How about some data?

What I do NOT host on PowWeb at this time are forums, blogs or other open source scripts that are resource hogs and require many open connections to the database. PowWeb only allows ten concurrent connections while other hosts offer more. Better than most web hosts, but not for busy websites, forums or blogs.

I currently have Zen Cart moved to the new MySQL5 server on ixwebhosting.com. I only like Thomas Greene from support there while others give stupid replies which are common with many web host support people. I installed Zen Cart on August 9th and the cart worked. On September 9th, they restarted MySQL4 and the cart no longer worked.

We had to move the entire website to an upgraded server ourselves and the first install didn’t work. They were missing cgi files. The second install worked and it still works, though they also lost an .htaccess file I had to reupload that redirected a second domain name to another web page. Customer service stinks except for Thomas and they make stupid mistakes, but things work. Not first pick.

Another client chose Webserve.ca which has the worst support I have experienced since iPowerWeb (5 years ago). The control panel or FTP server may or may not be accessible. The support people can’t spell. Their live chat wasn’t working and you must use your client’s login to chat. They won’t chat with anyone but clients. I would NEVER recommend them.

One client is no longer able to log into GoDaddy for his web hosting and he has several domains and sites there. We can only FTP to one of the web sites and not the main site. GoDaddy does not have a toll free number and support can’t handle more than one question at a time. If you edit your .htaccess file, you have to wait for hours for their weird cache to update for you to see your changes. I do not recommend.

I do not recommend Windows hosting, because they are limiting and less secure. They are slow. They don’t support .htaccess files and other things I like to use. They are often exploited.

I like FreeBSD, Unix or Linux web hosting. I prefer them NOT to be installed on Windows servers. For security, some hosts do not allow shell access, remotely hosted databases and other things. One client had a remotely hosted Oracle database while his website was on a (cough) Windows server. His newsletter database was “borrowed” by a competitor. So, security is a concern.

One website hosted on Register.com had the fastest load time, the fastest FTP and the best customer service. I purchased my domain name with them years ago and recommended them to others. They are the only ones about which I never had complaints. Two thumbs up!

Rackspace hosting has dedicated servers and charges by bandwidth usage! You pay for what you use. You don’t have to worry about a site being shut down if you suddenly get a lot of visits (after you get a link from a popular e-newsletter, appear in a magazine article or TV commercial). They have a great Live Chat for everyone. Recommended.

I could probably post more, but I mentioned a few I have used in the last three months. Opinions may change as time passes and things improve or decline.

Sorry for the long delay. I have worked a bit on the software used and I present my data from my own web host for the latest months. Take a look at it. Maybe you can guess which web hostel I am using?

I will come back in some days and tell you how to do it.