moeim2 Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 We have several websites that are oscommerce. We are looking for feedback by other oscommerce sites about their experiences with their hosting company. We are thinking of changing from a shared server plan to a dedicated server one. Can anyone tell me what benefits they have experienced on the two types of servers? Our webhoster seems to be down more than up, but has a lot of large companies working with his company. We assume that these large companies must have more secure uptime than us small ones, or else he wouldn't be so successful. We wonder how much downtime other website owners have experienced with both of these types of web servers. Any input is welcome. We also wonder if dedicated server clients are treated to a more dependable form of customer service vs. smaller companies on shared servers. I look forward to your responses. thx maureen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Weisser Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 I think this is not about shared hosting vs dedicated server, but about the quality of the hosting provider's services in general. Very often you get what you pay for. So don't expect 10GB for $10/month with an outstanding service level agreement. Most shared hosting providers won't help you out when you have a problem with a php script or application and even if their whole data center is redundant and uses state-of-the-art hard and software it might be down for half a day or longer in an MCA (maximum credible accident) - which has e.g. happened to one of Switzerland's biggest and best hosting providers some time ago. I've switched to my own two (mirrored) dedicated servers some time ago, because I wanted to be free to install what I want and have full control and haven't had any downtime since the beginning. I know the basics of Linux server administration, but still have some freelance Linux gurus that help me out when I got stuck. But if you have a dedicated server, you're all on your own and very often have to solve problems on your own or with the help of online forums and IRC. I've come to realize that there is no such thing as really realiable hosting if you're not willing to pay a lot of money for it. And even if you pay for it, the MCA will hit your hosting and dedicated server provider sooner or later. So you better be prepared for worst case scenarios with at least making regular backups or by setting up a cluster system with servers in different geographical locations. :-" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moeim2 Posted December 29, 2006 Author Share Posted December 29, 2006 I think this is not about shared hosting vs dedicated server, but about the quality of the hosting provider's services in general. Very often you get what you pay for. So don't expect 10GB for $10/month with an outstanding service level agreement. Most shared hosting providers won't help you out when you have a problem with a php script or application and even if their whole data center is redundant and uses state-of-the-art hard and software it might be down for half a day or longer in an MCA (maximum credible accident) - which has e.g. happened to one of Switzerland's biggest and best hosting providers some time ago. I've switched to my own two (mirrored) dedicated servers some time ago, because I wanted to be free to install what I want and have full control and haven't had any downtime since the beginning. I know the basics of Linux server administration, but still have some freelance Linux gurus that help me out when I got stuck. But if you have a dedicated server, you're all on your own and very often have to solve problems on your own or with the help of online forums and IRC. I've come to realize that there is no such thing as really realiable hosting if you're not willing to pay a lot of money for it. And even if you pay for it, the MCA will hit your hosting and dedicated server provider sooner or later. So you better be prepared for worst case scenarios with at least making regular backups or by setting up a cluster system with servers in different geographical locations. :-" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spannerman Posted December 29, 2006 Share Posted December 29, 2006 I have just moved to a dedicated server since my shared webhost provider kept complaining about the load on the mySQL server. There may well come a point when you have to move to a dedicated box! Running a dedicated box often means that you need to know a lot more about server admin since you will typically be responsible for it, but that does give you a lot more flexibility on exactly how your sites run and what you can do with the server itself. I still have some sites with my webhost (I have a reseller account) and here in the UK have been pretty lucky with good uptimes and quick response to Support Tickets. They have been pedantic from time to time regarding their Terms n Conditions though, but not with the site I've moved to a dedicated box. As Nick said above, you gets what you pays for most of the time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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