I have not kept my web hosting a secret. In fact, I've probably mentioned it a few times in comments in various places on this site as well as on other sites. I use a VPS (virtual private server) hosted by Media Temple. It's their "(dv) Dedicated-Virtual, (dv) BASE" VPS with an additional 256MB of dedicated RAM and an additional IP address for a secure web server address. I have only good things to say about Media Temple and that's why I recommend their service if you can afford it.
Seven Months of Great Service
I started with Media Temple in November of 2008 after reading every review I could find. All of the negative reviews were from when they started their "(gs) Grid-Service". I won't go into detail about that service, but it's shared hosting. I moved away from shared hosting due to the typical problems you have with cheap web hosting, like being shut down by the web hosting company for using too many resources. It happened to me on two separate occasions and even after correcting it on my end, they took their sweet time in restoring my connection. I moved to a company I knew would support me with dedicated hosting for small business
All of the documentation I read indicated that I had choices and it turned out to be true. I could use the included Plesk Control Panel or opt to have them remove it and do everything myself. Since I wasn't a "guru" of any kind when it comes to servers, I chose the default – to have the control panel in place. It's wasn't as easy as using cPanel, which I was familiar with, but it had a lot more options that cPanel never allowed on shared hosting.
When I started, the "base" selection only included 256MB of dedicated RAM. After setting up my business website, which is MySQL database intensive, I had to get a dedicated IP address for the domain as well as an additional 256MB of RAM due to QoS (quality of service) alerts. It took care of the issues for the most part but over the past seven months, I've had to reboot the VPS every couple of weeks in order to clear up memory issues.
My business site is much more database-intensive than hosting something as simple as a WordPress blog. If I was using the VPS for just regular blogs or static websites, there would have been no issues at all.
Earlier this month, I was thinking of migrating to a more powerful server with more dedicated RAM. I held off because I'm in the process of rewriting the "backend" scripts for the business site, which should reduce memory consumption. Still, I logged onto their site several hours ago to see what the prices were in case I needed to upgrade in a hurry.
That's when I found out that they had installed more RAM in all of their servers and were offering a free upgrade from the base of 256MB to 512MB. With 756MB of dedicated RAM and optimized code, I shouldn't have memory issues returning. Of course, it's running Linux and not Windows, which I'm sure would require more memory to be just as efficient.
That's enough chatter about Media Temple for now. I have an offer that most people looking for a good deal can't refuse.
Cheap Web Hosting from… Me!
If you do a Google search for cheap web hosting, you'll find a variety of companies that provide everything from free website hosting to expensive dedicated servers. What they don't tell you is that it's incredibly easy for them to shut down your website if you have anything less than a dedicated VPS. What happens if your website becomes popular in some way? You're stuck until you can make a hasty transfer to something more expensive.
I've found several companies that offer cheap web hosting (shared, of course) for around USD $2.50 (or free). I can give you a better deal, but it's going to be on a case-by-case basis. I already have eight domains on the server and I can have up to 30 (23 more), so I don't need to charge a whole lot of money for each one.
These are the things you won't get from a shared hosting company:
My service. I'm going to be the only person administering your hosting account. I'll be the guy that checks to make sure the server is running properly, which is something I do everyday already. I'll be the guy that sets it up or closes it off, whatever the case may be.
No Shutdown. I'm not going to shut you down for using too many resources because you've been hit by a popular post at Digg or some other social network. It's a dedicated VPS, closed off from any shared resources except on the VPS itself. (I may yell and scream and tell you to fix it, but that's about as far as it needs to go.) The server is optimized in every which way but loose, so I'm not too worried about it — I did it myself.
These are things you won't get from me:
No Free Webmaster Tools. Cheap web hosting services attempt to entice people to go with them because of their free webmaster tools. If you can't make a website with what's freely available online, you have a bigger problem than web hosting. Of course, I'm willing to point you in the right direction at the very least. I'll even give you instructions on how to get your website on Google quickly, if you need help with that.
No Guarantees. I will not make false or empty promises. I'm not going to guarantee 99% up time, like so many companies do, and I'm not going to promise to generate web traffic for you. I can tell you how, but I won't do it for you.
So what's the cost already?!?
Believe it or not, I've decided to do this for USD $5.00 per month or $50.00 per year (in advance) per domain. If I reach my domain quota, I'll just buy another server and continue on. Seriously, there isn't that much to check on a daily basis. I only need to check the QoS alerts to make sure there aren't any.
You've probably heard that some deals are too good to be true. This isn't one of them. I'm doing it on a case-by-case basis and you'll have to contact me through the contact form up in the navigation bar to initiate the deal. I'm not going to do it fast and skip any steps. I'm going to test the domain on the server before you move anything to it.
There will be rules, of course. There are always rules. Space will be limited to what you need as opposed to what you want. Bandwidth won't be capped. The features you expect will be in place, but I'm not turning this into a web business designed to compete with other web hosting services.
Contact me if you're interested and serious. Otherwise, please don't waste my time.
[Update: I'm no longer offering to host domains. The response has been lukewarm and in my opinion, it's not worth the effort to recruit buyers.]
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- Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is — Sort Of
This article is published as: Cheap Web Hosting which isn't Cheap Web Hosting
I've personally never used Media Temple but their prices vs specs don't really seem that great. I have various cheap ones listed at my site, and I add new ones all the time, some are stellar, some are not, but all are cheap. The real problem with cheap VPS companies is they don't seem to last very long, that's why I automate deadpool checks to try and keep my posts updated to whether the host is offline etc…or their history. I do think if you people find a quality VPS they should hold onto them though, as they're that common.
Josh recently posted..YourDomainGoesHere – $4.50 OpenVZ VPS 512MB in Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas
It's not only about the specs, but the customer service. The guys/girls at Media Temple bend over backwards to take care of any issues — that's my personal experience.