Web hosting hell - what to do? [modified]
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For the second time in a dozen years a web host we use that was previously good and got good ratings etc has been bought out or merged and service and support has gone to hell. (Hypermart years ago, now Netnation). In both cases they were humming along nicely, we never had any issues, then all of the sudden we start losing email, our websites get restored from old backups without warning, tech support can't seem to pin down major problems like we can't connect to our mail server etc. Curiously this happened in both cases just after a buyout or a merger of the hosting company. I'm checking for web hosts on "the google" and I find a billion plus a zillion web host review sites and other thinly veiled marketing scams and little else in the way of objective information. How in the world are you supposed to find a web host, are there any objective sources of information? Are there any web hosts that *don't* try to be the cheapest any more but focus instead on uptime and reliability and good customer service? Is there anyone big enough that they won't get bought out or merged? -- modified at 16:48 Friday 6th April, 2007 Thank you to everyone that responded, I've checked them out and Server Beach seems to be the closest match for our requirements. Now I just have to decide if it's worth the time and effort to learn how to setup what we need and the ongoing maintenance.
"110%" - it's the new 70%
The problems described with texh-support after buyouts are nothing new. All companies want to do is cut costs but all they land up doing is cutting their own throats. In any event, I have been using WebHost4Life for years and have never had a problem with their support. They have a variety of plans and I am only paying $20.00 a month for a shared server. However, they do have dedicated equipment if desired. I would at least look at them. I understand "Pair.com" is supposed to be quite good as well.
Steve Naidamast Black Falcon Software, Inc. blackfalconsoftware@ix.netcom.com
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For the second time in a dozen years a web host we use that was previously good and got good ratings etc has been bought out or merged and service and support has gone to hell. (Hypermart years ago, now Netnation). In both cases they were humming along nicely, we never had any issues, then all of the sudden we start losing email, our websites get restored from old backups without warning, tech support can't seem to pin down major problems like we can't connect to our mail server etc. Curiously this happened in both cases just after a buyout or a merger of the hosting company. I'm checking for web hosts on "the google" and I find a billion plus a zillion web host review sites and other thinly veiled marketing scams and little else in the way of objective information. How in the world are you supposed to find a web host, are there any objective sources of information? Are there any web hosts that *don't* try to be the cheapest any more but focus instead on uptime and reliability and good customer service? Is there anyone big enough that they won't get bought out or merged? -- modified at 16:48 Friday 6th April, 2007 Thank you to everyone that responded, I've checked them out and Server Beach seems to be the closest match for our requirements. Now I just have to decide if it's worth the time and effort to learn how to setup what we need and the ongoing maintenance.
"110%" - it's the new 70%
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A lot depends on what your needs happen to be. I have been using Server Beach for a dedicated server for four years or so with hardly any issues. Of course, it is a dedicated server so they have considerable cost (my current server is $118 per month), but you have a full Windows 2003 server (not web version) box without any retrictions other than your bandwidth which is currently 2,000 GB per month. You can host as many sites as you wish and install any kind of software you wish. They recently bought out by Peer1, but it has meant mostly good things. I personally am not a fan of shared hosting!
Rocky <>< Latest Code Blog Post: OpenID - More thought - Great system if.. Latest Tech Blog Post: Frustrated Total Internal Reflection-FTIR = Cool!
I have to throw myself in with the OP on this. A partner and I have a consulting company on the side and provide a variety of tech services; one of which is web hosting. Right now we're on HostDepartment's premier reseller plan because frankly it has the most freedom we've seen when it comes to choosing how we resell. We really hate the "referral programs." HostDepartment gives us near infinite freedom in plan pricing and features, as well as unlimited domains, and plans. Most importantly, we set our own prices and the H-Sphere back-end takes care of the billing for us, and we have finely tuned control over credits, refunds, debits etc. Now the downside: It has absolutely horrible customer support (livechat only), the pings to our servers are 2 to 3 times more than acceptible, the mail servers seem to be out 2 or three times a day, and they don't allow ColdFusion and PHP on the same server, so we have clients who have to have 2 different hosting plans because they need both. I wish we could find a provider with H-sphere hosting on either a VPS or dedicated server. ColdFusion MX6+ (prefferably 7) is a must.
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For the second time in a dozen years a web host we use that was previously good and got good ratings etc has been bought out or merged and service and support has gone to hell. (Hypermart years ago, now Netnation). In both cases they were humming along nicely, we never had any issues, then all of the sudden we start losing email, our websites get restored from old backups without warning, tech support can't seem to pin down major problems like we can't connect to our mail server etc. Curiously this happened in both cases just after a buyout or a merger of the hosting company. I'm checking for web hosts on "the google" and I find a billion plus a zillion web host review sites and other thinly veiled marketing scams and little else in the way of objective information. How in the world are you supposed to find a web host, are there any objective sources of information? Are there any web hosts that *don't* try to be the cheapest any more but focus instead on uptime and reliability and good customer service? Is there anyone big enough that they won't get bought out or merged? -- modified at 16:48 Friday 6th April, 2007 Thank you to everyone that responded, I've checked them out and Server Beach seems to be the closest match for our requirements. Now I just have to decide if it's worth the time and effort to learn how to setup what we need and the ongoing maintenance.
"110%" - it's the new 70%
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For the second time in a dozen years a web host we use that was previously good and got good ratings etc has been bought out or merged and service and support has gone to hell. (Hypermart years ago, now Netnation). In both cases they were humming along nicely, we never had any issues, then all of the sudden we start losing email, our websites get restored from old backups without warning, tech support can't seem to pin down major problems like we can't connect to our mail server etc. Curiously this happened in both cases just after a buyout or a merger of the hosting company. I'm checking for web hosts on "the google" and I find a billion plus a zillion web host review sites and other thinly veiled marketing scams and little else in the way of objective information. How in the world are you supposed to find a web host, are there any objective sources of information? Are there any web hosts that *don't* try to be the cheapest any more but focus instead on uptime and reliability and good customer service? Is there anyone big enough that they won't get bought out or merged? -- modified at 16:48 Friday 6th April, 2007 Thank you to everyone that responded, I've checked them out and Server Beach seems to be the closest match for our requirements. Now I just have to decide if it's worth the time and effort to learn how to setup what we need and the ongoing maintenance.
"110%" - it's the new 70%
John, I'm using Netnation too. Service has been fine for me. I can't find anything about a merger - who bought them out?
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John, I'm using Netnation too. Service has been fine for me. I can't find anything about a merger - who bought them out?
I'm not sure, but a few months back we started having all sorts of problems and when we phoned support it wasn't the guys in Vancouver any more it was back east in the US somewhere and when we asked what happened they said it was a "merger". We have three different sites with them, one a pretty heavy traffic site. The majority of the problems lately have been with email. We have 15 minutes or less response time to emails we receive for tech support and there have been times in the last few months when their email server goes snaky and we don't get emails until hours after they were sent. When we call it's because their server is "overloaded" processing email. Last week we couldn't send any email at all, their smtp server refused any connection despite no changes at our end. Their support told us it was probably our local ISP that we get our internet connection from (shaw cable, no other options here). We spent all day trying to work it out and then mysteriously it started working about 8 hours after it had stopped. We had finally narrowed it down working with netnation to their email server and then it just started working on it's own and they had no explanation. Yesterday we discovered that all the changes that we had spent hours making to our website the day before were gone and it had reverted. The problem was that there were a lot of small things changed and it's a big website so we can't just upload the whole thing again so again, hours were wasted picking over and comparing our website to our local copy. When we called them they said there was a problem on our server and they had to restore from backup, when we asked why we weren't notified they said "it was only a few hours". We freaked at them on the phone and said we expect that if they ever restore our server or are planning it we want a call so we know. If it had been a more subtle change the day before like a price change or an update to one of our software components we might not have noticed until it caused us all sorts of trouble and inconvenienced our customers. That was the last straw for us.
"110%" - it's the new 70%
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A lot depends on what your needs happen to be. I have been using Server Beach for a dedicated server for four years or so with hardly any issues. Of course, it is a dedicated server so they have considerable cost (my current server is $118 per month), but you have a full Windows 2003 server (not web version) box without any retrictions other than your bandwidth which is currently 2,000 GB per month. You can host as many sites as you wish and install any kind of software you wish. They recently bought out by Peer1, but it has meant mostly good things. I personally am not a fan of shared hosting!
Rocky <>< Latest Code Blog Post: OpenID - More thought - Great system if.. Latest Tech Blog Post: Frustrated Total Internal Reflection-FTIR = Cool!
Yeah I should have stated we actually run 3 different sites and that we get a *lot* of traffic and that it's our corporate site, I'm not looking for a 9.95 host :). What you are suggesting is right on the money for us. I looked at server beach and we calculated that with what we're paying now we could easily move to a dedicated server there for less money and also move our support forum there that we currently host in our own office etc. Now it's just a matter of finding the time to learn about it and plan for it I guess. Thank's for the suggestion.
"110%" - it's the new 70%
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Well I did type out a large recommendation for Rackspace.com but the message wasn't posted. The short of it is: 1. they take care of all the hardware and software stuff. 2. will assist you on anything under the sun. 3. Are there 24/7/356, by phone, email, and perfect helpdesk. 4. Multiple locations, Multiple backbones...etc. 5. Every thing is under your control,you are the boss. 6. you can be up and running in 24 hours. 7. Contracts range from 6 months, to 2 years and you can go on month to month are the contract ends. Give them a Call
Good suggestion; I'll check them out as well as server beach. Two companies that have been around long enough that I actually remember their names from way back in the day, a good sign. Our needs go *way* beyond a 20 dollar account with any other host, we're pushing into enterprise corporate territory, I should have specified that in my original post. Thanks for the suggestion.
"110%" - it's the new 70%
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I'm not sure, but a few months back we started having all sorts of problems and when we phoned support it wasn't the guys in Vancouver any more it was back east in the US somewhere and when we asked what happened they said it was a "merger". We have three different sites with them, one a pretty heavy traffic site. The majority of the problems lately have been with email. We have 15 minutes or less response time to emails we receive for tech support and there have been times in the last few months when their email server goes snaky and we don't get emails until hours after they were sent. When we call it's because their server is "overloaded" processing email. Last week we couldn't send any email at all, their smtp server refused any connection despite no changes at our end. Their support told us it was probably our local ISP that we get our internet connection from (shaw cable, no other options here). We spent all day trying to work it out and then mysteriously it started working about 8 hours after it had stopped. We had finally narrowed it down working with netnation to their email server and then it just started working on it's own and they had no explanation. Yesterday we discovered that all the changes that we had spent hours making to our website the day before were gone and it had reverted. The problem was that there were a lot of small things changed and it's a big website so we can't just upload the whole thing again so again, hours were wasted picking over and comparing our website to our local copy. When we called them they said there was a problem on our server and they had to restore from backup, when we asked why we weren't notified they said "it was only a few hours". We freaked at them on the phone and said we expect that if they ever restore our server or are planning it we want a call so we know. If it had been a more subtle change the day before like a price change or an update to one of our software components we might not have noticed until it caused us all sorts of trouble and inconvenienced our customers. That was the last straw for us.
"110%" - it's the new 70%
John, Thanks for the detailed answer. While the 4 sites I have on Netnation are small and pretty static, I do use their email and now that you mention it, establishing a connection to their SMTP server is taking a little longer then it should. I was planning on moving a clients email to Netnation but now I don't think so.. Thanks again for the heads up. -Marc
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For the second time in a dozen years a web host we use that was previously good and got good ratings etc has been bought out or merged and service and support has gone to hell. (Hypermart years ago, now Netnation). In both cases they were humming along nicely, we never had any issues, then all of the sudden we start losing email, our websites get restored from old backups without warning, tech support can't seem to pin down major problems like we can't connect to our mail server etc. Curiously this happened in both cases just after a buyout or a merger of the hosting company. I'm checking for web hosts on "the google" and I find a billion plus a zillion web host review sites and other thinly veiled marketing scams and little else in the way of objective information. How in the world are you supposed to find a web host, are there any objective sources of information? Are there any web hosts that *don't* try to be the cheapest any more but focus instead on uptime and reliability and good customer service? Is there anyone big enough that they won't get bought out or merged? -- modified at 16:48 Friday 6th April, 2007 Thank you to everyone that responded, I've checked them out and Server Beach seems to be the closest match for our requirements. Now I just have to decide if it's worth the time and effort to learn how to setup what we need and the ongoing maintenance.
"110%" - it's the new 70%
If you work on the Microsoft side of the fence and prefer first class reliability and incomparable customer service, you simply won’t find a better hosting provider than MaximumASP. As a professional software developer for more than 25 years (and a very happy MaxASP customer for 6 years) I have yet to experience a single issue that could not be resolved by their support team. They are not the cheapest but they certainly offer the best service and value for your money. www.maximumasp.com
Dwayne J. Baldwin
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For the second time in a dozen years a web host we use that was previously good and got good ratings etc has been bought out or merged and service and support has gone to hell. (Hypermart years ago, now Netnation). In both cases they were humming along nicely, we never had any issues, then all of the sudden we start losing email, our websites get restored from old backups without warning, tech support can't seem to pin down major problems like we can't connect to our mail server etc. Curiously this happened in both cases just after a buyout or a merger of the hosting company. I'm checking for web hosts on "the google" and I find a billion plus a zillion web host review sites and other thinly veiled marketing scams and little else in the way of objective information. How in the world are you supposed to find a web host, are there any objective sources of information? Are there any web hosts that *don't* try to be the cheapest any more but focus instead on uptime and reliability and good customer service? Is there anyone big enough that they won't get bought out or merged? -- modified at 16:48 Friday 6th April, 2007 Thank you to everyone that responded, I've checked them out and Server Beach seems to be the closest match for our requirements. Now I just have to decide if it's worth the time and effort to learn how to setup what we need and the ongoing maintenance.
"110%" - it's the new 70%
Rackspace
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For the second time in a dozen years a web host we use that was previously good and got good ratings etc has been bought out or merged and service and support has gone to hell. (Hypermart years ago, now Netnation). In both cases they were humming along nicely, we never had any issues, then all of the sudden we start losing email, our websites get restored from old backups without warning, tech support can't seem to pin down major problems like we can't connect to our mail server etc. Curiously this happened in both cases just after a buyout or a merger of the hosting company. I'm checking for web hosts on "the google" and I find a billion plus a zillion web host review sites and other thinly veiled marketing scams and little else in the way of objective information. How in the world are you supposed to find a web host, are there any objective sources of information? Are there any web hosts that *don't* try to be the cheapest any more but focus instead on uptime and reliability and good customer service? Is there anyone big enough that they won't get bought out or merged? -- modified at 16:48 Friday 6th April, 2007 Thank you to everyone that responded, I've checked them out and Server Beach seems to be the closest match for our requirements. Now I just have to decide if it's worth the time and effort to learn how to setup what we need and the ongoing maintenance.
"110%" - it's the new 70%
I'm happy w/ multacom.com
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What kind of box do you get for $118 and do you have full control over it including wiping and reinstalling it?
regards, Paul Watson Ireland & South Africa
Shog9 wrote:
And with that, Paul closed his browser, sipped his herbal tea, fixed the flower in his hair, and smiled brightly at the multitude of cute, furry animals flocking around the grassy hillside where he sat coding Ruby on his Mac...
Memory-1 GB
Monthly Transfer-2000 GB
Operating System-Window 2003 Server (not webserver edition)
Port Speed-10 Mbit Port (you can have 100mbit for a few dollars extra)
Primary Hard Drive -80 GB
Processor-Athlon XP 2200There is an option to reinstall the server, along with remote-reboot via the website. There are much more powerful servers but this handles without any sweat the 50-60 sites that are currently on it. You simply use terminal services and control any part of the system. It is pretty slick for the price and you no longer have to share the CPU and RAM with anyone :) They also have Linux based boxes $20 or so less per month.
Rocky <>< Latest Code Blog Post: OpenID - More thought - Great system if.. Latest Tech Blog Post: Want to test Joost (video on demand) - I have invites!
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Yeah I should have stated we actually run 3 different sites and that we get a *lot* of traffic and that it's our corporate site, I'm not looking for a 9.95 host :). What you are suggesting is right on the money for us. I looked at server beach and we calculated that with what we're paying now we could easily move to a dedicated server there for less money and also move our support forum there that we currently host in our own office etc. Now it's just a matter of finding the time to learn about it and plan for it I guess. Thank's for the suggestion.
"110%" - it's the new 70%
Yeah, ServerBeach is great on bandwidth. They can scale your bandwidth needs up to full unmetered 100mbit if the need occurs. The only problem I have with them is if you want added features they usually cost too much compared to what they would cost you to buy for your own machine, but I guess that is the cream for their company. With SB being bought out by Peer1, I doubt they will change hands for a long time. Also, they have several different locations in the US (California, Texas and Virgina - might have forgot one). Different locations have slightly different features such as in Virgina, they allow streaming servers and I think Texas is now getting the private VLans. If you choose SB, you might want to see what all possible features you would want and make sure the center your server would be in has those features.
Rocky <>< Latest Code Blog Post: OpenID - More thought - Great system if.. Latest Tech Blog Post: Want to test Joost (video on demand) - I have invites!
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Good suggestion; I'll check them out as well as server beach. Two companies that have been around long enough that I actually remember their names from way back in the day, a good sign. Our needs go *way* beyond a 20 dollar account with any other host, we're pushing into enterprise corporate territory, I should have specified that in my original post. Thanks for the suggestion.
"110%" - it's the new 70%
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Good suggestion; I'll check them out as well as server beach. Two companies that have been around long enough that I actually remember their names from way back in the day, a good sign. Our needs go *way* beyond a 20 dollar account with any other host, we're pushing into enterprise corporate territory, I should have specified that in my original post. Thanks for the suggestion.
"110%" - it's the new 70%
John Cardinal wrote:
Two companies that have been around long enough
Yeah, SB is an offshoot of Rackspace :) Managed, holding your hand servers go on Rackspace and run your own, care of your own is SB at a drastically reduced price. Rackspace is like the Gold of hosting, but comes at a premium for bandwidth among other things (IIRC most packages only include 200 GB per month). If money is no object, Rackspace is suppose to be one of the best!
Rocky <>< Latest Code Blog Post: OpenID - More thought - Great system if.. Latest Tech Blog Post: Want to test Joost (video on demand) - I have invites!
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John Cardinal wrote:
Two companies that have been around long enough
Yeah, SB is an offshoot of Rackspace :) Managed, holding your hand servers go on Rackspace and run your own, care of your own is SB at a drastically reduced price. Rackspace is like the Gold of hosting, but comes at a premium for bandwidth among other things (IIRC most packages only include 200 GB per month). If money is no object, Rackspace is suppose to be one of the best!
Rocky <>< Latest Code Blog Post: OpenID - More thought - Great system if.. Latest Tech Blog Post: Want to test Joost (video on demand) - I have invites!
Ahh! That clarifies it quite a lot for me. Actually we are all former network techs here and run our own forum server and have set up countless servers in the past of every conceivable form so I think the self serve route might be best, with the possible potential problem of it consuming too much time day to day. I'm guessing for a basic web and email we're looking at setting it up and forgetting it until patches come along?
"110%" - it's the new 70%
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For the second time in a dozen years a web host we use that was previously good and got good ratings etc has been bought out or merged and service and support has gone to hell. (Hypermart years ago, now Netnation). In both cases they were humming along nicely, we never had any issues, then all of the sudden we start losing email, our websites get restored from old backups without warning, tech support can't seem to pin down major problems like we can't connect to our mail server etc. Curiously this happened in both cases just after a buyout or a merger of the hosting company. I'm checking for web hosts on "the google" and I find a billion plus a zillion web host review sites and other thinly veiled marketing scams and little else in the way of objective information. How in the world are you supposed to find a web host, are there any objective sources of information? Are there any web hosts that *don't* try to be the cheapest any more but focus instead on uptime and reliability and good customer service? Is there anyone big enough that they won't get bought out or merged? -- modified at 16:48 Friday 6th April, 2007 Thank you to everyone that responded, I've checked them out and Server Beach seems to be the closest match for our requirements. Now I just have to decide if it's worth the time and effort to learn how to setup what we need and the ongoing maintenance.
"110%" - it's the new 70%
Bluehost. Very good prices, OC-48, quad-core Linux Apatche shared, 2 TB bandwidth, I think 200GB storage, 2500 email, 20 subdomain. The only thing lacking is the 50 SQL databases. https://www.bluehost.com/tell\_me\_more.html Please ask me for a referral link if you use it. :)
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gilabite wrote:
Run your own webserver.
IMO, that it the most expensive solution.
Ericos Georgiades
Startup cost yes. But in the long run no. Plus total control over everything, and not having to worry about your webhost changing anything or their security over "your" server. I prefer to own my stuff not rent it even if it does cost me more money to start.