Is HG for me?

We're thinking of moving to HostGator as our current host is having great problems and our sites have been down for about 23 hours so far.

We're looking at moving two sites over both using forums based on phpBBS - one using the Minerva software and the second using IntegraMOD.

We use about 100Gb of bandwidth a month and around 2Gb of HD space.

We have about 800 active users and our SQL databases are around 100Mb and 80Mb.

We need about 40 ftp accounts and 150 email accounts.

Some PHP scripts need to be executed via Cron (email and RSS importation).

The SQL databass need to be accessible remotely using SQLYog as we bak up locally to home based PCs.

We are therefore considering the HG Reseller account and need to know if it is viable for our needs, and if not what other HG account, or even alternate host may be suitable.

Cheers guys in advance!

[Serra]

Given your needs, an HG reseller account will not work very well for you. Too many restrictions and not priced in the range you would want. For 100gb, you'd need a gold plan and with that you'd find the mySQL connections to be too restrictive for you.


However, on the other hand, a semidedicated account is exactly what you are looking for and is big enough. It is also the roughly the same price as a gold reseller account, so no difference there.

[khepri]

Originally Posted by Serra

However, on the other hand, a semidedicated account is ....

I notice you keep mentioning semi-dedicated accounts....

Is that what HG is callig the "dedicated" servers...or am I missing something?

TIA

[twisty]

Semi is still shared but only by a small number of other users. It's great for those who can't justify spending $$$ for dedicated and who don't need a full server to themselves.

It bridges the gap between Swamp and dedicated basically.

Cheers for the data guys, but as I've now been told that it is unlikely we'll be able to run Cron timed PHP scripts it looks like that HG is not for us which is a great pity.

Originally Posted by tekguru

Cheers for the data guys, but as I've now been told that it is unlikely we'll be able to run Cron timed PHP scripts it looks like that HG is not for us which is a great pity.

You can run Cron-timed PHP Scripts via cpanel with no problem, it depends on how often you run these scripts and what they are doing that can be a problem sometimes.

There are two main scripts, one imports email 2 forum messages (M2F mod) which runs every 10 minutes.

The second imports RSS feed data from other sites into forums, that runs 4 times a day.

One long running script is that which creates a sitemap.xml and that runs weekly but cna take 1-3 hours.

Assume the first 2 woudl be okay but the last a problem?

The other worry we have is how to migrate a 100Mb SQL database over?

[Serra]

Originally Posted by khepri

I notice you keep mentioning semi-dedicated accounts....

Is that what HG is callig the "dedicated" servers...or am I missing something?

Yea, the semi-dedicated is a really inexpensive way to get beyond the restrictions of the reseller account without paying $200.00 a month for hosting on a dedicated box. It is still shared hosting, but because there are no restrictions on the mySQL connections and less users per server, users end up with more power and less restrictions.

Personally, when I exceeded the ability of my reseller account, I went dedicated and I've been very happy, but if I was only hosting one large account, I don't think I'd be willing to shell out $200+ a month for hosting it, the semi-decicated account would be perfect. Still not as cheap as a Baby account, but worth it in the end.

Most of the people who have problems with reseller or shared hosting at another reseller and are shopping a new host are doing it for one of two reasons.

1. Their host simply sucks. That can happen.
2. Their host is trying to get rid of them because they are a resource hog and it making their life very difficult so they will go away. Most hosts hate to have high resource people because it really cuts into their profits.

These people come here looking to get an account that is super cheap and will allow them to host a vBBS that requires a 100gig a month. Those types of accounts don't really belong in shared hosting. I don't want a 100gig vBBS on a server I'm sharing bandwidth and resources with. My site would be sucken all the time.

HG's restrictions on mySQL, email numbers, POP hits and CPU usage go a long way to protect my site from others who would use up all my share of resources. However, it makes HG's shared accounts unattractive to people who are bad customers, so they tend to go else where and use someone else's resources.

HG offers the semi-dedicated accounts for people who don't really belong on shared hosting, but who need the resources of a dedicated box, but can't or don't want to pay that much.

(I'm just guess at all of this, I have no inside knowledge about how HG does thing, I'm just guessing based on what I would do if I where them)

[Serra]

Originally Posted by tekguru

There are two main scripts, one imports email 2 forum messages (M2F mod) which runs every 10 minutes.

The second imports RSS feed data from other sites into forums, that runs 4 times a day.

They do block some RSS scripts, those that take a ton of resources. I know that on the dedicated boxes, they don't block any scripts, I'm free to screw myself a hundred different ways. I'm not sure if that RSS script policy is on the semi-dedicated accounts or not. You can contact support/sale with the name and type of script and they can tell you for sure.

One long running script is that which creates a sitemap.xml and that runs weekly but cna take 1-3 hours.

I find that odd, why do you sitemap the forum? Does it really help?

Assume the first 2 woudl be okay but the last a problem?

A three hour running script does seem a bit excessive! I'd email or call sales and ask about the restrictions.

The other worry we have is how to migrate a 100Mb SQL database over?

Yea, I'd have support move that for you. I know that 100Mb SQL (assuming you mean mySQL) can be tough to move. It is some times easier with shell access. You might ask to get shell access for the move, I'm not sure what the policy is, but they may allow you to have it if they can't do it for you.

how can i buy the semi dedicated?

Do i got to reseller and buy silver or gold?

[Serra]

Semi-dedicated is not a reseller package, but here is the link to it:
http://hostgator.com/shared.shtml

[khepri]

Originally Posted by twisty

Semi is still shared but only by a small number of other users. It's great for those who can't justify spending $$$ for dedicated and who don't need a full server to themselves.

It bridges the gap between Swamp and dedicated basically.

Ok...so is that some "unadvertised" HG special?

or

Where does one locate information on semi-dedicated server (which I assume is the same as VPS?)

TIAA

EDIT: Guess I shoulda looked al the way down!..LOL...Nevermind.

Hmmm....a bit confused...

So, if one has a reseller account....and your needs requrie more space, but not enough to go full dedicated....you would purchase the semi-dedicated package in addition? Can you re-sell that space and bandwidth? Each customer would have their own cpanel, email, etc...?

Or is that just a solution if your, say...a site design and need somewhere to host clients/projects...?

[khepri]

Originally Posted by Serra

Yea, the semi-dedicated is a really inexpensive way to get beyond the restrictions of the reseller account without paying $200.00 a month for hosting on a dedicated box. It is still shared hosting, but because there are no restrictions on the mySQL connections and less users per server, users end up with more power and less restrictions.

Thanks! As usual reading your posts is like a Webhosting 101....Thanks!

[Serra]

Originally Posted by khepri

Ok...so is that some "unadvertised" HG special?

or

Where does one locate information on semi-dedicated server (which I assume is the same as VPS?)

A semi is not the same as a VPS. A semi is a specific size and a VPS could be any size, but is a special kind, the kind that a semi isn't. (That sounds dirty)