Looking for US/UK webhost that allows adult content

[BRUm]

Hello SitePointers,

I'm currently with a webhost and paying £5/mo for a shared package. I'm getting extremely tired of their poor customer service - my tickets can go ignored for days and they can sometimes have inadequate English - so I'm on the prowl for a webhost that is preferably based in the UK (or has servers in/near the UK) and a good track record of customer service is an absolute must. My preferred choice of payment is through paypal and at a monthly rate - I'm not so keen on bulk-time prices.

I saw a thread with good things to say about WebHostingBuzz. The site is nice and the packages are very fair. The problem is, after about half an hour in a live chat with a very helpful agent I was about to decide to use their services until I realised they do not, under any circumstances, allow any adult websites on their servers.

I'm bitterly disappointed, I was so close to ordering one of their packages.

I have a very popular adult website that has no illegal content. Can anyone suggest a host that can satisfy all of my requirements?

Any advice or input would be greatly appreciated, I need to get off this host ASAP!

[ServerStorm]

Hi BRUm,

What are the bandwidth requirements for your site? Normally with adult content the traffic and video content are generally very demanding? If so why don't you look as Amazon EC2 or Windows Azure their you can configure your own service and as long as you meet their 'illegal content' requirements you can serve you site 'pay for use'.

[logic_earth]

I looked over the "Online Services Use Rights" for Windows Azure. I am assuming it is the correct document. It makes no mention of prohibiting adult content.

http://www.microsoftvolumelicensing....umentTypeId=31

Acceptable Use Policy
Neither you nor those that access the online service through you may use the online service:

* in a way prohibited by law, regulation, governmental order or decree;


* to violate the rights of others;

* to use the online service to try to gain unauthorized access to or disrupt any service, data, account or network by any means;

* to falsify any protocol or email header information (e.g., “spoofing”);

* to spam or distribute malware;

* in a way that could harm the online service or impair anyone else’s use of it; or for any high risk use (where failure or fault of the online service could lead to death or serious bodily injury of any person, or to severe physical or environmental damage).

[BRUm]

Thank you both for your replies, I'll look into them. The traffic at the moment is manageable and well within the 100GB limit I currently have. While the site is young and not received too demanding traffic I'm mainly looking for shared hosting.

[logic_earth]

Shared hosting? Well Windows Azure while a cloud based service like Amazon EC2 offers "Web Sites" which are shared instances running on shared servers. But when necessary, either from growth or other conditions, you can seamlessly swap to dedicated at the push of a button without your site ever going down. Which is why I like Windows Azure, makes managing so much easier, plus you only pay for what you use.

[ServerStorm]

Shared hosting? Well Windows Azure while a cloud based service like Amazon EC2 offers "Web Sites" which are shared instances running on shared servers. But when necessary, either from growth or other conditions, you can seamlessly swap to dedicated at the push of a button without your site ever going down. Which is why I like Windows Azure, makes managing so much easier, plus you only pay for what you use.

As @logic_earth ; points out, the pay for use scenario may end up being cost effective for you. I use EC2 and I am currently in my 'one free year' period but I will pay very acceptable rates for the 6 sites/applications I have running there. Plus these platforms are typically far more robust than most shared hosts.

[EastCoast]

As the OP mentioned issues with support, in this case I'd consider cloud services such as amazon a non starter - there is no support as such, as users are expected to be experienced systems administrators. There's no cpanel and you can't phone somebody up and e.g ask why there's no ftp, or about an issue with setting up email. Most regular shared web hosting users would find themselves out of depth very quickly with the majority of current cloud hosting offerings.

[logic_earth]

Good thing Windows Azure is different then. Customer Service with Windows Azure is brilliant. You do not have to be a system administrator to figure out Windows Azure or to communicate with their support.

[ServerStorm]

As the OP mentioned issues with support, in this case I'd consider cloud services such as amazon a non starter - there is no support as such, as users are expected to be experienced systems administrators. There's no cpanel and you can't phone somebody up and e.g ask why there's no ftp, or about an issue with setting up email. Most regular shared web hosting users would find themselves out of depth very quickly with the majority of current cloud hosting offerings.

Yes being on your own with little experience in these matters does rule out EC2, unless someone researches and is willing to put in the work; however most people don't have this time.

Good thing Windows Azure is different then. Customer Service with Windows Azure is brilliant. You do not have to be a system administrator to figure out Windows Azure or to communicate with their support.

This is excellent to know.

Regards,
Steve

[EastCoast]

Good thing Windows Azure is different then. Customer Service with Windows Azure is brilliant. You do not have to be a system administrator to figure out Windows Azure or to communicate with their support.

So the average shared hosting user can phone them up, ask them to add a domain, set up a ftp account, install a wordpress, change their email password and all the other sundry task a non technical user typically needs?

Or is support strictly limited to queries about leveraging/ migrating applications to the azure platform?

[logic_earth]

So the average shared hosting user can phone them up, ask them to add a domain, set up a ftp account, install a wordpress, change their email password and all the other sundry task a non technical user typically needs?

Or is support strictly limited to queries about leveraging/ migrating applications to the azure platform?

Things work differently then what you might be used to but yes. You can call them up for anything like that. In fact, you don't even need to call them to setup Wordpress, it is built right into the dashboard. See: http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/de...-from-gallery/

[coloradojaguar]

Hosting adult content is not generally and issue. Most hosts don't disallow it. Make sure your read the TOS and the SLA. Most of the time any limitations on activities or the prohibition of any type of content is listed in those documents.

[TimIgoe]

I would be inclined to say that Shared Hosting and Adult content aren't really a pair that mix. Certainly checking the T+C's for most should give you some idea, but anything that is "legal" within the hosted country should be ok on most hosts.

I deal with some adult content through work, and know that there are many providers taht don't like it, or any mention of it. It does prove an issue.

Is there any give in your budget? you might be able to get a small virtual server where you get more control and more leniency in content.