Website hosting

[airspeed999]

I've been asked to set up an internet forum for an association I belong to. We're going to use Vbulletin software.

Size - when it's up and running we'll probably have sub-forums but the whole site won't be any busier than one of Pprune's active forums.

We'll have some ads but not many, probably only members with companies who can be persuaded to contribute small amounts to off-set the cost of the site.

We're not selling anything so we don't need any secure payment schemes.

Please can anyone recommend a web hosting company?

American hosting is cheaper than UK but are there any disadvatages? (Pprune used to use an American host and changed to a UK company. :confused: )

We'd like to offer a free e-mail service to members. Any idea how much that costs? Pprune's email service is by a different company to the web hosting company. I assume there's a reason for that. Is it better to separate the two?

I'm not looking for the cheapest bargain, too good to be true usually turns out too good to be true.
We need reliability and fast access time at reasonable cost.

[Memetic]

I was just going to ask a similar question but with different requirements, so i'll not confuse the thread by jumping in.

Regarding a US based host for UK sites, not a real problem unless you need to talk to billing or Tech support urgently when key people are not there, and many of the cheaper host's do not have 24/7 cover.

I have sent you an email about a UK host I use for work and US based host I have just seen some good reviews on.


*** Let me know if you got the message - or probably more than one, when I clicked to send the message I got taken to the PPrune recover password form! ***

[drauk]

PPRuNe moved from the US because of relatively poor service from their previous provider in the form of a lack of responsiveness. Rather than just provide a hosting facility, DSC manages the server and its administration. The big performance gains enjoyed when the service was moved was not just because of a new faster server, but also a matter of configuration, the quality of the network connectivity and associated network components (switches, routers, firewalls, etc). As usual, generally you get what you pay for.

Mail is separate mainly for historic reasons. Indeed, only the free mail service is separate - we migrated the pprune.org mail accounts to DSC. There are free mail providers that will host your domain for free if you bring them new users - they hope to make their money from convincing your users to upgrade to higher specification paid accounts.

DSC normally only hosts for existing clients, for "good causes" or if requirements are too specialised for one of the mass-market hosting companies (and is therefore technically more interesting). Drop me a line with a bit more information about your requirements and I'll see if we're able to provide a competitive quote.