I am driving a medium size website that is popular, highest peak during winter and low in summer. Many thousands of visitors in the peak season. It is a web-magazine and a community. That site is at the moment build with Wordpress3.1 and PhpBB3. (My present host is php4, so i am moving to php5 to make upgrades)
I saw godaddy 4GH hosting while surfing the web, then 1and1… and then Wordpress suggestion hosters. They look like this, see below. •*Which one to look at ? •*Which one to not look at ?
•*Extra question : Is Wordpress 3.4 and latest vBulletin (because I am switching) can now be use as “hosted” solution, meaning not have to download and install them but just rent them at a monthly plan online ?
Godaddy (I already have an active account there) : 4GH, 4-12$/month, lots of space, enough emails, enough databases, unlimited bandwith
1and1 : 4$-10$/month, unlimited space and traffic, enough emails and databases
The hosts list that Wordpress has was based on affiliate links, until some time ago, when I suspect they switched to a more direct way of charging hosts.
Listing is completely arbitrary, but includes criteria like: contributions to WordPress.org
I would most definitely not use Godaddy’s shared hosting for a database driven website. True, I only used their most basic linux package, not the “4GH” they advertise now, but performance was terrible.
1and1 - fast server, but very limited database size (100 or 200MB). Also very inflexible in their dealings with the customer.
Dreamhost - nothing to write home about, but overall, probably a decent host, based on my experience.
Bluehost/Hostmonster - So-so hosting going worse as time went on. Them being bought by EIG some time ago (2 years ago maybe?) would generally count as a bad omen.
Unlimited is not infinite. When CPU/memory usage are high enough, even 1TB of data transfer isn’t a guaranteed limit.
I would stay away from Godaddy hosting like the plague. Very poor support, which you need with hosting.
Have you estimated what it would cost to host on Amazon’s EC2 platform - pay for use only. It may work for you and they have nice preconfigured packages of Wordpress maybe even BBEdit on the market place.
Pre-configured packages are probably not even good as a starter as they’re typically already out of date. Since it’s so critical to keep WP installations up to date (SECURITY), it’s better to learn to install it and upgrade as soon as an upgrade is available. IMHO, that comes from downloading the CURRENT version from WP and following their installation directions (which means, among other things, that you must NEVER forget to DELETE the install directory when completed!).
Personally I never used pre-configured. However, with the latest version of WP the upgrade process without a crazy amount of plugins involved is quite easy. However, I do agree that if capable, the OP would be better off to install it from scratch and learn the ropes.
crap! my first opinion was to go with godaddy sonce i already have stuff with them, plus i saw their newest offer with what they call the 4G and they present that it is better than all the other bignames out there… so are you sure about goodday aslo regarging the latest 4g hosting too ?
I have not heard the best about the 4G at godaddy. They really are mostly a domain provider. You can find excellent providers who still treat the customer well and have packages that can meet the client’s needs. I suggest that you make a sales call and speak with a representative that can let you know what you will need based on what you are currently trying to do with your project. True customer care and 24/7 true technical assistance can go the distance for you when the big names won’t. Look at some mid sized providers who have been in the business for over ten years. A little extra time looking for the right host can make a world of difference in your project and your client’s satisfaction with your final work.
When you buy 2 years of hosting it is only $4.95 a month (120$ every 2 years), which is what I have. A true awesome deal. I never had any problems with them or with mySQL or PHP or anything. They do have PHP5, and have site tools such as fantastico and softalicous to help you install and keep up to date (although its just as easy to keep up to date thru wordpress interface)
Basic Hosting includes:
400 GB Disk Space
10000 GB Bandwidth
also unlimited emails/databases/etc.
You can connect your e-mail domain to gmail.com
While it may not be “unlimited” that is 10 TERABYTES of bandwidth! That’s a lot! I have never used even close to that… The support I receive is awesome as well. They have instant chat and support tickets available and they always answer my questions without turning me down either on wordpress or PHP questions and the like.
If basic hosting doesnt suit your needs for any reason I’m sure you can upgrade very easy for a little more money.
Btw I have been a customer with WHB for 6 years now, never once looked back. While I have 1 domain hosted with godaddy, I never felt the same attention that WHB has given me over the years.
vBulletin - no, I don’t know any.
WP - yes, I can list some high-end SaaS vendors.
The issue is with “hosted” WordPress vendors, they mostly don’t do anything else, beside WordPress.
So, you will end up with self-hosted. How many concurrent members online at the same time on your community? How about the number of visits to your WordPress site?
I forgot to add that you will want to check that the latest version of PHP that you plan to use is supported by the hosting provider that you are considering. A quick call or live chat into sales should be able to confirm the version and support for it.
I’ve got an “unlimited” (shared) account, a Joomla (shared) account and am about to get a dedi account. I’ve never had a problem with WHB either and recommend them highly.
OP: As usual, know your own requirements and search through the plans to meet and exceed current (and anticipated) requirements. Special requirements like Joomla has makes “standard” accounts inappropriate. WHB’s Joomla account is on a shared server but it’s tailored to the greater requirements Joomla has for its processing - specialist accounts are rare so WHB is the first place I go to look for these.
I would suggest to sign up hosting company who provides free trial hosting. Trial hosting is best option to test the quality of hosting. I also suggest you to get shared hosting with free transfer and with cPanel control panel.
Go with IX Web Hosting. If WordPress hosting is what you’re looking for, IX Web Hosting is the answer.
Okay, I’m pretty enthusiastic about this host, but that’s only because I’ve been hosting with them for the last year or so and their service has been flawless. Scalable plans, excellent customer support and flawless uptimes. Couldn’t be more pleased with the level of service.
my first opinion was to go with godaddy sonce i already have stuff with them, plus i saw their newest offer with what they call the 4G and they present that it is better than all the other bignames out there… so are you sure about goodday aslo regarging the latest 4g hosting too ?