Concerning
Knownhost vs
JaguarPC, I just wanted to start off by saying that both of these are excellent virtual private server (VPS) hosts. To a degree, comparisons between them are based on nitpicking, minutia, and preferences. It's not a case of good host vs bad host.
I'm also going to add Futurehosting to this conversation, because I think these three companies are direct competitors. They have comparable size/recognition, similar offerings, and similar low-cost managed VPS prices.
>> Jaguar offers more backups which we never will want to rely on
I'd have to say that this is true with any host. A host has backups for their own benefit, not yours. The backups are to assist in server failures, to restore as much as possible. The hosts are not responsible for your content, so this is mostly done for customer retention -- the hosts that maintain backups want to at least try to make customers satisfied.
Some hosts choose to share them, some do not. Some share them for a fee, some share for free. Most hosts do not share, and those that do tend to charge.
JaguarPC charges an expensive hourly rate, so maintaining your own backups (or having your admin service maintain them for you) is going to be a lower-cost option.
>> while KnownHost offers more support which we never will want to rely on.
In my experience, I don't know that Knownhost, JaguarPC or Futurehosting any more/less service. Each of them has
- responsive 24/7 support,
- standard M-F 9-5 guaranteed sales support -- though sometimes they do respond during off hours,
- and the servers were almost always up.
Additionally, Futurehosting currently has a lot of custom firewall rules (CSF) that come with their cPanel VPS, which is very helpful.
If I had to pick an issue I didn't like from each host:
Futurehosting -- When I was with FH, there were some issues with their new services. Growing pains. I felt like a bit of a guinea pig, and at one point Plesk imploded on itself and was irrecoverable, as caused by their new backup service. In fairness, they did compensate with several free months, as well as assisting in the restoration to a new VPS node. But I often felt as if their new services were maybe not tested adequately for public consumption.
Knownhost -- I don't much care for KH's default install/image of cPanel/WHM. Specifically, I don't like how PHP is set up, and their writings online have often confused users -- even myself. If you search Google for terms like
suPHP,
777,
WordPress or
permissions, combined with
Knownhost, you'll get page after page at forums and blogs complaining about this. It's really nothing more than an issue of them making an otherwise simple issue complicated.
JaguarPC -- Therehave been multiple times in the past when I've contacted sales, either by web chat or by submitting a ticket, and the reply I received was uninformed. The person didn't know what version of Plesk was currently being deployed on servers, for example. Or I'd give the IP address in the body of the ticket, and the response was "Can I get your IP?" -- meaning the person skimmed, and didn't read. I've also had an ongoing issue with the DirectAdmin license auto-update failing on the first of each month, which is a nuisance.
>> it seems mainly that KnownHost is less inexpensive.
Honestly, in the grand scheme of things, Knownhost, JaguarPC and Futurehosting are all equally priced, within $10/monthly of one another. They're all in the $25-35 range for a 512MB minimum managed VPS with a commercial panel (cPanel, Plesk or DirectAdmin). At this moment, these are the exact prices:
>> I presume that you can do any settings you like at KnownHost, just as at Jaguar.
For the most part, a VPS is a VPS is a VPS. Each of these hosts is using Virtuozzo and CentOS 5/6 Linux. Pretty much everything is identical. The only differences would be in hardware, but they're all using comparable CPU/RAM, RAID-10, etc.
>> Meanwhile I like the fact that KnownHost offers two diverse server locations (TX and CA), so that eventually I can run two servers under the same system.
Texas isn't really too diverse. Texas is good if you want to have a USA/Canada-only site, and only plan to use one server. It's the same as Chicago, in this sense. I'm also not 100% fond of Colo4Dallas.
To be diverse would be to locate yourself on both coasts. JaguarPC and Futurehosting both have multiple locations on the coasts, as well as UK. For Knownhost to have servers in TX and CA is nice, but I'm not overly swayed by it.
In fact, I tend to worry about hosts that have servers in too many locations, as it spreads out manpower too much, and pretty much guarantees their outsourcing to the datacenter. I'd prefer to use a host with only one or two locations, as opposed to one that puts servers everywhere (as it's usually just a money-grab ploy, to get clients in demographics that demand those geo-locations).
These are their current network/server locations:
- "Future Hosting now offers VPS services in Chicago, Dallas, London, Los Angeles, and Washington DC."
- JaguarPC: "Atlanta, New Jersey, Dallas, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and United Kingdom"
- "KnownHost is proud to offer to our customers one of the largest colocation facilities in Dallas, Texas, Colo4Dallas" -- also in NJ and California.
What really matters more than location is the quality of the bandwidth in/out of the datacenters, and analyzing the traffic routes. Bottlenecks and slowdowns en route obliterates any geographic advantage. It's why you have to really dig deep for information when deciding based on location, as it's not as simple as pulling out the road maps or an atlas.
>> Jaguar seems more like a MacDonald's where everyone is pressured for time and you cannot ask for any special favors.
I don't known that it's quite as bad as McDonald's is -- "McHosting" -- but I would say that Futurehosting and Knownhost probably do give a bit more personalized service. I think much of that has to do with the fact that they're also smaller companies, however, so there's less people to deal with. But there have been times where KH and FH made me feel like a customer # or ticket # instead of a person, too. It's not just JPC. Much of that probably depends on the person, to be honest. Some techs suck at being personable.
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