[RESOLVED] Recommend A Host for MySQL/PHP 5.x

fuzzy1

Hey All,

Any recommendations for a good place to host our CRM web-app and DB? (US GMT-7)
We have developed the app around php 5.1.2 (utilizing and relying heavily on recent strtotime upgrades) and MySQL 5.0.18 (for views and other goodies). Unfortunately our current host server can only offer php 4.3.11 and MySQL 4.1.7 which presents a myriad of difficulties.

The CRM won't run properly on the host due to outdated strtotime logic.
The System was designed primarily to support Home Inspectors in the field requiring frequent synchronization (SQLyog for scheduling, contacts etc. so...
Working from a server where port 3306 is blocked by the host necessitates syncing via http tunneling which is certainly less than ideal, slow, and problematic at best.

Of course, providing the users with mobile broadband would eliminate much of the need for synchronization, but it's still kind of pricy and we'd still need to address the MySQL version disparity to allow them to work straight from the hosted crm so... GRRRRRRRRR

Any suggestions?

stolzyboy

not sure if they are any good or not, but these guys offer php5 and mysql5

http://www.virtuosonetsolutions.com/hosting.htm

fuzzy1

Thanks stolzyboy,

Checked into http://www.virtuosonetsolutions.com/hosting.htm, tried their "live sales chat" and got a "Send us an email link" LOL! Called their 800 line, and got a "Sorry there is no one avaliable to take your call" message, so I sent them an email inquiry to which they have not responded. With that, I'd say they're a no go? Anybody else?

goldbug

A2 Hosting

bpat1434

Servage.net

Not running PHP5 completely yet, but if you add a .htaccess file (which they tell you how to do) then it will be PHP5 under that specific directory (allowing you PHP4 & PHP5 side-by-side 😉 )

And they're much cheaper than A2 hosting (by like $25 bucks!!) and you get more for your money 😉

vaaaska

My Servage account runs both...no problems at all...I'm quite happy with Servage. They have been adding more tools to the interface lately too...

Here's my signup coupon...you get a couple extra months and a little more space if you use it.

stolzyboy

how is servages support... and do you know or do you use them as a "reseller" at all?

bpat1434

I love their support. Usually within 48 hours of a ticket creation, they've replied.

I use them as a reseller, and love it. No maximums, same package as everyone, one low price. Plus, it keeps expanding (I started with 75 Gigs of space, now it's 75). I absolutely love it.

stolzyboy

u said, i started with 75gigs of space, now it's 75, 😉... obv. mistake... site says 250?? is that correct?

are the resold domains ip-based or name-based?

can you use your main domain as your nameserver(s)?

stolzyboy

oh, they mentioned a typical site uses 25gigs of space, i host about 8 domains on my reseller elsewhere and i only have 5gigs of space and that's not used up, does servage calculate their space differently?

stolzyboy

and if i sign up with vaaska's signup coupon, i get an extra 25gigs 🙂

i have to do a lil research first before i move, moving clients is kind of a pain and one in particular pays a decent amount of money to be hosted

stolzyboy

oh, also, do they have any mysql restrictions, as far as connected users within a certain amount of time... i've been reading some reviews and it seems some of the people say medium traffic people get shut down, connection errors, etc...

i typically take reviews with a grain of salt, but since this would affect paying clients, i'd rather not make a bad choice and have to return to my previous host, that would be a pain!

fuzzy1

Well, as of appx. 5:00 pm last evening (GMT -7 MST - US) I "signed up" for an account with Servage, receiving notification via the registration process that I would receive notification by email within an hour or two. 14 hours later, failing receipt of said email I tried logging in just the same, and much to my surprise I succeeded in so doing. Oh well, OK says I, let's see what we can see.

I created a new database via the control panel, but can't choose the db name of my choice -- because it's already in use???? Hmmm.

14:13 GMT TODAY - I submitted a support ticket, Subject -- Request account moved to cluster with PHP5 -- language borrowed from Servage's own FAQ. (In fact, it took some while to find ANY info on php setup as their control panel is less than intuitive) I also included a few questions in the ticket regarding DNS transfer from my existing host etc...

At 14:26, I received a timely reply from servage support with some vague info in response to my DNS questions, and NO MENTION WHAT SO EVER regarding the PRIMARY SUBJECT of the ticket in question -- namely -- Request account moved to cluster with PHP5 --

At 15:03 GMT, I followed up the ticket and Servage.Support's timely but ambiguous response with the following.

Thanks Rob, for the speedy reply.

However you have not responded to the primary subject matter of this ticket, namely - Request account moved to cluster with PHP5 - that said, I have nonetheless created two different MySQL databases "tj1", and "host_crm" but have been unable to successfully import into either receiving errors either 1. "Lost connection to MySQL server during query," or 2. "#2006 - MySQL server has gone away ." Further, I am mildly troubled by my apparent inability to select the name of choice for my DB's. SPECIFICALLY -- "crm" I was led to believe Servage was US based, but I see Servage postal addresses for Australia, Germany, Denmark ... Where, specifically, is the server located?
Please advise

As of this posting (GMT 16:05) I have not received a response. :bemused:

bpat1434

Servage I think is worldwide with datacenters all over the place. I haven't had any issues with mySQL or their support.

As for the DNS stuff, you can modify the DNS stuff via the CP (the reseller CP, not the client CP)and can either use corecluster.net as the main domain, or change it to your own domain name (just have to update your DNS stuff to add all the cname stuff).

I started with 75 gigs, then they upgraded me to 250 as their stuff increased. As for the mySQL restrictions, I don't think so. I run a fairly active forum on their server (www.roundcubeforum.net) and haven't had too many issues. Usually up for like 3 months, then I get an error about a table (that is probably my fault) and I just rebuild the table and it's good. Only a couple time-outs in the admin panel when I try to send an email to like 30+ recipients. Could be the query, could be mySQL. Difficult to tell. For their price, I can't find a better deal. So if someone knows of a better deal for about the same price, I'm all ears 😉

fuzzy1

All things considered, decided against Servage (canceled account). Practically had to beg to get them to concede that the servers are in fact in Germany. No biggie, but I'm synchronizing 7 field db's ( on tablet pc's in the field) and limited experience with servers abroad strongly suggests that latency is bound to factor into sync/response times.

Also, it seems that complex inquires are lost on their support staff -- that is to say, don't ask more than one question of them per ticket cause they can apparently only answer one at a time? (not just Servage but one of the Aussie hosts we tried as well) so... I am looking into hosting with A2 which was at the top of my list before bradgrafelman pm'd me the info.php link on one of his Servage accounts. Looked like a match made in heaven, but in the end I think proved too good to be true. What are you gonna do?

bpat1434

I'm still very much interested in who you go with. I'd love to know. Pretty sure A2 would handle my needs, but Servage has such a lucrative offer..... Perhaps someone who uses/knows A2 better can answer this:

If I sell a package, is that package going to take up a chunk of my purchased space? I.e. I purchase the starter plan (4 Gigs with 50 Gigs of transfer) and sell 10, 100 Mb sites, will that mean I have 3 Gigs left to sell / use or what? The way servage does it, user account don't impede upon your own account.

stolzyboy

they do have mysql restrictions, so the owner says... i remember the amount, but i don't remember the time limit, he said 1.2mil queries per ________ can't remember the _______...

i've read too many bad things about these people and can't take the chance on moving to them unfortunately

vaaaska

fuzzy1 wrote:
Also, it seems that complex inquires are lost on their support staff

Really, you sound like a pain the arse. Why is it a big deal that you can not have the exact name you want for a db? That's ridiculous if you want to crab about that.

I've had them deal with some pretty complex stuff. Servage is the sharpest group of folks I've dealt with in a while. Very fast. Responsive to everything I've tossed at them.

I have over 300 gigs of space on Servage and something like 10 sites. It's a clustered server (like Google). Mysql is handled on specific db servers aside from the actual sites. The fact that they monitor things is a plus I'm finding out. I was worried about the db server load as well - but I haven't had any problems yet.

They have a new backup/restore utility that doesn't directly use CRON and allows you to restore your back more easily than anything I've ever seen.

We signed up for a year long account...with people using our coupon (and getting extra space) at this point we won't have to pay again until 2008 at the earliest.

fuzzy1

Yeah, I'm probably just a big pain in the arse. That said, I've decided to host it myself. In so doing, I have gone from a 20 to 30 minute synchronization process to less than a minute (thousands of records for a dozen odd tables). Hopefully nonetheless, this little foray will help some other poor soul to find the MySQL/php 5x services they need. There have been at least a couple of fine recommendations to be sure. Just didn't suit my narrow needs.

eojlin

Hmmm... i really do have to get MySQL5 on our servers.