I’ve read the closed thread here about how almost useless it is to ask for a “good hosting company,” whether for shared or VPS hosting. My question is different, although it is still an “advice” question.
I have created and maintain six Web sites that have been hosted by a shared hosting company for a number of years. My Web sites are non-commercial and do not have what you would call high traffic. Currently, they use only XHTML, CSS, and JavaScript. However, the “geek” in me would really like to switch to VPS hosting–just for the fun of it, to learn more, and to have root access to the server. The question is whether I could handle it. Here is a brief background, and then I would value your opinions and advice.
(1) I have a technical background in computers. I have worked professionally as a computer programmer and have taught programming at the college level for a number of years.
(2) On my home computers (networked) I run Linux. I have done so for years–ever since Fedora Core 1. We are now up to Fedora 13, so I’m moderately familiar with UNIX-type OS’s. Some VPS hosting companies run Red Hat, the alter-ego of Fedora, and many others use centOS, which I think is quite similar to Red Hat.
(3) Some of the pages on my Web sites use SSI for code that is repeated on multiple pages (e.g., the menu). But to debug these pages locally during development, I need to see the pages displayed using the inserted code. So I managed to get Apache running on my local drive so that the pages with SSI are displayed correctly in Firefox. However, this was pretty simple, and it hardly qualifies me as “knowledgeable” about Apache.
So what do you think? How hard would it be for me to go to a VPS? Would I find the learning curve and the maintenance time so great that I wouldn’t have any time left over to work on my Web sites themselves?
I think you should go through forums and tutorials and gather more knowledge and go for a VPS, as it would help you a lot. And also choose a host, which can help you when you are in need. I think there won’t be any problem for you with that.
I don’t know your existing hosting setup but if it has SSH acess and you have been using it you will be in good stead for running a vps. I use vps for some sites now and have gone with a company called linode - they have a support forum and lots of how to guides which i found good for getting my box up with apache / php etc and secured
I’ve been reading all your replies with much interest, and I appreciate all of them.
Yes, Dave, I do have SSH access with my current shared-hosting company, Hostmonster. I use SSH and SFTP in a Linux terminal for creating, deleting, and organizing directories and files. Apparently this is a rare thing. Hostmonster does provide cPanel, and I use that for things like creating email accounts. But I get a kick out of the support techs when I do call with some question. Many of them are quite surprised when they find out I don’t use cPanel to manage my directories and file uploads.
I will suggest you VPS of 247-host.com
Their support is very qualified and whenever I mess up they fix it
I am with them for last 4-5 years.
Prices are quite low and good space bandwidth and free dedicated IP is best offer suitable to me.
We do not know your skills and opportunities and that is very hard to say beforehand about that if that will be hard or not for you.
I listed them in my original post. Based on that list, I was hoping someone who knew what needed to be done in running a VPS would be able to at least estimate how much more I would need to learn and estimate a learning curve for those things.
Any help, even if just estimates, would be much appreciated.
Thanks for the response. Yes, I knew about managed vs. unmanaged options. However, since mine are not commercial sites and because I am now a retired teacher, I have to watch expenses quite carefully. But even if my name were J. P. Morgan instead of Ken Morgan, my main goal in considering VPS is to learn more and do it myself. But this is what led to my final question:
How hard would it be for me to go to a VPS? Would I find the learning curve and the maintenance time so great that I wouldn’t have any time left over to work on my Web sites themselves?
I would also hopefully be able to find a company whose tech support would help me if I occasionally get into trouble without per-hour charges, even though I have an “unmanaged” account and generally do things myself.
Ken
P.S.: I looked at your Web site, since you represent a company that provides VPS Web hosting. I also noticed the similarity in names with this Web site: SitePoint and ServerPoint. Are the two related–same company or same parent company?
So what do you think? How hard would it be for me to go to a VPS? Would I find the learning curve and the maintenance time so great that I wouldn’t have any time left over to work on my Web sites themselves?
I believe most VPS which are being offered now are managed solutions. So I believe you will not need to spend any time at all for it.
But if you want to learn the process I think unmanaged VPS could be the way to go.
That is cheaper in any way.
There is a learning curve when you first jump into a VPS. However, you can ease the difficulty by having managed VPS and/or using a control panel system, such as cPanel.
This allows you the ability to not limit yourself in terms of managing your server, but also enables you to push your knowledge on operating a server using SSH/Command line.
Long long time ago, I got a VPS knowing zero linux. Having a control panel and managed support really saved me and allowed me to learn how to managed the server via SSH.
There are several cheat sheets and tutorials online that will aid your learning, so I think you should be fine.
