Projects Possible

In the past month I have had two full weekends that the blog has been inaccessible due to problems at my webhost - Flexihostings.   I was left no alternative, after another full day today where they could not resolve the problem, but to change webhosts.

This evening I moved the entire blog, all images, databases, etc… so if in your reading you happen across something that doesn’t look quite right please let me know as soon as possible and I will be sure to get it corrected.   (You can just leave a comment on this post.)

To my readers,  I apologize for the inconvenience that you may have experienced.  If you tried to submit posts for the carnival please try again.  You will have until the end of the month for your submissions.  I hope that this move to the new host will produce an environment that will be a bit more stable but will also give me access to a tech support team that I am confident will be able to resolve issues in a timely manner.

Now about the retraction…  On January 8th I posted an article about choosing a webhost and I refer to my webhost of about 5+ years.  The interesting thing about this article is that it doesn’t mention the reason that I had to change hosts… Reliability.   It is incredibly important that when you consider a webhost that you absolutely choose a host that has a proven track record of reliability.  You might also want to take a look at what their definition of UPTIME is and what kind of a guarantee they offer. 

The other area that I have had to reconsider in that original article is the section on Customer Support.   Originally, I thought that email support was good enough.   This is definitely something to reconsider.  In my exchange with tech support starting this past Friday I’m still not sure that they understand what the problem is, or why their attempted resolutions are not working.  (My gut feel is there is a symbolic link somewhere that has pieces of my account pointing to one server and other pieces pointing to a different server in which Apache was compiled without MOD_REWRITE.)   Being able to get in touch with a support person 24/7 is important and still not having a resolution after 3 days is just not acceptable in my opinion.

So the retraction is that I would no longer recommend Flexihostings as a webhost based on recent experiences with Reliability and Customer Support.  Perhaps after I’ve been with my new webhost for awhile I will offer a review and opinion on them.  In the meantime choose carefully and make sure you know what is important to you and your operating environment.

I’ve been hosting my own websites for a number of years and I’ve tried a good many webhosts including 1and1.com, westhost.com and hostgator.com and I can honestly say that of all of them that I’ve tried, the best (based on my needs) for the price has been from flexihostings.net. [RETRACTION HERE - I NO LONGER RECOMMEND THEM!] I’m sure your mileage will vary and you probably have raving reviews (or perhaps horror stories) about your host as well.

Keep in mind that your requirements will vary based entirely on how you intend to use your webspace.   If you want it to simply host auction images then you would probably care less whether you could Add-On domains or access a mySQL database.  Your concern would be with ftp access and space…lots of space.  To run my blog I need to have mySQL, I need FTP, I want the ability to add domains, and unlimited email would be nice, etc..  Defining what you want to do and what is needed is really the first step in making your determination about the host you should choose.

Listed below are some of the reasons and features that I have chosen Flexihostings for what is going on something like 5 years now:

1. Customer Support - I’m not one that needs immediate gratification but if my site is down I need quick response.  At Flexihostings all support is email based.  They do however have an emergency pager option that somehow must get escalated to a different group.  When I have used that option for an inaccessible website things were corrected relatively quickly.   I don’t need a lot of hand holding when it comes to setting up databases and scripts so email support was good enough for me and since they are responsive and resolve my problems quickly I can’t complain.
2. Bandwidth - This is the amount of data that you expect to exchange.  It is usually includes not only what people view or take, (download) but also what you publish.  The more the better.   If unlimited is an option you should also probably get a clear definition of what unlimited means.  At Flexihostings I get 2000GB per month.   They happen to define it as premium.  I’m not sure what that means but let’s look at #3 for perhaps a definition.
3. Relative Speed and Response Times - What does that mean?   Well in the case of shared web host space you and any number of other customers are sharing the same server.  Depending on how much memory, processors, etc. are installed on those machines as it relates to the customers and the customer activity you could experience slow downs.   If customer XYZ is utilizing all of the resources then you will have to wait until he is done.   The same could be said for bandwidth.  If the Internet is like an 10 lane interstate highway and all you have coming to your server is a gravel road you can expect to have slow downs. 
4. Addon and Subdomains -  Most of the webhosts out there will help you get your own domain name and in most cases most of them will give you unlimited subdomains.  Subdomains would be domains like myspace.projectspossible.com or yourspace.projectspossible.com.  They have your actual domain name you are just indicating a different area of your domain.  An Addon domain however is an entirely different domain that is controlled under the same account.  So I have 1 account with Flexihostings but I get to have 10 additional domains or Addons on that account basically letting me manage 10 different domains.  For example http://www.masella.us is a domain that I have added on to my account.  It will point you to Projects Possible but it is an entirely different domain and I could put different content there if I wanted to.  Most of the time the Subdomains and Addon domains require that you use the domain name servers of your WebHost.
5. mySql, PHP, Cgi - These terms get back to what you want to run.  If you are going to need to run applications that require database access using PHP then you need to make sure that your WebHost will support them.  You should also check to make sure that the versions that you need are supported.  PHP 5 has been out for quite awhile and there are still many WebHosts using 4.X.  If your application needs 5 it will not run on that webhost.
6. Support Applications - Depending on how much help you need there are support applications that a WebHost will install that will help you setup some pre-defined applications.  For instance cPanel is a dashboard program that a lot of them will use that helps you manage your account.  From the cPanel you can add email addresses, subdomains, manage files, etc..  Fantastico is an application that simply installs other applications into your account.  If you want to run WordPress for example Fantastico can install it for you.
7. Space - How much do you get to store your “stuff”?  Depending on what you want to do space can become a critical factor.  Images and Video can take up large amounts of space.   Most webhosts will let you buy more but it just adds to your monthly fees.  Get an account that is going to offer you the space that you need with room to grow.  My account at Flexihostings gives me 150,000 MB.  More than adequate for what I am needing.
8. Price - Finally, it gets down to price. This is always an important consideration and with so many webhosts out there you have to weigh what you are getting against the price that they want to charge.   Make sure when you do your comparisons on price that you take into account all of the special deals as well as individual features.   When I just processed my renewal, Flexihostings was giving EXISTING customers a double offer.  If you renewed for 2 years you recieved 2 additional years for free.  In doing the math, this brought my price down to somewhere in the neighborhood of about $5.00 per month.

There are a ton of webhosts serving Internet users these days.  Some are fly by night, others well established.  What you need should be your utmost concern.  Make sure you ask their sales teams the clarification questions that you need answered and don’t be afraid to tell them what you want, you might be surprised that they will give it to you for little or no additional monthly fees.

Happy Hunting… If you’ve had good experiences (or bad) with your WebHost feel free to comment below.  My examples are from my host but there are plenty of others out there.