Changing web hosts can be a daunting task. Especially if you have multiple domains, email accounts, databases, live production running systems, etc. I've had some bad hosts in the past and I've have some decent ones, but the decent ones seem to dry up or get bought out by someone (guppy in the shark tank syndrome) and then go from great to bad in no time at all. I recently went from bad to good, so I thought I'd share what I learned along the way.
One of the things I like to think about myself is that before I vote with my consumer dollars, I efducate myself on the options, availability, competitors, etc. Depending in the purchase, this can be a quick task, and in other cases, long and drawn out. I did a lot of reading, research, networking, talking to others, etc. Personally being tied very closely to technology, first finding, then deciding on changing isn't a slam dunk decision and isn't as easy as one would think. If I'm going to change, I want to change once. It's too much of a headache to bounce around. So making the actual migration from one host to another is not something that you want to do. When you do it, you want it to be trouble free.Starting with my requirements, and then getting into the details of the search for that 'right' host, and finally, making the move.
My requirements for web hosting are simple. (in this order)
1) A fair price for adequate web space and bandwidth.
1a) unlimited databases / domains / ftp / email / accounts, etc.
2) Linux, running a cpanel back end and shell access
3) Technical support.
4) Speed and network reliability
5) Redundancy / Scheduled and Automated backups
6) TOS, SLA, AUP.
So let me save you a bunch of googling, a ton of useless reading, and point you to the few resources I used, and share a few of the points that I made good use of and were of concern to me. First let me drill down through each of of my requirements and explain why each of these are important to me, and why you should consider them as part of your search.
A fair price, and adequate bandwidth. One of the issues I was running into with my old host, was I was running out of bandwidth. Find something that you will not likely exceed, but also understand the difference between bandwidth and bytes transferred. They are closely tied together and often misunderstood. There are handful of hosts out there offering several TB of transfer, and 1,000's of gigs of drive space. Plenty for just about anyone.
Linux, running cpanel, with shell access. Pretty straight forward, I was a secure linux build, running cpanel, and I need / wants ssh / shell access. I use ssh/ftp, and I also want access to my account via shell access to work with databases, scripts, configuration, etc. cpanel was a requirement because I know it, it's stable, relatively secure, and well known through the industry.
Tech support is a must. There is nothing more frustrating than having an issue, be it small or large, and not getting support. But... this is a two way street. People complain about tech support because they don't get someone to answer the phone and resolve their issue in under an hour. You are one of many customers. Sometimes you are not first in line and you're not always the biggest problem that week / day / hour. Here is the thing with me though- by the time I call you, I can assure you, 99.9% of the time, the problem is on your end. Fix it. And when / if I do call, shoot straight with me. Don't tell me it's not a problem / you don't know what the problem is, and then have it 'mysteriously' go away.
Speed and network reliability. This is a huge one for me. Find a provider that is in a major NOC. It's not hard to do. You can ask them, or you can find out where / what data center they are in (if they don't own their own, which few actually do) but digging around through IP addresses, ARIN, and DNS. I need a basic page to load in .5 seconds on average. If circuits are over sold, or servers are pegged, you will see it in performance, and I can tell you from experience, it's not going to get any better. Look at it for face value and remember, if it barks like a dog, a scratches like a dog, and had fleas like a dog.... it's probably a dog. One other very important thing to do is dig around their support forum. If they don't allow you access to their forum, don't sign up with them. If they won't allow you to see what current customers are complaining about, run. Find another provider.
Redundancy and backups. This kind of falls in the above two items, but it's important to have redundancy. Any major provider is going to have it in their data center. Backups are very nice if you are not in the regular habit of doing your own backups. You will *never* understand the vitality and importance of a backup until you need it.
TOS, SLA, AUP. Terms of Service, Service Level Agreement, Acceptable Usage Policy. Read these VERY CAREFULLY. They can make or break your hosting experience with or without someone. Not in the sense that you will argue so much the SLA, but the TOS is critical that you understand. There were several hosts that I turned down because of what was spelled out in the TOS. For example, one said if my site(s) contained any profanity (like the word "shit") they could, and would suspend my account without notice. Others made it very clear as to what kinds of files I can store, use, access, etc. on the server. Lastly, some hosts make very clear restrictions on what type of content is not allowed on their server. "Hacker content" for example, but what really is "hacker" content? That term is so loosely used and wide open to interpretation, if you are in a TOS with that, trust me, you're going to lose the argument on the content type. So, read them, and understand well before signing up.
Reading you need to do (or not)
WH Reviews http://whreviews.com
Read everything on this site. It is another guy who isn't getting paid to write. He's giving you the straight information from his experience with no flashy crap. I read 100% of the information on his page, and it made my search quicker, and was able to cut out a lot of hosts quickly based on some basic information.
Top Hosting Reviews http://www.hostninereview.org
I'm undecided about this site. I don't know if the guy is getting paid or the hosts are buying the reviews. There is a lot of useful information on his site(s) which will be of use to you if you dig through them. One of the pages that is useful there is the cpanel versus cheap web, versus ____ pages as seen here: http://www.topwebhostingreviews.org/cpanel-web-hosting/ Good site to do some side by side comparison with different and popular hosts.
Don't believe anything you see or read here: http://www.hosting-review.com
I found the site to be pretty useless as far as user reviews. The directory of host is helpful if you are simply looking for hosts, names, urls, etc.
Web Hosting Talk http://www.webhostingtalk.com/
It may be a little intimidating at first, but visit WHT and read what others are saying.
My Short list:
My short list of hosts that I was considering using after digging through the long long list of providers was a very short list. What I came down to, and the trade off's I was making from one to the other were minimal.
Hostgator
Hostican
Bluehost / Hostmonster (same company)
I ended up with Host Gator (or Gator Host) I can live with their TOS, the reviews are pretty favorable across the board, the price is right and my basic list of requirements was met. I'm very happy with my decision and have been happy with the service. The reliability is solid, the few times I've needed to contact tech support, they are on the ball and address the issue, and otherwise, trouble free for a great price. Their forums are active, and they take a proactive approach in them as use them as a communication tool for their hosting community to both new / potential and existing customer. They have an affiliate program, which I'm not a part of, so just go to their site and check them out. I could load my site up with useless affiliate links and try to get a few bucks out of the deal, but I'd rather just get you information that works, and is useful. My goal is not to make money off of referring people to hosting, but to get good, dependable, honest information out to people.
