I have been with Dreamhost for over a year. They have always provided me with good service, but recent horror stories started to worry me. I decided to switch to a different host in order to be proactive about ensuring my father's business website received reliable uptime. I've created this post just to share my little journey.
After days of research, I decided to go with MediaTemple. Their reputation is top-notch and I feel that, for the most part, that reputation is deserved. The transfer of my first domain to MediaTemple was easy. The second was quite a pain. MediaTemple does not provide an easy way of hosting multiple domains. They allow you to treat multiple domains as subdomains, but the setup is not at all elegant. They use a proprietary control panel which does the job, but is limited in functionality as compared to cPanel. I actually like the layout of their control panel. It was quite easy to use.
I would have been satisfied with MediaTemple's service, but when I started installing software I noticed that their installed software was outdated. This would have posed no immediate problem, but in the long term when I updated our mysql/php software to a newer version that requires at least version 4, I'd have been up a creek without a paddle.
It's important to note that their service was very, very fast in replying to me. I also had phone support at 2 AM CST. They are truly a premium host.
The combination of old software and rather difficult domain management made me decide to cancel my account with MediaTemple. I really wish I could have stayed with them, but the threat of outdated software limiting my father's website's growth bothered me too much.
After canceling with MediaTemple I decided to try A Small Orange. To make a long story short, their control panel is far better and adding domains is quite simple. I added reseller functionality so that I could continue as a reseller (I did this with Dreamhost, but stopped when I heard horror stories).
A little self advertisement: If anyone's looking for a host for a personal website and doesn't need a large amount of space, contact me.
A small orange's support staff is not as quick as MediaTemple's, but it is quite responsive. I received a reply within an hour each time I sent them an email. They are quite friendly, but it takes more than one email to fix a problem.
Over-all, I'm far more satisfied with A Small Orange. Their service allows me to do far more for my money. I can customize just about anything without having to deal with outdated software or an unfamiliar interface.
After days of research, I decided to go with MediaTemple. Their reputation is top-notch and I feel that, for the most part, that reputation is deserved. The transfer of my first domain to MediaTemple was easy. The second was quite a pain. MediaTemple does not provide an easy way of hosting multiple domains. They allow you to treat multiple domains as subdomains, but the setup is not at all elegant. They use a proprietary control panel which does the job, but is limited in functionality as compared to cPanel. I actually like the layout of their control panel. It was quite easy to use.
I would have been satisfied with MediaTemple's service, but when I started installing software I noticed that their installed software was outdated. This would have posed no immediate problem, but in the long term when I updated our mysql/php software to a newer version that requires at least version 4, I'd have been up a creek without a paddle.
It's important to note that their service was very, very fast in replying to me. I also had phone support at 2 AM CST. They are truly a premium host.
The combination of old software and rather difficult domain management made me decide to cancel my account with MediaTemple. I really wish I could have stayed with them, but the threat of outdated software limiting my father's website's growth bothered me too much.
After canceling with MediaTemple I decided to try A Small Orange. To make a long story short, their control panel is far better and adding domains is quite simple. I added reseller functionality so that I could continue as a reseller (I did this with Dreamhost, but stopped when I heard horror stories).
A little self advertisement: If anyone's looking for a host for a personal website and doesn't need a large amount of space, contact me.
A small orange's support staff is not as quick as MediaTemple's, but it is quite responsive. I received a reply within an hour each time I sent them an email. They are quite friendly, but it takes more than one email to fix a problem.
Over-all, I'm far more satisfied with A Small Orange. Their service allows me to do far more for my money. I can customize just about anything without having to deal with outdated software or an unfamiliar interface.
