Looking for a new Hosting Company

[ickb]

I had been with a hosting company for about 8 years until I was finally forced to vDeck3(I don't know if I'm allowed to use the company name) and it has been a disaster. Email, PHP, MySql, Uptime, FTP, loading slow and 1+hr wait for tech phone support or chat. 3-5 days wait for tech support email. The only way I'm am able to get my money back is by filling out a complaint to the state, Attorney General. In other words, I'm unhappy with the host I've been with for 8 years. My clients sites are also crashing on vDeck3 I'm terminating all my accounts when forced from vDeck1 to vDeck3.

I had a client on with one of your competitors using the same cPanel as HostGator so I'll have no problems using your cPanel. Thus far I'm happy with them.. but I'm sort of hesitant from putting all my clients at one host. Even the vDeck company is getting top reviews so I don't really trust the webhosting reviews as I see the other cPanel company not even placing and they are much better than the vDeck people.

Then there is HostGator, which is getting top reviews; however, interesting that people claiming to be HostGator clients also seem to be very happy. The vDeck people get good reviews, but the client including myself have been honest that vDeck doesn't work at any cost. My first impression is that the vDeck company got too big, but HostGator is also claiming 700,000+ websites so you are about the same size of the vDeck people.

In being optimistic about HostGator.
1) What do you do to keep your servers from being overloaded/oversold?

2) How does one keep under the 50,000 file(iNods) limit on a Forum/Blog, etc? eg. deleting post, threads, etc.???

3) 500 hourly email, CPU limit of 25% within 90 sec.(is acceptable)

4) How many concurrent users on a forum? 70 members - 1000 members concurrent as stated below, but what is HostGators realistic count excluding the jokes?

----what I've been able to find on concurrent users---------------------
http://forums.hostgator.com/showthre...pu+usage+forum
I found in the search function?
slapshotw
Emperor Croc
The 70 members thing was a joke from another thread.
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GvilleRick
Royal Croc
That comment was intended as sarcasm, referring to another post in another section of the forum. The post has been removed, it appears (other than in YM's quote in his post.) If you grow to the point that you have 1000's of users online at once then it would probably be time to look to upgrade.
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5. Last, but not Lease.. I am looking for good uptime. I may never need all the space and bandwidth you are offering; however, uptime and loading speed is essential(Some forums on certain web host are struggling to merely function.. as some hosting companies have suggested using SMF for faster loading vs. vBulletin; however, I see nothing wrong with the way vBulletin is loading on this forum(this could possible be on a dedicated server without restrictions on CPU usage.)

[slapshotw]

1. Hostgator is very good about making sure the servers don't get too crowded. They're very strict with making sure people abusing resources get suspended quickly.

2. On a forum/blog, every post/thread/comment would typically be stored in the database. Database records aren't part of the inode count.

3. I think this is just a comment from you, right?

4. With 25 concurrent connections on a well-optimized forum, you should be able to have 4-700 members. The more addons, database queries, etc...you have on the page the less members you'll be able to accommodate.

-Matt

[ickb]

Originally Posted by slapshotw

1. Hostgator is very good about making sure the servers don't get too crowded. They're very strict with making sure people abusing resources get suspended quickly.

2. On a forum/blog, every post/thread/comment would typically be stored in the database. Database records aren't part of the inode count.

3. I think this is just a comment from you, right?

4. With 25 concurrent connections on a well-optimized forum, you should be able to have 4-700 members. The more addons, database queries, etc...you have on the page the less members you'll be able to accommodate.

-Matt

Thank you slapshotw. That answers my questions from 1 to 4. I wasn't sure if Hostgator were counting the files used in MySql toward the 50,000 iNods, which is why I asked. All is very informative. My websites are very conservative so I'm not afraid of abusing resources on a shared server. I'm more afraid of others with no regard to people on shared hosting, abusing resources and even 'blacklisting' the server taking my site or client site down

I would want very much for HostGator to get rid of the Abusers(of shared hosting) and put them on their own Dedicated Servers .

Lastly about good uptime, reliability and fast loading speed, how does HostGator rate? This is something I'm looking more from those who have had HostGator on shared servers for at least a year or more. I can easily comment on the vDeck people throughout the 8 years and when they really started going from bad to worse until I'm cancelling accounts with them.

How do you rate Hostgator regarding good uptime, reliability(reliable email, PHP servers, MySql servers, entire shared server package) etc.? I find some host may load html pages quickly, but struggle when trying to use a forum(vBulletin, phpBB, SMF, etc) as the MySql servers are struggling with even *ONE* user trying to setup the forum. It sounds strange but it is happening with one of my accounts as they are presently spread across 3 different webhosts. Only one account works consistantly with forums mentioned above and the vDeck people it's very inconsistant to have anything working. Sometimes even simple text HTML pages loads with 2-3 graphics(80k) loads slow even with broadband. How does HostGator measure up to what I just mentioned?

Two companies have their own proprietary control panel and has so many quirks to mention on this thread.

The one company using cPanel like HostGator seems to be doing well. The reviews by individuals and webhost reviews are not as good as HostGator, so I'm wondering if the other company using cPanel is better than the other hosting company using propriety control panel. HostGator could be even better.

(I see some posters using the company name of whom I'm speaking about above. I don't know if I'm allowed to use company names of other hosting companies as on their forums they will edit out names. I could give detailed explanations about each hosting company, so I am not trying to promote nor degrade another company or HostGator. I am really trying to find the best web host for myself and my clients) Thank you for your answers that are very much appreciated. I've been really searching hard for good webhosting; since, Oct '07.. since the vDeck company really went bad.)

[ickb]

3. I think this is just a comment from you, right?

Yes, This was just a comment..3) 500 hourly email, CPU limit of 25% within 90 sec.(is acceptable)

[slapshotw]

I find their reliability to be great, mostly because of how strict they tend to be. They do not allow shared customers to request any old package to be installed on the server and are fairly hardcore about giving SSH access (until recently, they didn't give it to shared/reseller customers at all). This is what causes the servers to be so reliable.

I first started at Hostgator on a reseller server; I was very very happy and had very little (if not no) downtime. I eventually outgrew it and went to a dedicated server.

In my experience HG servers are quite snappy. Most are located at The Planet datacenter (www.theplanet.com) which has many fast backbone connections. If you ever find it slowing down, a ticket to support or quick live chat should clear the problem up quickly.

I hope that helps,
Matt

[ickb]

Thank you, this answers all my questions