The base web server requirements for the websites we create is it must support PHP and MySQL. Most providers now support this with even their basic shared server offerings but we use a trusted provider that knows the system we develop our sites with and monitor the performance of the sites we create. It's a great partnership.
There are a few options to consider when choosing a hosting plan.
Shared Server - this is the 'industry-standard' entry-level offering. Our systems certainly work on these. Our offering is $180 per year (=$15/month) and includes:
- 750 GB web space
- 7500 GB traffic
- 99.9% server uptime
- 24/7 top customer care
- Unlimited email accounts
As your business and your website grows (in amount of content, number of visitors and amount of traffic) and if you add lots of modules (functionality) to your site, your server requirements will grow. There may come a time where your site is consuming too much of the shared resources your shared server (see above) allows you to use. If you have your site a provider that doesn't monitor your bandwidth, your site will get errors (as will the other sites that are on your server) and access to your site will be interrupted (for either moments or a longer period). Our Shared Server provider monitors your usage and will report if you are growing out of that shared solution. You'll actually be REQUIRED to do something about it - reduce your functionality (# of modules we are using) or expand your resources.
This is the downfall of Shared Servers - all providers cram as many sites as they can onto the server...often 100-200 sites!
That's when it's time for a Virtual Private Server (VPS).
Virtual Private Server (VPS). A VPS is a 'Slice' of a dedicated server. Unlike a Shared Server, a VPS dedicates resources to your Slice - mainly the amount of RAM (memory) and processor cycles. We only use "Managed" VPSs so you get the same monitoring and server updates you come to expect with a Shared Server. You can often host a few websites on your Slice (performance depends on how robust your sites are) and there are usually only about about a dozen or so Slices on your server.
There are a few options for VPSs and growing from one level to another is seemless as the provider can just allocate more RAM and processor time instantly.
Standard VPS Info:
- OS: CentOS 5
- cPanel: yes
- Support: 24/7
- RAM: 512MB
- Accounts: 1 main (add-ons are $40/year)
- Traffic: 1,000GB
- Price/yr: $1500 ($125/month)
- Setup fee: $70
Professional VPS Info:
- OS: CentOS 5
- cPanel: yes
- Support: 24/7
- RAM: 768MB
- Accounts: 1 main + 2 add-ons (additional add-ons are $40/year)
- Traffic: 1,500GB
- Price/yr: $2000 ($169/month)
- Setup fee: $70
Elite VPS Info:
- OS: CentOS 5
- cPanel: yes
- Support: 24/7
- RAM: 1.5GB
- Accounts: 1 main + 4 add-ons (additional add-ons are $40/year)
- Traffic: 2,000GB
- Price/yr: $2,600 (~$220/month)
- Setup fee: $70
We can also help you with Managed Dedicated Server where you have the entire server to yourself. We custom quote those solutions as needed.
