Am I paying too much?? Please Help!

[AmishPatel]

Ok so my website, http://www.wrestling-edge.com - daily 13,000 uniques, around 80,000 page views. On several days per month this can get to around 20,000 uniques and 100,000+ page views - the site also utilises wordpress.

Currently paying $194 for:

Intel Dual Xeon 2.8GHz Processor with CPanel and 4GB Ram.


TOP right now looks like this:

top - 16:12:54 up 20 days, 23:41, 1 user, load average: 1.11, 0.78, 0.72
Tasks: 170 total, 2 running, 167 sleeping, 0 stopped, 1 zombie
Cpu(s): 6.6% us, 2.2% sy, 0.0% ni, 90.6% id, 0.7% wa, 0.0% hi, 0.0% si
Mem: 4147160k total, 1173964k used, 2973196k free, 170360k buffers
Swap: 2040212k total, 3288k used, 2036924k free, 552664k cached

PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND
13367 nobody 15 0 48064 21m 12m S 8.0 0.5 0:01.78 httpd
13405 nobody 16 0 48024 21m 12m S 7.3 0.5 0:01.91 httpd
13269 nobody 16 0 48096 22m 12m S 3.3 0.5 0:04.09 httpd
13257 nobody 15 0 48100 21m 12m S 3.0 0.5 0:03.68 httpd
13510 nobody 15 0 48056 21m 12m S 3.0 0.5 0:02.19 httpd
13376 nobody 16 0 48084 21m 12m S 2.7 0.5 0:04.48 httpd


The server generally copes quite well 90% of the time but I'm wondering if it's time to change it and get more 'bang for my buck' so to speak, and I'm not really too impressed with my current provider (ThePlanet), but I have been with them for many years.

Any suggestions would be appreciated and considering my advertising revenue has gone down, something for less which would perform better would be ideal!!!

[Dan Grossman]

All you'd get without sacrificing support and reliability (moving to a worse company) would be a slightly newer model processor, maybe. A dual core Xeon with 4GB RAM and cPanel is going to cost around the same anywhere good.

I would stick with what you have.

[Paul Nelson]

Well, if you are not satisfied with the current hosting provider then you can surely go for a dedicated server with another hosting provider. However, if you are satisfied with the service they offer then I won't suggest you to leave the company to save some amount of money.

When choosing a hosting provider, it is not only the cost one should look at as the support, reliability etc. also makes a difference. If you spend a little more and you do not have to go through all the hassle to manage your server then it's not a bad deal.

[MikeDVB]

Usually moving to get "more bang for the buck" results in receiving lower quality service/support but if you do decide to move see if SoftLayer can make you a nice deal - I've been with them for over a year and I have nothing but good things to say about their service, network, and support

[SiberForum]

Well, if you are not satisfied with the current hosting provider then you can surely go for a dedicated server with another hosting provider. However, if you are satisfied with the service they offer then I won't suggest you to leave the company to save some amount of money.

When choosing a hosting provider, it is not only the cost one should look at as the support, reliability etc. also makes a difference. If you spend a little more and you do not have to go through all the hassle to manage your server then it's not a bad deal.

I suppose he is.
He just thinks he is overpaying for the current server.
I suppose you need to know that you get what you pay for and if the solution will be cheaper that is not the way that would be better

[rtccroy]

According to your hosting features, it is almost the same with other dedicated hosting provider out there. The true value of the hosting plan are now depending on what types of supports are they provided for you? Such as fast enough? Live supports examples live chat support team? How professional are they?

[~ServerPoint~]

If the service is cheaper that doesnot mean that would be better. I believe if you are happy with your current web host no reason to move. I believe you are paying fair price

[webhost.uk.net]

If the service is cheaper that doesnot mean that would be better. I believe if you are happy with your current web host no reason to move. I believe you are paying fair price

Your point is correct..If the present host offers all the service,support and if everything is working fine for you do not play with such good traffic site for few less $$ hosting.

[VcDeveloper]

Only if your a computer guru I would suggest using your own server, but only if you know what your doing. For me, I use company called no-ip to have my domain name connect directly to my own server. No monthly hosting fees, no upgrade fees, no addition fees and so on....

I can do what ever I want and enjoy having full control!

[Dan Grossman]

Only if your a computer guru I would suggest using your own server, but only if you know what your doing. For me, I use company called no-ip to have my domain name connect directly to my own server. No monthly hosting fees, no upgrade fees, no addition fees and so on....

I can do what ever I want and enjoy having full control!

There are many reasons this is a bad idea. Topping the list:

1) It's not legal. Consumer ISP contracts forbid running servers on the connection.

2) It's not fast enough. If the site is popular enough to need a dedicated server, then your cable modem upload speed is not enough to serve all the people trying to access the site.

Then you can go on to the problems with who monitors the site when you sleep, hardware failures, what happens when your ISP goes down or you lose power, the electric bill, etc.

[VcDeveloper]

There are many reasons this is a bad idea. Topping the list:

1) It's not legal. Consumer ISP contracts forbid running servers on the connection.

2) It's not fast enough. If the site is popular enough to need a dedicated server, then your cable modem upload speed is not enough to serve all the people trying to access the site.

Then you can go on to the problems with who monitors the site when you sleep, hardware failures, what happens when your ISP goes down or you lose power, the electric bill, etc.

1) if it was not legal ten no-ip would be out of business because they would be facing a lawsuit from every ISP on the internet. Plus my ISP would have shut me down 2years ago!

2) that will be taken care if this year with my own T1 line.

Not concern about down time and haven't had one yet, neither has my ISP. I take care of my system very well and have all the tools and hardware I need to protect my system.

I don't like middleman business when I can do it myself. Plus this is my passion. I enjoy networking, software development and building computers systems. It's fun and would not trade it for nothing.

[Dan Grossman]

1) if it was not legal ten no-ip would be out of business because they would be facing a lawsuit from every ISP on the internet. Plus my ISP would have shut me down 2years ago!

It's not no-ip that is breaching the contract, it is you. And just because you haven't been terminated doesn't mean it's allowed.

Great that you're OK with it, but it's bad advice to give to others.

[VcDeveloper]

It's not no-ip that is breaching the contract, it is you. And just because you haven't been terminated doesn't mean it's allowed.

Great that you're OK with it, but it's bad advice to give to others.

And AUP is written rules solely by the business giving the service and my ISP has no such restriction in me using my server for business or personal use on the internet.

As long as I:
Unlawful or Improper Use of the Service. You may not use the Service in a manner that is unlawful, harmful to or interferes with use of Clearwire’s network or systems, or the network of any other provider, damages, disables, or impairs any Clearwire property, interferes with the use or enjoyment of services received by others, infringes intellectual property rights, results in the publication of threatening or offensive material, or constitutes spam or e-mail abuse, a security risk or a violation of privacy. The Service is intended for reasonable periodic, ordinary active use. You may not use the Service on a standby or inactive basis in order to maintain a connection.

13. Acceptable Use Policy. The Acceptable Use Policy is incorporated into this Agreement as though it is a part of the Agreement. Clearwire reserves the right to immediately restrict, limit, suspend or terminate your Service or terminate this Agreement for any violation of the Acceptable Use Policy, in which case you will forfeit any unused internet time and will not be entitled to a refund

19. Termination/Discontinuance of Service. Clearwire may suspend or discontinue providing the Service generally, or terminate your Service, either in whole or in part, at any time in its sole discretion. If Clearwire discontinues providing the Service generally or terminates your Service for a reason other than your breach of this Agreement, you will be responsible only for charges accrued through the date of termination, including a pro-rated portion of the final month's charges, and you will not be charged the Early Termination Fee.

One of the things required in the contract is if I exceed my bandwith plan I would have to pay additional. I have no breach of contract with my ISP.

NO-IP has over 6.5 million people doing the same thing I'm doing. Hosting services have no right nor power to construct such an agreement with ISP's to keep businesses and home users from using a service such as no-ip. Plus no-ip would be just as guilty as there customers for offering such service to bypass the services of an hosting service.

I would recommend the service only to those who are like me, but those that don't have the skills to maintain there own server I highly recommend using a hosting service.