I searched the forums for this but there doesn't seem to be many recent posts and perhaps some new hosts have sprung up recently that folks might like to recommend. (So no one lectures me on searching the forum first.)

And please, no one suggest dedicated hosting, because I'm just not willing to shell out that much money when I have no idea how much traffic I'll be generating up the road--but right now I know for sure that I don't need that much!

Here's a few I've found that offer a lot for less (which isn't neccessarily good or bad, of course)

http://powweb.com/

http://hostrocket.com/

http://www.deadserious.net/

http://www.ipowerweb.com/

http://jumpline.com/

Maybe one or two of you wouldn't mind doing at least a cursory comparison of a couple of these for me, just to let me know if you think they'd be adequate for hosting a site of approximately 50,000 links (at it's biggest, I imagine), light on graphics. Or perhaps you know of something better but still inexpensive....

(BTW, I've already contacted a couple of these, like Deadserious and ipowerweb, and they've told me they would have no problem hosting a Links SQL site.)

Any help much appreciated!



P.S. Seems like I've stumbled on a lot of posts by people having trouble with virtual hosts. Should I avoid them?

Hi,

No, you should have no problem with virtual hosts. Before you sign up anywhere, I'd recommend you send the host:

http://www.gossamer-threads.com/...sql/requirements.htm

and have them confirm that they meet these requirements (99% of hosts do that offer MySQL support).

We do offer mod_perl based shared hosting starting at $75 a month. It's considerably more then the ones you listed, but will definitely outperform them all by an equal amount. =) PM or email me if you want more details about it.

Cheers,

Alex
--
Gossamer Threads Inc.

I can say that GT hosting has out performed virtually every other host I've been on in the past 10 years (has it been that long since my first dedicated server??)

It's hard to compare accurately, since I have about 10x more running on the GT servers than my last Sun/Solaris box (I talked a lot about that machine, and the benefits of Unix vs Windows, 3+/- years ago) <G>. GT is running Mandrake Linux, and the conversion was pretty smooth for me (learning Linux vs Solaris).

You get what you pay for, pretty much. If you are developing a business, or a higher-end hobby site, then $75 a month for hosting, or even more than that is _very_ reasonable and should be part of your overall budget and business plan. People who visit your site _need_ fast response, and to get the feeling YOU value your own business.

GT has consistently delivered.

(ps: I don't even run with mod_perl..... though I probably should....)


PUGDOG� Enterprises, Inc.

The best way to contact me is to NOT use Email.
Please leave a PM here.

Thanks!


Actually we are using Slackware with a custom kernel. =)

Cheers,

Alex
--
Gossamer Threads Inc.

Well, most of the ones I've seen offering mod_perl are only offering it on PLESK. They seem vaguely apologetic about it when they point that out to me... Is this a bad thing?

What are the customizations?

It's stripped down, and optimized to only include what is required for the job. For example, a RedHat 9 kernel is around 3.1 megs, and has about 30 modules loaded. Ours is 700k with about 5 modules. Also we include some patches for extra security, improved firewall support, improved monitoring support, and quota fixes.

Cheers,

Alex
--
Gossamer Threads Inc.

Hmmm.... it was coming up as Mandrake, wasn't it? Did you change?


PUGDOG� Enterprises, Inc.

The best way to contact me is to NOT use Email.
Please leave a PM here.

vi /etc/slackware-version



It's been slackware all the time I've had a GT server (about 5 months ish).

Using mod_perl with Plesk is only really an option on a dedicated servers. Beware if they are offering it on a shared server (as Plesk justs loads the mod_perl module into the main apache -- this means other users on the system who also use mod_perl could spy or mess with your applications).

Even on dedicated servers it's not that great either as it's not setup as a backend server, but rather just done the easy way and added to the main Apache (so it won't scale nearly as well).

Cheers,

Alex
--
Gossamer Threads Inc.

I'm apparantly still running under the "old" GT system (mostly my choice). I've been hosting with them since Dec 2001. My server layout, and server config (httpd.conf) go back almost 10 years, so I'm running a legacy system that is hard to change once set up.

But, I've been hosting with GT for 18 months or so, and it's been virtually problem free as I said before. I'm looking at possibly adding a 3rd server, which will most likely run under the "new" server configuration of slackware with a custom interface panel, which I'm told is pretty good.

That's about as strong a recommendation as I can give.


PUGDOG� Enterprises, Inc.

The best way to contact me is to NOT use Email.
Please leave a PM here.

I do not use Gossamer-Host, but I am sure it is great, as the GT company as a whole is great. I use Futurequest.net and am very happy with them. You can get a mysql enabled account at $29 per month ($24 per month if you prepay a year). Their servers are top notch, as is their support. Check out their forums to get a sense... excellent stuff. If you decide to use them, I get a little kickback for recommending them, but you have to use the link on my site: http://www.evieleder.com/links.html. I'd certainly appreciate it. I host about 10 sites with them (vitually all my current clients, except one or two)

Good luck!
Evie

On a similar topic, I've just given 3 months notice to my current hosting company that we intend to leave in September - (I'm not looking forward to moving at all and I'm sort of hoping that they'll get their act together so I don't have to). I would like to move to Gossamer but my site is aimed solely at the UK - and everything that I've read says you should try to locate your server as close to your market as possible. What do you think about this?

Does anyone have any recommendations for UK hosts? I have a raq server but I think that renting a server may turn out to be cheaper than colocating so I'm interested in either.

Thanks, Laura.

I have hosted with Gossamer for a couple of years now and it has been incredibly good in terms of performance, reliability and outstanding customer service. If you can use this forum and the Gossamer Threads website without noticing any lag in performance from the UK, I would still highly recommend that you consider them.

--FrankM

Hi

I'm based in the Uk but I've switched all my accounts to US based providers.

Futurequest for unix and crystaltech for ms.

dregs2

Hi

Yes, you should try and locate your server as close as possible to your audience' networks'. Our sites are all directed towards UK clients and therefore we shopped around and looked for a hosting located at the LINX in London, and Telehouse respectively. The LINX is the London Internet Exchange, a carrier neutral hub where all ISPs traffic meet before crossing the atlantic. Putting your server a hop away from LINX at telehouse or telecity more or less guarantees you the best route to your UK clients networks and reasonably good performance to US customers too.

I was reluctant to do this at first, as the service most US hosts provide is simply not available in the UK, but after doing it and seeing the massive speed improvements from three different ISPs I have tried with here, I gotta say it was definitily the right decision.

Hope this helps.

- wil

Hello All,

I would recommend looking into http://servers.netbox.com/ . If you want reliability, speed and performance bundled with good service, you can't go wrong with this company. Been with them for more than 7 years and it keeps getting better.

Prices seem a bit harsh. $700 for a server with 256MB RAM and 1 IP