brutfood
December 12th, 2003, 18:55
I need a new web host.
I've had lots of problems with my existing one. I have stuck with them because I imagined that by working through these problems together, I have made them more understanding of my requirements. But they keep springing new issues on me - so it's time to cut my losses.
I have some very specific requirements (nothing out of the ordinary really):
What I do is advanced Content Management Systems (with enriched user friendly GUIs for making websites/e-shops etc.). A lot of stuff is written in Flash, and I'll be porting applications to Macromedia Central. (by the way, my shopping-cart software does not collect credit card numbers - it just links into paypal) So what I need from a host is as follows:
1. Prompt and friendly technical support. I'm not asking for free programming advice - so don't accuse me of it as an excuse not to answer my question. If my question related to the security of my website - it is in both of our best interests to answer it. We both want things water tight. Don't just ignore questions, or bluff if you don't know the answer.
2. A host that grows with me. If I want to up the capacity later (storage/bandwidth), the ability to move up seemlessly to another plan.
3. Unix - definitely NOT a windows server!
4. mySQL, PHP, Perl, and I may use Server-side Java and Python in the future. I also use the ImageMagick library - and expect it to work ALL the time.
5. ssh terminal access is useful (within a safe shell is fine).
6. Easily set up a discussion forum.
7. Allow me to allow users to upload .jpg files using standard HTML/PHP with security checks.
8. People using a CMS potentially could produce inappropriate content (hasn't hapenned yet - but it is with exceptions like this that you discover how friendly and reasonable your host is). Don't close the whole service down. We can work out a process to remove their files, and block that user in the future.
9. At the moment my CMS creates a directory for each user of my service. It would be cool, but not essential to be able to create sub-directories on the fly. It means that the url that user receives is tidier.
10. I want to allow users to buy domain names and map them onto the url (within my account) of their files. Either allow me this facility, or set your own reasonable price, and we can create an easy to use form so that customers can buy this domain service from you.
11. I'd prefer to buy Australian if possible - but expect European standards.
12. Work through any issues professionally, in cooperation, employing calm common sense. If a technical problem was due to something that you didn't set up right - tell me what you did to fix it. I'll treat it as a learning exercise, not an admission of guilt.
At the moment, I'm paying US$10, AU$20 per month for 100Mb storage. 5000Mb per month bandwidth.
I've had lots of problems with my existing one. I have stuck with them because I imagined that by working through these problems together, I have made them more understanding of my requirements. But they keep springing new issues on me - so it's time to cut my losses.
I have some very specific requirements (nothing out of the ordinary really):
What I do is advanced Content Management Systems (with enriched user friendly GUIs for making websites/e-shops etc.). A lot of stuff is written in Flash, and I'll be porting applications to Macromedia Central. (by the way, my shopping-cart software does not collect credit card numbers - it just links into paypal) So what I need from a host is as follows:
1. Prompt and friendly technical support. I'm not asking for free programming advice - so don't accuse me of it as an excuse not to answer my question. If my question related to the security of my website - it is in both of our best interests to answer it. We both want things water tight. Don't just ignore questions, or bluff if you don't know the answer.
2. A host that grows with me. If I want to up the capacity later (storage/bandwidth), the ability to move up seemlessly to another plan.
3. Unix - definitely NOT a windows server!
4. mySQL, PHP, Perl, and I may use Server-side Java and Python in the future. I also use the ImageMagick library - and expect it to work ALL the time.
5. ssh terminal access is useful (within a safe shell is fine).
6. Easily set up a discussion forum.
7. Allow me to allow users to upload .jpg files using standard HTML/PHP with security checks.
8. People using a CMS potentially could produce inappropriate content (hasn't hapenned yet - but it is with exceptions like this that you discover how friendly and reasonable your host is). Don't close the whole service down. We can work out a process to remove their files, and block that user in the future.
9. At the moment my CMS creates a directory for each user of my service. It would be cool, but not essential to be able to create sub-directories on the fly. It means that the url that user receives is tidier.
10. I want to allow users to buy domain names and map them onto the url (within my account) of their files. Either allow me this facility, or set your own reasonable price, and we can create an easy to use form so that customers can buy this domain service from you.
11. I'd prefer to buy Australian if possible - but expect European standards.
12. Work through any issues professionally, in cooperation, employing calm common sense. If a technical problem was due to something that you didn't set up right - tell me what you did to fix it. I'll treat it as a learning exercise, not an admission of guilt.
At the moment, I'm paying US$10, AU$20 per month for 100Mb storage. 5000Mb per month bandwidth.