Hosting Help

gecko498

I have a few questions regarding hosting packages for a client. Does anyone know of a server/hardware/hosting related message board?

I need to pick an appropriate package for a client, and I don't generally deal with hardware, so I need some advice.

Actually, I'll ask the questions here and if anyone can help either way it would be much appreciated.

The client is a medium-sized organization. They require hosting for Email, Web, and Extranet. Essentially their requirements are this:

fairly basic web hosting (Apache, PHP, MySQL, SSL)
relatively low bandwidth
reasonable storage room for extranet files (100Mb+)
30-50 email accounts
multiple domain forwarding
reliability

Am I ok recommending a high-end shared server account, or should I play it safe and recommend a dedicated server? The only reason there's any doubt in my mind, is because there's a very good chance that I will need flexibility to install server modules as needed for custom web/extranet applications, etc.

I'm familiar with basic server theory, but like I said, I'm not a hardware guy, so any advice would be great (even if you know a better place to post this).

Thanks in advance.

Adam

alanzhao

GoDaddy

ClevaTreva

Well

The forum you want is www.webhostingtalk.com

As to the reliability. All hosts stand the risk of failing on you. You NEED to make your client understand that 100% reliability is a myth.

As for dedicated servers, www.rackshack.net are a good starting point.

With a shared account, you stand the risk that the host will go tits up. This is a much smaller risk with a dedicated server from someone like rackshack, who are owned by dedicated now (I think), who are owned by (EV1?) ...

I pay $10/month for a reseller account with zanadoo which has unlimited everything, 1.2gb space and 52gb b/w per month. Their support is excellent and the server I am on hasn't gone down for any time in the last four months. I have one section of my space as an extranet. It doesn't even have a domain name. I can use my unique IP address (part of the package, as well as my own nameservers) to access it.

Expect to pay as much as $50/month for a dedicated.

Words of caution. Do NOT get your domain name from the same place as your hosting. I personally use totalregistrations, because they do not charge to move your domain away, and you have full control over the nameserver settings (it means you can switch hosts should yours go bust). DO NOT pay for more than a month at a time. DO NOT pay for setup, it should be free.

But, the forum I gave is a good one to post your request. Watch out for the bad guys. Search the forum for the one you think to choose. Look CAREFULLY at AUP and TOS's !!!!

Trevor