Hi all.

 

First of all, thanks for having me on WDF .

 

After a week of headaches in looking in to hosts I came across WDF and I think its an excellent site which I hope to learn from and contribute.

 

I've been designing sites for a while now I currently use Hostpapa. A couple of years ago they were excellent but in 2012 there were quite a few times when my sites were down and very slow.

 

Currently I'm looking for a host for my friends business which will run off Magento. We would be looking in to adding many sites to the host in the future.

 

Due to running a shopping cart we would require SSL, is it best to get a host that includes this in a package or to get in seperate? Keeping in mind its a new business therefore cost is quite important. I just need to get some quotes and then work out whats viable.

 

Another important thing is emails. We will need to have multiple emails with each domain with a good storage amount.

 

My original choice was 1&1 but I've read some terrible things about them. I've looked in TSOHost but I think there a bit expensive but then again maybe that's what needed.

 

Basically I need some advice along with what type of money we should be paying for our needs.

 

Please let me know if you require any further information from me.

 

Thanks

Edited February 13, 201313 yr by rallport
removed the ebay link

Actually on second thoughts I dont think TSO pricing is that bad.. but I will await some advice from you guys

Any help guys?

You need to be looking at something that can give you a good deal of dedicated resources, for a very meaty program like Magento, you'll need something other than a shared environment behind it...

Some companies specialise in Magento hosting, do a google for it, then research that company for reliability but personally I would recommend having one of the following for a Magento hosting setup

 

1. Dedicated Server

2. VPS Hosting

3. Hybrid server

+ SSL certificate add-on.

 

As I say, if you run Magneto in a heavily crowded shared environment, you're going to get sluggish results. - So always go with some form of dedicated resource setup.

Edited February 13, 201313 yr by rallport

For good performance and security with Magento you're looking for a VPS for each instance. If you're comfortable managing a Linux VPS yourself, Heart's boxes are affordable and scalable.

 

Source: I have a fair bit of experience with making Magento behave.

Edited February 13, 201313 yr by Renaissance-Design

I currently run 5 magento stores (all interlinked) on a dedicated server.

Unless you get a good deal I would get the SSL separate, we got a SSL wildcard for about £60 this covers all our stores as they are sub domains.

Hi Guys

 

Thanks for tips.

 

@WBC Which hosting company do you currently use and I can ask how much your monthly cost is with the SSL?

 

I was looking at TSOhost dedicated servers but they are £300+ per month which is way out of my range.

 

If I go for TSOhost on a shared enviroment, to get the business started and then upgrade in like a year or so once it gets busy and known, hopefully the business will be able to generate more funds. Would that work?

 

I also had a look at TSOhosts virtual servers which the lowest cost is around £100 per month again too much right now. Also I've had no experience in managing a server before.

 

I would love it if you guys could tell me which companies you have set ups with as Rallport has done. Just so I can get a better idea

 

I emailed TSOhostto get some advice a few days ago but they've not responded yet which is weird as I've only heard good things about them.

Just to let you guys know I was looking at TSOHosts Hosting pro package along with an SSL certificate directly from them, I would be grateful if you could give me some advice on this package. I think the total cost of the year for both these packages would be £100.

 

Going forward I think my max budget would be £130-£150 at least for the time being until my friend can start making some good money from the site.

Although I can't comment on that particular package, I host with TSOhost and find them absolutely amazing. I'm on some discount £2.35/month one (I don't need much), and it's fast, UK based, and the couple of problems I've had have been resolved in a matter of minutes, rather than hours.

I've heard back from TSOHost now and think I'll be going for their Pro Hosting package to start with and then upgrade once my friend can upgrade it.

 

Thanks for all your advice guys!!!

I can vouch for Linode, they are excellent. However it is an unmanaged service and you might find the configuration side a bit daunting. You might be worth looking for someone that can help you or alternatively look for a host that can provide you with managed support.

There are a few shared hosts, that offer Magento optimized hosting - as such they also offer semi-dedicated. Might be worth looking into these options before jumping into a dedicated server.

One thing you might want to check is that your Magento is configured properly, I see a lot of Magento sites run slow and can be resolved by tuning your magento install.