Noob hosting questions

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If your project is fun, shared hosting is ok but anything beyond this will require better performance i.e dedicated/elastic. That's why you should use something like Amazon AWS - they have a free tier for you to launch and you can easily scale this up if you require to.

Other than AWS, Microsoft Azure is similarly good. These services are the most complete hosting solutions out there though I've heard Rackspace is also good.

Hello,

I used to have almost 200 domains and I tried hosting a few with GoDaddy, and at least one of the servers I was as slow as molasses! I mean slooowww. That was many years ago and after I moved the sites of of there I pledged to myself to never use GoDaddy for hosting again.

I have a couple of shared accounts with Hostgator and personally I have not had any issues with them, but others on here have.

My money sites are on two dedicated boxes with Hostdime...but that is probably more than you are looking for at the moment. I have been with them 12 years but it's been about 9 years since I had a shared account at HD so I am not sure how the service is these days on the shared environment.

Best of luck!

-don

I use hostgator and has never had any problems with them

I've always used hostgator. Its been close to 3 years now. I've never had a problem with them. And their support always helps you with any small problems you might face.

I did hear that some people are facing problems with them, so you might want to proceed with caution. My personal experience has been good so far.

Just moved one client from GoDaddy to our hosting couple days ago... wasted couple hours on that since they have custom control panel which is pain to use and everything has to be done manually. You need to manually copy files, migrate emails and databases, users etc.

Find some shared host with DirectAdmin or cPanel, you will make yourself a favor once you decide to move elsewhere.

Thanks for the replies. Couple other questions...

1. Is it a difficult job to move a site from shared hosting a dedicated server?

* My concern with starting with a dedicated server is cost. When I launch the site it'll be in a beta status where we'll be ironing out the bugs and testing things out in one small market. As that is perfected we hope to expedite expansion. I hate to pay a few hundred dollars a month when I know the site will be initially receiving minimal traffic.

2. Any recommendations on managed hosting?

I'm looking for something where I can be hands off. My knowledge of hosting is minimal and if something goes wrong I just want it corrected ASAP.

3. If I start with a managed server/hosting how do I know where to start as far as space and bandwidth?

My site is a combination of text and images. The images are all smaller in nature (approx 500 x 500 pixels) and the only video that exists on the site are a few YouTube videos which I don't believe have any impact as those are hosted on YouTube.

The site (hopefully) will have a very large database with people's information. I can't image this would take up much space however as this is all text based information.

4. If I go with a manged solution I would imagine they monitor things and (hopefully I can see this as well) and say you're approaching your allotted space and/or your allotted bandwidth we need to increase it?

--- If a site hits/exceeds it's bandwidth limit is the site cut off or do they charge some sort of overage?

* I apologize for all of the questions it's just it's a big decision for me and I'd prefer to cover my bases on the front end and get it right. Thanks in advance.

Yes, definitely start with a shared hosting plan. You will know when it's time to move up to VPS or dedicated solution based on resource usage, performance, and possible software needs you may decide you require at some point. Consider going with a hosting company that offers shared, vps, and dedicated servers so that you can easily move your site up to the next level if/when the time comes. Keep in mind that most websites on the web only require a shared hosting plan. The problem sometimes is the quality of the company that is managing the shared server, so choose wisely and best of luck to you

Quality shared hosting is available from iFastNet.com and QHoster.com.
Their servers have no downtime and plans are full-featured. And their prices are competitive.
Their tech staff is fast and helpful around the clock.

For hosting I think godaddy is good enough, as I think you might be having a domain too with them. It all depends upton the package you are taking. some have couple hundred some have thousands !

In any shared hosting you will get atmost 300gb/month of bandwidth. (no one gives unlimited)

You can see the tree below:-

1. Shared Hosting -> less than 100gb/month price - { approx $10/month }
2. VPS -> less than 1000gb/month { approx $60/month }
3. VPS Hybrid -> less than 10000gb/month { approx $150/month}
4. Dedicated server -> more than 10000gb/month { approx $300/month }
for power horse -> { approx $700/month }

And I am sorry I dont agree that shared hosting are good for large traffic.
4 things that any 1 chooses in hosting ->

1. CPU
2. RAM
3. HDD
4. BANDWIDTH

just tell me who allows traffic more than 300gb/month or 1tb in shared hosting, as you are directly affecting other accounts in the server.

please check this link for more clarity:-
http://www.gethow.org/how-much-traff...-server-handle

- I have said it clear to start with shared hosting and move to upper level of hosting.

Thank you for all of the feedback.

How hard is it to move a site from a shared hosting to a dedicated server?

I'm thinking about starting with shared hosting at Hostgator (thoughts/comments?) and then moving to a dedicated server (I see Hostgagtor offers them) when it becomes necessary.

If I had unlimited funds I'd probably just start at Rackspace but I know my cost to start is going to be $300+/month and if I go that route and I know I'm going to feel like I'm throwing money out the window at least initially as the site will have minimal traffic.