[Webdev] web hosting

[Adam Beecher]

Kae,

As far as I'm aware - and I've done extensive research into this - there are no
genuine Irish webhosts out there selling plans at reasonable prices. You're
either buying cheap from someone reselling on a server in the US or UK, with god
knows how many people on it and atrocious support; or you're buying expensive
from the likes of Esat. And from what I've heard, the support there is none too
hot either. And the prices? Phoey!

Anyway, greedy little sod that I am, I'm going to use this opportunity to do a
little market research. Kae, my apologies if I'm wasting your time here, but if
you have a response for me too, all the better...

We (ieWebs) just moved into our second server in the UK (yaaay!). It's a Cobalt
RaQ4 - 500Mhz; 128 MB RAM; 15 GB HDD; Cobalt Linux; Apache; Qmail; PHP 4; Perl
5; *koff* Chilisoft ASP; MySQL; etc. It has a built-in control panel for both
site admins and users, which is dead handy - we don't get too many support
requests, and users get control. So this is set to become our hosting machine,
but I'd like to get an honest opionion on what people *want* in their hosting
plans.

I've pretty much decided on a base plan - 10 megs, one account (c/w catch-all)
and that's pretty much it. £10 a month, one month and one domain registration or
transfer free for payment of a year in advance. I think that's pretty fair
meself, but if anyone thinks I'm robbing them, or worse, robbing meself, let me
know. It's after this fella I'm having trouble though. I don't want to have a
huge bust of plans out there, it just confuses matters. So what would *you*
(adam waves hand around with little regard for his own personal safety) want,
and what would you pay for it?

Before you leap to reply, bear in mind that:

1) These are *not* virtual servers - I decided against reselling plans because
most of the companies that handle it are cowboys.
2) The machine *is* leased, it *is* in someone else's NOC, but it's *mine* - I
have complete control over it.
3) The machine will *never* be loaded up - I'll never fill this machines, or any
subsequent ones.
4) Support comes from me, myself and I. And I spend 14-18 hours a day in front
of this yoke.

Comments, questions, general bitching and whining? Lemme know. And thanks for
your time.

adam



> -----Original Message-----
> From: webdev-admin at linux.ie [mailto:webdev-admin at linux.ie]On Behalf Of
> Kae Verens
> Sent: 25 September 2000 19:43
> To: webdev at linux.ie
> Subject: [Webdev] web hosting
>
>
> I've been hosted at $HOST for the past few months, and am finding the
> service terrible - I didn't get a lot of what I paid for (majordomo, mysql
> [1]), and the support (supposedly 24 hour) is terrible - I rarely get a
> reply to my mails at all, and usually have to resort to phoning or walking
> around to the guy who runs it to get anything done.
>
> I'm looking for a host that offers a linux server (or virtual - I don't
> care) that has PHP4 support, a MySQL database, and will allow me to create
> my own email addresses [2]. The ability to create third-level domains would
> be nice as well.
>
> All this for a reasonable price (sy, £30-£40 per month) would be great. Any
> ideas?
>
> Kae
>
> [1] I don't see the problem with MajorDomo - I'm on a virtual server, so all
> I should have to do is be given rights to create lists. That hasn't been
> done. And MySQL??? The same! I only need to be given the rights to use my
> database! That hasn't been done.
> [2] I hate offering a mail addy to someone and then having to wait two weeks
> for the present server to spell it wrong.
>
>
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