources. These will be on a server with many other sites "sharing" resources.
Semi-Dedicated - similiar to virtual in that you share a server with others, but the users and limited and you get more bandwidth and may use more resources.
Dedicated - your own server. Every resource is yours.
Colocation - you own your own server but house it somewhere and use their bandwidth / connection.

Everyone has different needs, so if you need some more help deciding, feel free to hit me up.

[phatbiatch]

A thing to know about dedicated is that you are more or less on your own. If you don't know what you are doing or don't have experience with certain control panels you can feel completely and totally helpless. And I'm someone who has been webmastering herself for close to 4 years, but on shared. So if you have someone who can be your webmaster and knows the ins and outs of running a server, go for dedicated. If not, you might want to consider a dreamhost shared hosting account. Their webpanel is extremely easy to get used to and you can't beat the price for the amount of storage space and bandwidth per/month you get. I can give you $30 off with my promo code for GFY'ers use " GFY30 " http://www.dreamhost.com/shared/comparison.html

[Lycanthrope]

A thing to know about dedicated is that you are more or less on your own. If you don't know what you are doing or don't have experience with certain control panels you can feel completely and totally helpless. And I'm someone who has been webmastering herself for close to 4 years, but on shared. So if you have someone who can be your webmaster and knows the ins and outs of running a server, go for dedicated. If not, you might want to consider a dreamhost shared hosting account. Their webpanel is extremely easy to get used to and you can't beat the price for the amount of storage space and bandwidth per/month you get. I can give you $30 off with my promo code for GFY'ers use " GFY30 " http://www.dreamhost.com/shared/comparison.html

Whatever you do Selenia, ignore this post. All of it.

[archyboy]

find the top 21 webhosting companies top21webhosting.com

[SexoboliC]

webair is good

I've just go to them and they aren't perfect but still best for that price

[Jenny S.]

It all depends on what you are hosting and how busy your site is. You probably do want dedicated, because it's a real pain to switch hosts again in a year, or so. Dedicated does cost money, unfortunately, so does transfer volume.

Most people just look at bandwith and price, but that's not all, at least not if you host movies. Don't get fooled by slogans like "unliminted bandwith" it is BS. Ask about connection speed. You'll find, many of the server provider's pages are silent when it comes to this. It's like, I sell you unlimited water, but you only can syphon it through a 1/2" pipe (10mbs).

What kind of server is it? A Celeron 2,6 512 MB is fine for a pic site but you shouldn't us it for streaming or larger movies. A Pentium4 3,0 2048 MB would be better in this case.

What about support? If the server tanks on a Friday night and Monday is 4th of July, does this mean your customers won't see anything until Tuesday night?

What about control panels, mySQL, etc.? Gettting a server is almost as complicated as getting a cell plan, a loan, or life insurance, the server guys do everything to muddy the water.

[Sultry_Selenia]

Thank you all the help. I'm going to evaluate exactly how much I need as far as bandwidth and disk storage and then go from there.

Semi-dedicated is sounding like the best option for me though, many thanks Lycanthrope for breaking down the types for me.

[jimb]

Contact me, I can get you a dedicated server is a Great Datacenter that has had ZERO Downtime in the last 3 years ;)

Tear2Hosting ( http://www.tear2hosting.com )

ICQ: 333-300-283 or Email: Jim AT Tear2Hosting Dot Com

Jim

[Cash]

Try the plans of
Exmasters' gift - $0.29/GB for galleries ...

[fantabulous]

try this

[Sami]

http://www.ServerProvider.com


Contact me with any questions.

311848143 on icq.

[joefriday]

All I can say is good luck, server hassles are just part of the game.

[charleychacko]

This one should SUIT you the BEST, check my Siggie

[Tim]

http://www.nichefhgs.com/hosting.html

[faded]

Contact me, I can get you a dedicated server is a Great Datacenter that has had ZERO Downtime in the last 3 years ;)

Tear2Hosting ( http://www.tear2hosting.com )

ICQ: 333-300-283 or Email: Jim AT Tear2Hosting Dot Com

Jim

Which datacenter is that?

[Jon Clark - BANNED FOR LIFE]

Contact Baddog at GotWebHost! That is all you need to know!

[Chris-SA]

If you need reliable hosting, please visit ServerAdvance. We offer Low Bandwith Dedicated Solutions that run on Dell PowerEdge 850 Servers.

[jimb]

Which datacenter is that?

Equinix Ashburn Virginia IBX

Jim

[HCBabes]

I'd go with lelahosting.com... You get good disk space and 250 gigs of bandwith. Their reseller 250 plan is what I started out with and it was great and easy on my pockets.

[u-Bob]

Can't go wrong with OC3 Networks.

[faded]

Equinix Ashburn Virginia IBX

Jim

You've been in Equinix Ashburn 3 years? I ask because Ashburn has not had 3 years of solid (power) uptime (that you claim) and you would know that had you been around for as long as you say.