Looking for a new webhost

After last night's network issues and intermittent problems with my host, I'm considering getting a new host for my vB forums. Installing vBPicGallery took over two hours when it should've only taken me 10 minutes at most to do the template edits and set usergroup permissions. That should give you an idea how slow things were. :mad: I woke up to a boatload of database errors in my email.

I have two forums which aren't very large, yet. What I'm looking for most is reliability and decent quota's while keeping the price decent.

I looked into a few VPS options but frankly, I cannot swing that $$ right now.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
dan

Here is something you don't wanna see in your email when you wake up.

http://www.daneeboy.com/vbdbsm.png (http://www.daneeboy.com/vbdb.png)

well, you know who I'm going to recommend ;)

Here is something you don't wanna see in your email when you wake up.

(http://www.daneeboy.com/vbdb.png)

They could have been resetting the server, or restarting mysql.

well, you know who I'm going to recommend ;)

you're with hostww right? I checked into them and emailed there support team they're nice and have everything I need/want the only thing I dislike is only 10 GB of HD space

They could have been resetting the server, or restarting mysql.

Nope, they've been having all sorts of issues ever since the power failures in July. According to their blog, they'll be replacing some of their equipment Monday which means more downtime for my site. Frankly; it's been 2 months since the power failures things shouldn't been fix'did by now.

Danny, is this those ev1 people in texas? or, worse, the infamous theplanet.com?

I've been using Host Monster (http://www.hostmonster.com/) for a year or so. They top my list on everything.

Dan 10 gigs of storage is pretty good. I have 3 sites on that with room left over (tho I will be upgrading soon as I'm planning on some expansion of 2 of the sites)

I'm setup with hostww, they come recommend and the reviews are good online. :)

I'm currently hosting 30 domains only but using about 5 and am sitting at 24 GB used with DreamHost. I plan to move just my forums over to hostww and keep my blog sites with dreamhost until my plan runs out (next June) then I'll probably upgrade my account with hostww.

Other than that, I do have a couple of questions how is best to migrate to the new server.

Here's what I've been thinking. I own odjt.com & ourdjtalk.com.

Here's what I was going to edit the DNS entries for odjt.com, wait for them to propagate then upload my forums and the DB and redirect ourdjtalk.com (Main URL) to odjt.com. Once everything is stable I'll update the DNS for ourdjtalk.com and move everything over from odjt.com and redirect odjt.com to ourdjtalk.com like I have it now.

Does anyone see a problem with this.. is there any easier way?

Phil at Hostww will move your sites over for you, free of charge, if you ask. ;)

I also use hostww and like what I have seen so far. Wise choice Danny Boy.

Thanks. Phillip from support is very helpful. I screwed up and ordered a regular hosting package when I needed a resellers package because I have so many domains. He fixed everything in less than 5 minutes.

The only negitive thing I'll say is cPanel stinks, Dreamhosts panel spoiled me but I can live with it if the hosting is as reliable as they say it is. ;)

I cancelled my dreamhost account and because I was still in the introductory period (97 days) I still get a full refund, Yippie! :D I'm so glad I cancelled.

I'm still in the process of progating the DNS.. cPanel doesn't let you add a domain unless the DNS is updated. :( Hopefully by the time I wake up tomorrow everything will be sorted out.

-Danny

See, I like cPanel....

Oh, and some hosting info is here: http://www.vbulletin-faq.com/web-hosting.htm

I like cPanel too. I doubt I'd go with a host that didn't offer it

See, I like cPanel....

Oh, and some hosting info is here: http://www.vbulletin-faq.com/web-hosting.htm

Let me give an idea of how stupid cPanel, IMO. is for every additional domain I added, it makes a subdomain on my original domain then I cannot delete the subdomain unless I delete the addon domain. I just don't understand why. :confused:

One big thing I'm gonna miss is DH's (DreamHost.. not the other thing ladies :p) directory structure. Every domain I added got it's own directory in $home. With the new host each domain is a subdirectory of my orignal domain name.

To me the whole cPanel system from adding email addresses to domains is counter productive for people with more than say 3 domains.

I also wonder why I cannot have both POP/IMAP access & forwarding for the same email addy?

I'm not complaining just venting :)

huh? no... each of your domains should be just that... a domain, not a subdomain. Perhaps you're not doing something right? I have 4 individual domains on my account

huh? no... each of your domains should be just that... a domain, not a subdomain. Perhaps you're not doing something right? I have 4 individual domains on my account

Phil was saying something about giving each domain it's own account from the resellers panel. I really cannot see logging into 18 different accounts to make changes when needed. Ya know?

Here's my thing; I started out with odjt.com that's the short URL for my forum. I wanted to copy everything over to that URL until the new DNS propagated.

Now what happens is everytime I add a domain. the domain adds but it also makes a subdomain on odjt.com for instance when I added ourdjtalk.com a subdomain (ourdjtalk.odjt.com was added)

well yeah... if they are each their own account, then you'd have to treat them as such. Personally I don't have a problem doing that with the 4 I have.
But you're a domain slut, lol. That's what ya get!

You wont have to need to login into 18 different accounts to upload stuff to your other sites. It does create separate accounts for organizational purposes, but everything should be stored in your home directory, if you log into your main account you should be able to upload everything to the corresponding directories of each addon domain.

May seem stupid, but when you have extra hands helping you with other sites and you don't want them messing around with your main home directory, having a separate account it's really handy in those cases.

Hey Guys,

I'm in the market again, my new host (hostww) is down. I think their service is great but they've been down since 1 AM last night with no ETA. While it isn't their fault their data center is having problems. I'm quite frustrated with my site being unavailable as are my members. I've gotten emails from them. My host jumping is causing frustration I don't blame them even I am frustrated. If I was just a member, I would've left a long time ago.

The timing couldn't be worse, I've just been approached for an advertising deal. Once I bring on advertisers my site has be up not down with yet another issue.

I'm looking to go VPS. It's much more than I need hopefully the price guarantees me a better level of service and I don't want to have to upgrade so fast. So far, I've checked out A small orange they look very promising and frankly I haven't heard anything bad about them. On the other end, I've checked out GoDaddy as much as I complain about them reliability was never a factor with them just technical issues and constant upsells. GoDaddy's price is a lot better though. :confused:

I'm really going in with my last dime here. Host jumping has murdered my credit cards. I started my forum as a hobby it's become much more than that. Members have expressed interest in helping with the move financially, I'm truly thankful for that. Being I would be playing with someone else's money this move has to be the right one.

Thanks for your time,

Danny

I'm using a VPS with www.fluidhosting.com
they have Great support, they run a vb forum for support also..
I suggest you checking them out,, it's the best host I've had in 5 years ;)

oh, and I haven't had a second of downtime, and my site is flying on it... but the VPS might have something to do with that, compared to useing a shared plan.

You might want to look at http://www.ipowerweb.com - I'm happy with them.

Sorry you feel the need to move Dan. The datacenter crashed and it wasn't Hostww's fault. The crash cost them alot more money than any of us, I can assure you.
This crash was bad for everyone. As you know we'd just moved to the datacenter, and they are reported to be one of the best in the biz.

Good luck with your move.

Oh the blame game when it comes to hosting. What a PITA!

Sorry you feel the need to move Dan. The datacenter crashed and it wasn't Hostww's fault. The crash cost them alot more money than any of us, I can assure you.
This crash was bad for everyone. As you know we'd just moved to the datacenter, and they are reported to be one of the best in the biz.

Good luck with your move.

Thanks Peg, I honestly have no bones with Hostww. I still think they're great probably the best host I've used so far. Given the history of my site I must move else where. With my old host we've had a significant amount of down time but never 15 hours. While it's probably not hostww's fault, I just cannot afford any more down time. I may hold on to hostww for some of my smaller sites/blogs which don't require constant uptime.

I've been recommended to a VPS host, emailed them and got the answers I needed. I'm satisfied with the answers given. The guy who recommended me owns a website that I visit regularly and it's never been down or slow.

Any host can have problems, it's unrealistic to expect 100% or even 99% uptime but 15 hours down due to someone else's problem which became my problem is unacceptable to me. At least with the host I plan on moving to owns the data center. If something isn't working it's either my misconfiguration or their problem.

Oh the blame game when it comes to hosting. What a PITA!

teehee :D

Something many people don't realize is that a lot of shared hosts out there are simply people whom lease a VPS or dedicated server and sell some of their resources to recoup the cost of running a server.

It's very easy for a host to say "It's someone else's fault or "the datacenter" crashed". What specifically crashed? You and me, not being physically at the location have no way of knowing.

What if I had sold hosting on my reseller account to others? I'd be up sh*ts creek telling them the datacenter crashed. What kind of excuse is that? As a provider I'm responsible for uptime.

Of course a host is responsible for uptime. But beyond your control is simply beyond your control. Before this past week, we've enjoyed a much deserved 99.8% uptime rep. It's been a loooooooooooong time since my sites' been down. It's unfortunate that this had to happen right after you moved to them. So, I can understand your frustration.

Good luck

Oh the blame game when it comes to hosting. What a PITA!


LOL... yes it is!

This was awful. Three of the 4 servers had been moved to the new datacenter last weekend. Only one server was left at the "old" datacenter temporarily. The sites on that server are the only ones that were not affected, lol. Miner's site and Eagle Graphics Community were up the whole time. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr lucky devils

I'm not going to recommend my host becuase there are a few issues they need to fix before I can start plugging them. :p

hostgator.com is one of the servers we use. check em out

Be sure to tell anyone that you contact that they'll be hosting a vBulletin forum. Not every host is
willing to do so. Something about server resources ;)

Hey Guys,

I'm in the market again, my new host (hostww) is down. I think their service is great but they've been down since 1 AM last night with no ETA. While it isn't their fault their data center is having problems. I'm quite frustrated with my site being unavailable as are my members. I've gotten emails from them. My host jumping is causing frustration I don't blame them even I am frustrated. If I was just a member, I would've left a long time ago.

The timing couldn't be worse, I've just been approached for an advertising deal. Once I bring on advertisers my site has be up not down with yet another issue.

I'm looking to go VPS. It's much more than I need hopefully the price guarantees me a better level of service and I don't want to have to upgrade so fast. So far, I've checked out A small orange they look very promising and frankly I haven't heard anything bad about them. On the other end, I've checked out GoDaddy as much as I complain about them reliability was never a factor with them just technical issues and constant upsells. GoDaddy's price is a lot better though. :confused:

I'm really going in with my last dime here. Host jumping has murdered my credit cards. I started my forum as a hobby it's become much more than that. Members have expressed interest in helping with the move financially, I'm truly thankful for that. Being I would be playing with someone else's money this move has to be the right one.

Thanks for your time,

Danny

Hello Danny,

I am very sorry for the recent downtime. I am quite upset with the datacenter those servers were in. During the past two years of being in business I have had a total of 65 minutes downtime. I take full responsibility for any downtime even if it was not my fault. But I will do what I can to make the situation right for you. I will be making necessary changes to ensure these problems do not happen again.

I look forward to you contacting us.

Hello Danny,

I am very sorry for the recent downtime. I am quite upset with the datacenter those servers were in. During the past two years of being in business I have had a total of 65 minutes downtime. I take full responsibility for any downtime even if it was not my fault. But I will do what I can to make the situation right for you. I will be making necessary changes to ensure these problems do not happen again.

I look forward to you contacting us.

Thank you, Phil. I drop you a PM a little later on. :)

An Update..

I spoke to Phil (HostWW) over IM today. I've decided to give them 2 months to prove themselves. I over reacted in deciding to switch hosts from one incident. :o

At the same time any major downtime in the next two months and I have to pull out for the sake growing my community. :cool:

Thanks for helping and listening to me piss & moan,

Danny :)

Thanks for helping and listening to me piss & moan
:eek:

I thought that was either your aquarium or a gentle September rain...

An Update..

I spoke to Phil (HostWW) over IM today. I've decided to give them 2 months to prove themselves. I over reacted in deciding to switch hosts from one incident. :o

At the same time any major downtime in the next two months and I have to pull out for the sake growing my community. :cool:

Thanks for helping and listening to me piss & moan,

Danny :)

Hey I did my share of yelling and moaning and bitching on IM with him today too. But all in all, I think it's going to be ok now.

I'm very glad you're staying Dan... :D

An Update..

I spoke to Phil (HostWW) over IM today. I've decided to give them 2 months to prove themselves. I over reacted in deciding to switch hosts from one incident. :o

At the same time any major downtime in the next two months and I have to pull out for the sake growing my community. :cool:

Thanks for helping and listening to me piss & moan,

Danny :)


I freak everytime I get a database error or page not found errors so I'm with you on the over reacting bit. I send a trouble ticket in everytime it happens even if it's down for just 2 minutes. I'm glad you were able to work this out Danny. Good luck!

Bah! My site was down again this week for a few hours. I bought a VPS account yesterday and am in the process of moving everything over. A gigantic waste of time for me but reliabilty has been horrible from HostWW.

I promise not to piss and moan anymore though. :p

Bah! My site was down again this week for a few hours. I bought a VPS account yesterday and am in the process of moving everything over. A gigantic waste of time for me but reliabilty has been horrible from HostWW.

I promise not to piss and moan anymore though. :p

dannyboy, i'm sorry...i had an issue this week with my host server...what a PITA! i am thinking about moving if probs continue but am afraid i will move and will have the same if not more issues...

dannyboy, i'm sorry...i had an issue this week with my host server...what a PITA! i am thinking about moving if probs continue but am afraid i will move and will have the same if not more issues...

Choosing a host is a PITA once you get past the gimmicks all that's left is price, customer service, and reliability. Often times as the price gets lower so does the reliability and customer service.

If you do decide to move make sure to do your research and check around webmaster forums to see what people are saying about your prospects. :)

After reading this thread, I'm happy with my host now. :p

I wish you luck in finding a better host Danny! :)