| Hosting - A Big Problem I Had, Now Fixed |
| Wednesday, 18 April 2007 | |
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When I first started my site, I had a decent host. After a few months when I really got a good amount of traffic, and at the same time got Dugg a couple times, I had a serious problem. I was fine when it came to storage space and bandwidth, but the real problem was that my SQL conqueries were super high, around 250% above what they were supposed to be. I had three choices: -Find another host that doesn't limit SQL queries, that has equal or greater storage and bandwidth -Host it myself using a dynamic DNS provider -Use My ISPs hosting The problem with the first one is having to pay a fee. That is just about the only downside. The upside is that if I did this, I would have a ton of features for later use. The problem with the second one is the wait time between IP address changes. Every time your IP changes, it takes around 5 minutes for a dynamic DNS provider to send users of your site to it. Besides that, uptime on the cable modem hasn't been very good in recent weeks. The upside is that you have total control and a dedicated server. The last one is out of the question. My ISP only provided 100mb of storage space, and gave no other details. Besides that fact, they haven't been very reliable lately. So, what did I do? I ended up finding another host. I picked Dreamhost, because their low-end "Crazy Domain Insane" package gives you unlimited SQL databases, unlimited queries, unlimited utility domains, 1 free domain registration, 160gb of storage, that increases by 1gb every week, and 2500gb of starting bandwidth, which increases by 16gb every week. There are dozens of other features, including one click installs, developer tools, support for various web languages, and more! All of this is at what I consider to be a very fair price, as it actually costs less than my previous provider, which gave me less features for more money. Where's the logic in staying with them? Needless to say, I am really impressed. I have been with Dreamhost now for around a month, and my site now can stand up to gigantic amounts of traffic with no trouble (or overage fees) whatsoever. If you plan on getting more traffic on your site soon, or if you need a host, I highly suggest you give Dreamhost a try - besides, they give you a 97 day money-back guarantee (which I am still in if they somehow screw up really badly)! |
