The Icon Bar: The Playpen: Suitable hosting
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Suitable hosting |
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Loris (19:19 16/4/2009)
filecore (21:12 16/4/2009)
ad (23:22 16/4/2009)
Loris (16:00 19/4/2009)
filecore (06:23 20/4/2009)
andypoole (07:36 20/4/2009)
filecore (08:22 20/4/2009)
Loris (12:38 20/4/2009)
Acornut (22:15 16/4/2009)
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Tony Haines |
Message #109815, posted by Loris at 19:19, 16/4/2009 |
 Ha ha, me mine, mwahahahaha
Posts: 1025
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For the last year or two I've had a website hosted for free by Google using their Googlepages service. And it's been pretty good, to be honest.
(shameless plug: Lysis games )
But for some time, they've been threatening to move things over to Google Sites, which isn't as good and doesn't suit my purposes (it apparently doesn't host plain HTML files, fr'instance).
They've now started the migration, but until they've completed it they'll let you opt out and give a redirect to your new site.
So it looks like it's time for me to buy a domain and pay to get it hosted.
So I thought I'd best ask you guys who is the best for hosting and the like.
I'm not earning very much from the games, so I can't afford anything too pricey.
That said I do have a few requirements.
I need to be able to upload swf and zip files and potentially other random formats for display on teh web.
I don't know anything - well, hardly anything - about managing a server, but maybe it would be a good idea to have something which I could use to make multiplayer games. This might mean sudden spikes in bandwidth so I might need the potential to trade up to a larger package rather than have everything dissappear if I hit a limit.
Also I'd really like to have the option to move the domain & stuff to another host, although I probably wouldn't outside of extreme flakiness price spikes or other severe issues.
So, who's good? |
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Jason Togneri |
Message #109816, posted by filecore at 21:12, 16/4/2009, in reply to message #109815 |
Posts: 3868
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I've been with 34SP (www.34sp.com) for years. They offer great support services, full control over servers from a control panel (meaning you can install what you want but don't have to worry about minutiae, you can do swf/zip/whatever the hell you feel like).
If you go over HDD/bandwidth limits, you get automated email warnings for 30 days - if you're still over the limits after this time, they simply add a month's worth of charges onto your regular bills. So bandwidth/storage spikes are irrelevant.
Their uptime is very impressive and they respond to faults and problems very quickly. Support is by email/IRC/phone and business-level accounts have 24/7 support. They have many packages at many levels and I've had a number of domains with them - they've just revised their offerings, so check their site for details - since the start of this decade. This is a personal recommendation and no, I'm unaffiliated, and I get no financial backhanders if you sign up  |
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Blind Moose |
Message #109819, posted by Acornut at 22:15, 16/4/2009, in reply to message #109815 |
 No-eye-deer (No Idea)
Posts: 487
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Hi Tony
All of our website is uploaded/hand written from a riscpc. (using Acorn Ftp) with these people http://www.cut.co.uk/
We wanted something simple, and inexpesive (approx £40/annum)
We were recommended by a friend, who knows the owner, and I must say have been extreemly helpful.
Bear in mind we will NEVER need to use 2G bandwith a month, on our site.
We also get Free daily statistics, very useful to compare inflated advertisers claims, when they try to sell you summit. |
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Andrew Duffell |
Message #109821, posted by ad at 23:22, 16/4/2009, in reply to message #109816 |
Posts: 3262
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34sp.com are great! |
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Tony Haines |
Message #109834, posted by Loris at 16:00, 19/4/2009, in reply to message #109821 |
Ha ha, me mine, mwahahahaha
Posts: 1025
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Hmmm. Thanks for the reponses. That's two votes for 34sp.com.
I've also heard good things about http://eukhost.com
Part of my trouble is I just don't know enough about what I ought to want or need.
And sometimes the units used don't seem to match with what I'd expect.
At the moment I just need a webpage with generic file access, I think - but if I have my own domain and server (or part of one) I'll want to do something more fancy, like multiplayer games.
So looking at 34sp - would Professional hosting do what I might need? The cheapest one is £4 per month, which I can manage. How do I find out what happens if bandwidth is exceeded though?
Looking at it's list, it has:
MySQL - which I know nothing about, but can learn. For databases.
PHP / Perl / Ruby / Python - for scripting. Okay, I know some Perl.
eukhost seems to have a more-or less equivalent scheme for £30 per year as the lowest of its metal-coded hosting schemes
It also has ImageMagick, which I've used before, so that's a plus.
Again it's not clear what happens if bandwidth is exceeded. 2GB/month seems like a lot to me, but since I don't know if that includes a lot of packet padding or anything like that I'm in the dark.
What would be best for managing multiplayer games though? They need to be fast, and scalable.
Similarly, what would be best for storing player-generated content? I'm sure MySQL would hold the data - but what would make a good interface to it?
So what I feel is the gap in my knowledge is how the server receives, handles and responds to information requests? I originally meant to say - other than static webpages - but now I realise I don't know that either!
It's past time I learnt more about this stuff, but I'm not sure where to start. I'd really appreciate your guidance.
(Edited - trying to fix links)
[Edited by Loris at 13:43, 20/4/2009] |
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Jason Togneri |
Message #109840, posted by filecore at 06:23, 20/4/2009, in reply to message #109834 |
Posts: 3868
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How do I find out what happens if bandwidth is exceeded though? It's quite simple. You exceed bandwidth or storage, you'll get an automated email with the details. You'll get one every day for a month until you sort the problem. Once the month is passed, they'll simply add a charge to your bill for the equivalent of one month's storage or bandwidth allocation purchase from your account's pricing plan - don't worry, they'll never deactivate your account for violations of this sort, the worst you'll face is paying a little extra. Their staff are flexible and friendly and if you have concerns, chat with them by email or on IRC (or even on the phone) and they'll explain it for you.
MySQL - which I know nothing about, but can learn. For databases. Depends what you want to do with it. You could study a million packages in detail, but if you don't know what you want to do with your site, then you'll never find the 'right' one. Most things utilising databases (BBS, CMS, even geneaology databases) come with a package prewritten so that all you need to do is fill in some general field info and it'll populate the database automagically. You should maybe discuss the multiplayer games aspect with the staff of [chosen company] and they'll be able to advise you on what you'd need. After all, that's what they're there for. |
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Andrew Poole |
Message #109841, posted by andypoole at 07:36, 20/4/2009, in reply to message #109840 |
Posts: 5558
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Their staff are flexible  |
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Jason Togneri |
Message #109842, posted by filecore at 08:22, 20/4/2009, in reply to message #109841 |
Posts: 3868
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Their staff are flexible
What, you don't like the thought of having a flexible staff?  |
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Tony Haines |
Message #109845, posted by Loris at 12:38, 20/4/2009, in reply to message #109840 |
Ha ha, me mine, mwahahahaha
Posts: 1025
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How do I find out what happens if bandwidth is exceeded though? It's quite simple. You exceed bandwidth or storage, you'll get an automated email with the details. You'll get one every day for a month until you sort the problem. Once the month is passed, they'll simply add a charge to your bill for the equivalent of one month's storage or bandwidth allocation purchase from your account's pricing plan - don't worry, they'll never deactivate your account for violations of this sort, the worst you'll face is paying a little extra.
Oh yeah - you'd said that. Sorry. I missed it when I went back over the responses. It just doesn't seem to say so on their website (or any other hosting service I looked at - particularly eukhost).
Regarding the services - I guess I'm just worried that I'll discover that I can't do what I want with what I've purchased for some reason. |
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The Icon Bar: The Playpen: Suitable hosting |
