Web Hosting and Domain Registration

Richard Slater · 31-08-2007, 21:39

Finally got fed up with my current web host, Web Mania, as they refuse to upgrade MySQL and PHP to the latest versions, and it is stopping parts of WordPress 2.2 from working properly, the e-mail seems to be getting worse and I think they are just dropping e-mails silently.

I think I have pretty much decided that tsoHost is the best bet for hosting both of our domains (richard-slater.co.uk and I Married You). As far as I can see I can use the "Add-On Domains" feature to host both websites, i.e. imarriedyou.co.uk -> htroot/imarriedyou, richard-slater.co.uk -> htroot/richardslater, etc. If anyone has an account with tsoHost and uses this I would appreciate someone confirming that this is the case.

I also rather heavily use domain forwarding to provide me with different e-mail addresses for different people, i.e. SOE@doman for SOE Games, microsoft@domain for Microsoft, etc. Again if anyone can confirm that I can have many forwards to one mailbox on my domain I would appreciate it.

Lastly, richard-slater.co.uk is hosted with Web-Mania, and imarriedyou.co.uk is hosted with 123-reg. Are these the best options for .co.uk domains, there seem to be a stupid number of domain registrars out there and very little to tell between them, how would I go about transferring between one provider and the next - is this where the IPS/Nominet tag comes in?

Thanks
Richard

Haly · 31-08-2007, 21:41

I always stick with www.vidahost.com

Besides it being Beansprout's company so I like supporting a friend's business, they are actually great. Whenever I've emailed queries or problems (the problem usually being me losing my cpanel password

), I've had a response within 15mins even when I've emailed at odd times of the day.

Richard Slater · 31-08-2007, 22:02

Does beansprout own Vidahost? things you find out on Boat Drinks!

I am very tempted by Vidahost Advanced package because it supports SSH/SCP/SFTP which I far prefer over FTPing files back and forwards or editing from cPanel. Hmmm, Cron too.

Mark · 31-08-2007, 21:43

Firstly on the domains, I don't know Web-Mania, but 123-reg are fine and I use them myself for .uk domains (I use GoDaddy for .com). Registron are fine too, particularly if you're looking at tsoHost.

I know one of the owners of tsoHost and have a server hosted by him. I'd certainly recommend them based on that experience. I'd also recommend Vidahost, jointly run by our very own Beansprout*.

* I'm duty-bound to recommend them. I badger poor Beansprout enough that it'd be unfair not to.

Beansprout · 01-09-2007, 11:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark

* I'm duty-bound to recommend them. I badger poor Beansprout enough that it'd be unfair not to.

Anytime

Mark · 31-08-2007, 22:04

It should support everything you need for Wordpress, I hope, and yes, SSH rocks, especially when you need to fix something quick (I try to avoid everything else these days).

Upgrading PHP and MySQL isn't always easy as some software works with some versions and other software works with others, so it can be a bit of a nightmare.

Richard Slater · 01-09-2007, 10:27

one of the other web hosts I use (todHost) installed php5 alongside php4 and allowed customers on shared hosting to have extra quota if they wanted to test their scripts in php5, you just had to ask customer support.

AFAIK they are maintaining php4 but on a separate server to php5 from the end of the year, thereby minimising the potential loss if there is an issue with php4. Fasthosts did a similar thing with ASP 3 vs ASP.net hosting people who wanted to migrate were given instructions and quotas were relaxed a bit while people tested.

This was Web Mania's response to a long e-mail trying to get across that php4 wasn't supported from the 31st December and software was being released now that didn't work fully in php4, it is also the responce to the first two e-mails:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Web Mania

Currently do have no plans in upgrading the php and mysql version.

Bit disappointed really as I haven't really had too many problems with them in the past.

Beansprout · 01-09-2007, 11:45

Thought I should pop in here and say hi

Vidahost is indeed my baby (though not so much of a baby now!)

We run MySQL 4.1.xx and PHP 4 with PHP 5.2 as a CGI, and it's very easy to run it however you want....either use the .php5 extension for PHP 5, or do a little .htaccess magic to run .php files under PHP 5, etc

You also get all the usual things such as spam filtering, regular backups, and of course a free domain reg/transfer

Richard Slater · 01-09-2007, 13:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beansprout

We run MySQL 4.1.xx and PHP 4 with PHP 5.2 as a CGI, and it's very easy to run it however you want....either use the .php5 extension for PHP 5, or do a little .htaccess magic to run .php files under PHP 5, etc

Are there any plans to move to MySQL 5? doesn't really matter as it dosn't seem to affect very much except support from MySQL is winding down.

What about PHP 5 as an ISAPI module? the PHP group are discontinuing support on 31st December - not sure how that affects hosts but I would guess no more security fixes.

Beansprout · 01-09-2007, 14:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard Slater

Are there any plans to move to MySQL 5? doesn't really matter as it dosn't seem to affect very much except support from MySQL is winding down.

What about PHP 5 as an ISAPI module? the PHP group are discontinuing support on 31st December - not sure how that affects hosts but I would guess no more security fixes.

ISAPI is Windows-only afaik

PHP will be issuing security fixes until summer '08 so we'll move everything to PHP 5 only by then. But running PHP 5 as a CGI isn't a problem in 99.9% of cases (notable exception - Mediawiki is a bit fussy about CGI execution), in fact as it runs under your username it makes life easier in terms of being able to write to your own files without having to go through the whole "chmod 777" business

Newer servers will likely have MySQL 5, but as with PHP I don't plan on moving older servers to MySQL 5 - if people need it we'll just move them to a new server, rather than risk breaking a lot of sites.

31-08-2007, 21:39	#1
Richard Slater Long Island Iced Tea Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Brighton, UK Posts: 285	Web Hosting and Domain Registration Finally got fed up with my current web host, Web Mania, as they refuse to upgrade MySQL and PHP to the latest versions, and it is stopping parts of WordPress 2.2 from working properly, the e-mail seems to be getting worse and I think they are just dropping e-mails silently. I think I have pretty much decided that tsoHost is the best bet for hosting both of our domains (richard-slater.co.uk and I Married You). As far as I can see I can use the "Add-On Domains" feature to host both websites, i.e. imarriedyou.co.uk -> htroot/imarriedyou, richard-slater.co.uk -> htroot/richardslater, etc. If anyone has an account with tsoHost and uses this I would appreciate someone confirming that this is the case. I also rather heavily use domain forwarding to provide me with different e-mail addresses for different people, i.e. SOE@doman for SOE Games, microsoft@domain for Microsoft, etc. Again if anyone can confirm that I can have many forwards to one mailbox on my domain I would appreciate it. Lastly, richard-slater.co.uk is hosted with Web-Mania, and imarriedyou.co.uk is hosted with 123-reg. Are these the best options for .co.uk domains, there seem to be a stupid number of domain registrars out there and very little to tell between them, how would I go about transferring between one provider and the next - is this where the IPS/Nominet tag comes in? Thanks Richard

31-08-2007, 21:41	#2
Haly Do you want to hide in my box? Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 14,941	I always stick with www.vidahost.com Besides it being Beansprout's company so I like supporting a friend's business, they are actually great. Whenever I've emailed queries or problems (the problem usually being me losing my cpanel password ), I've had a response within 15mins even when I've emailed at odd times of the day. __________________ Halycopter

31-08-2007, 21:43	#4
Mark Screaming Orgasm Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Newbury Posts: 15,194	Firstly on the domains, I don't know Web-Mania, but 123-reg are fine and I use them myself for .uk domains (I use GoDaddy for .com). Registron are fine too, particularly if you're looking at tsoHost. I know one of the owners of tsoHost and have a server hosted by him. I'd certainly recommend them based on that experience. I'd also recommend Vidahost, jointly run by our very own Beansprout. I'm duty-bound to recommend them. I badger poor Beansprout enough that it'd be unfair not to. Last edited by Mark; 31-08-2007 at 21:45.

31-08-2007, 22:04	#6
Mark Screaming Orgasm Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Newbury Posts: 15,194	It should support everything you need for Wordpress, I hope, and yes, SSH rocks, especially when you need to fix something quick (I try to avoid everything else these days). Upgrading PHP and MySQL isn't always easy as some software works with some versions and other software works with others, so it can be a bit of a nightmare. Last edited by Mark; 31-08-2007 at 22:10.

01-09-2007, 11:45	#8
Beansprout Long Island Iced Tea Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 488	Thought I should pop in here and say hi Vidahost is indeed my baby (though not so much of a baby now!) We run MySQL 4.1.xx and PHP 4 with PHP 5.2 as a CGI, and it's very easy to run it however you want....either use the .php5 extension for PHP 5, or do a little .htaccess magic to run .php files under PHP 5, etc You also get all the usual things such as spam filtering, regular backups, and of course a free domain reg/transfer __________________ Uploader Cartoons World Wind

31-08-2007, 22:02	#3
Richard Slater Long Island Iced Tea Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Brighton, UK Posts: 285	Does beansprout own Vidahost? things you find out on Boat Drinks! I am very tempted by Vidahost Advanced package because it supports SSH/SCP/SFTP which I far prefer over FTPing files back and forwards or editing from cPanel. Hmmm, Cron too.