I’m about to drop a few hundred dollars to buy hosting space for a couple blogs and even though I’ve been doing a lot of research, I always value personal recommendations over the latest, greatest internet deal.
My largest site brings in only 12K visitors/mo so I don’t think I need anything dedicated. Some companies limit my storage space and bandwidth while others offer “unlimited” (although I’ve read this isn’t quite true…so should I trust that kind of company?).
I’ve been hosting with www.eapps.com for 4 years now and absolutely love them. I recommend them to all my clients and haven’t ever been disappointed. They don’t offer that “unlimited” BS but they do honor the resources they pledge to you.
Some companies limit my storage space and bandwidth while others offer “unlimited” (although I’ve read this isn’t quite true…so should I trust that kind of company?).
Any advice is appreciated.
It is unlimited as in not directly restricted, but it’s not infinite. If you use too much CPU/memory, you will have to upgrade.
Now, when it comes to a website with 12K visitors, most shared hosting out there should cope just fine. Just make sure you choose a good one. Quality can vary a lot between hosts, even if their pricing and offer are almost the same.
My advice is to avoid most providers found on any “Top 10 Web Hosting Providers” type of lists or at the very least make sure you do plenty of research into any provider you decide to look at.
Here, WebHostingTalk.com, and Google are all great resources to find reviews but try to find reviews that are legitimate/verified in some way.
No need to drop a few hundred dollars to buy hosting space
You can get it much cheaper these days.
It does not matter whther there is a limit or unlimit. It matters whether services are faster, authentic, relaible and support is qualified and prompt.
I recommend you to use mosso (rackspace)
If your blogs will have high traffic or some traffic peaks, mosso will grow with you without any extra cost (if you will not pass their compute cycle limits)
It seems that you need something more than a standard Shared Hosting account. A good option is a Virtual Private Server, but you have to do system administration. Cloud hosting accounts is also an option, but there many different solutions and you shall spend some time in comparing them, which will take some of your time. So if you can handle the VPS management, you’d better go for a virtual server.
True that “unlimited” is not really unlimited. It is “unlimited” in the sense that you can use as much disk space and bandwidth to the point that it doesn’t interfere/effect others that share the same server. For most people, that is unlimited - they don’t have enough content to affect server performance. However, if you try to use too much resources the host will warn you or cut you off (try starting your own YouTube type site on a $8.95/month shared account and see what happens…).
Make sure to read the Terms of Service closely, mosts unlimited plans mean nothing. If you have a busy site you will be forced into a VPS or dedicated.