Best Windows hosts? - Need assistance for setting up a development environment
Hi everyone,
I was invited here by <insert name here> to ask this community for assistance in creating a development environment. I am doing pretty good on researching hosting providers, but if anyone has recommendations on a host, I would really appreciate it. Basically my environment I am creating is made up by the following. All of the following is for Windows 2008r2 Standard edition. I do not want linux, 1&2 are 2 gb ram and min 20 gb useable hdd space. 3 is going to have 4 gb ram and 80 gb usable hdd space. VPS 1= IIS Server VPS 2= Main Server- this will have SmarterMail installed. I am also going to be offering GoogleApps and Office 365 Outlook. Any more recommendations would be appreciated. VPS 3= SQL Server 2008r2 and 2012 development edition/license Okay if I still have you this far, my question(s) are: I have only worked in an in-house IT department where we had a server room with our own servers. I also had the luxury of not really knowing how a network is setup, running and secured. Hardware guys always took of that, and I let them, but now I am kicking myself in the bottom for not taking advantage of the wealth of information from my hardware/networking guys :( So, what I am looking for is any tip,trick, links on securing a Windows Server and my small little network and avoiding cpu/ram not running at 100%. Oh and books, I love love technical books.:) Anyway, Thanks in advanced for any info you can give. Happy Holiday Christi |
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I notice that your post here does seem to be somewhat abbreviated compared to the other ones you'd made elsewhere. Don't spare any details, for the best advice. For example, I know this was for California-only use, so I'll unfortunately have to bypass some of my normal hosting suggestions (EuroVPS as the VPS host). Quote:
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You'll want at least 3GB of RAM if using a dedicated or dedicated-like VPS virtualizaion technology. That brings up another issue: Have you decided on a virtualization technology? The webmail and http would likely run perfectly fine on Virtuozzo, which is going almost guaranteed be the VM tech you'll find at premium hosts. Xen and Hyper-V are two other common ones. You'll probably read some anti-Virtuozzo rants, but it doesn't make any major difference for web hosting (as opposed to app hosting), and generally come from non-Virtuozzo hosts. I've been with Virtuozzo for many years now. I've used OpenVZ, Xen, VMWare, etc, and it doesn't really affect my day-to-day. Most of the bickering on virtualization layers is dorky pissing contests between hosting nerds, as opposed to something us mere mortal end users need to worry about excessively. Again, understanding this is for website/mail/database hosting, not running some complex online app setup (such as turning it into an online backup server, using tools ported over from Linux environments). Quote:
You may have missed your moment like that. There's also the more likely chance that you'd have been treated like a moron and shown the door. So don't fret about the loss too much. I've see very little of the former, and more than I can to see of the latter. Quote:
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I have quite a few good suggestions. |
Hi KP, thank you for the invite and the response! In the new light of day, I can see that I did really a bad job of what the actual specs I would like, my bad. So I am going to just copy over from the other forum.
__ I have an idea of how I want to do this:
__ KP, thank you for your response. I will definitely look at WebEnable. Quote:
I seem to encounter many with the thought that Linux distros are better than Windows. All the while the poster doesn't know a lick about linux aside from cPanel or the ability to change WordPress blogs. Feel free to skim down to end as this is a long post, didn't realize how long until I finished, sorry!! I think here is where I should post my qualifications. This might help you or others with recommendations. Back in the late 80's early 90's I had a 286 pc. Way before Windows came to be and a person had to actually know DOS. I was in college and my major was accounting. I took a computerized accounting class and had to learn Quatro/QuatroPro (no Lotus 1-2-3 for me thank you very much) That was way before point and click in the cells in order to make actual IF statements. You also had to make sure all opening and closing parens were closed with no color coding involved as all the monitor was only monochrome. What a pain but I loved loved loved it. I fought and fought against this OS called Window 3.x. I don't think I ever had a computer that had Windows 3,x. I did break down and went Windows 95. Okay, this is getting way to long ;0) So I started went back to college to resume my studies as for accounting. Took an Excel class and loved it. They had this thing called Macros that were a lot of fun to work with. Played around a lot with VBA but never really took it seriously. I was working in the operations department at the time and did a great deal of organizing and automating the dept that when they had a major layoff I was one of the 2 they kept as worker bees in the Operations dept. (out of 8). The IT dept was also cut down and when the CTO of the company realized how much I liked data and VBA that I was transferred into the IT dept as a junior DBA. Worked my butt off and eventually became sr DBA/programmer. Company went under and I obtained a job at another company, also as a sr dba. There is also a lot I am leaving out as I want to get to the rest of the post, but I want others to know my background. (mid-late 90's -2006 worked in IT) In 2006 I was declared disabled (MS sadly) and an auto-immune disorder that has left my liver is compromised. As a matter of fact, this time last year I was told I had pretty much 6 months to live. I am very happy to report that my liver is better (well, lets just say that I am not a top of the list for a liver transplant). These past 5 months I have been devoting a lot of my time, like a 9-5 job getting up to speed on the latest technology (.NET and SQL Server) and reviewing old programming laguages such as C/C++ etc. I decided in August that I wanted a job, but couldn't work out of house, so I decided to investigate web-hosting. Spent a great a amount of time reading on forums and figured I really wouldn't be happy doing that. So I thought I could open my own company targeting new small businesses who would like to have web-based applications that were custom to their business. OKAY back to the thread for those who skimmed [;^)] So this is what has brought me to the assistence I need now. I really don't know the basics of the different vitalization software. Where can I go to learn/read up about it? I guess this is where I should start as this will be the foundation of my development environment. I have looked at a couple of companies that us Hyper-V. I did bookmark a site on Microsoft, but haven't delved too much into it. Sounds like I have a bit of reading to do to start with. I am not in any hurry. I am just tired of living off of what I was payed net for one week to what I receive now for a month on SSDI. So I decided to start my own company as I will be able to set my own hours and be able to go to physical therapy, doctor appts etc. Right now I am fooling around with SQL server data warehousing, BI and reporting. So one VPS needs to be at the very least 4GB Ram with probably 2 cores. With developing and getting up to speed I would like to be up and running in business 4-6 months from now. Front end will be using .NET/ASP.NET technologies. Depending on the needs and budget of clients I may use mySQL. I know quite a few programming languages, especially t-sql and vb/vba. vb has come a long way since vb5/6!! For someone who fought against "Windows" I sure have become a loyal follower! Post when you can, I will be very interested if my short list coincides with mine :P Thank you everyone and again happy holidays! Christi |
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Let me get sidetracked with you real quick... Quote:
I still remember it was #2 on the DOS menu I built in BASIC, and stuck into the AUTOEXEC.BAT. Things were definitely different back then. I spent time writing menus to avoid having to type too much in DOS. Because even in those earlier years, I was already developing arthritis in my hands from too much typing. That menu saved a lot of finger time on a daily basis! Quote:
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/ done with sidetrack. Preface for These Hosting Suggestions Because of all the affiliate shenanigans and kiddie host shilling that goes on, quite a few hosting forums/sites require you have experience with a host before being allowed to comment on them. While that's a rule written with good intentions, it's also based on some degree of fallacy logic. For example, I don't need to "experience" (eat) mold to know it's probably not going to be a good experience. Inversely, I'm pretty certain winning the lottery is a good thing, even if I don't personally know what it's like. Therefore, my advice would be "Don't eat that mold! It's bad!" or "Buy a lottery ticket! Winning is awesome!" It's about being intelligent, logical, genuine, and objective. And that's what I'd like to do for you, as it concerns a few hosts I'm aware of, even though I've not used them all. (NOTE: If any of them have affiliate links, I'll probably edit this post with them, when I have some time. That's not my goal here, by giving advice. That's the difference between my advice, and most others -- as sad as that is. You'll definitely read this before that edit happens. A few are already auto-linked, so those will show up.) Unless stated otherwise, always assume I have used hosts I mention -- anywhere that I do so online. Windows VPS Hosting Suggestions Again: Unless stated otherwise, these are all hosts I've used. The rest are hosts on my "short list" (list of hosts I would use, if the need arose). EuroVPS: I'd love to recommend this host to you, as they have some of the most amazing support you'll find anywhere, but being that you're in California creating application hosting for California businesses, this is a host you'll sadly be unable to use. Their Netherlands servers are simply too far away for your exact needs. Latency may be an issue for non-websites (apps), and then there may even be legal requirements on server location that designate USA datacenters. I've been with EuroVPS for most of their 7+ years in business, at close to 6 years now. Generally speaking, I'm fairly easy to please, but not with hosting -- I need quality, period, and they offer it. And then, in no specific order: SolarVPS: This is another excellent host, and they have datacenters in several places, including Los Angeles. They have Virtuozzo based Windows VPS, as well as dedicated servers. GearHost: I've spoken to Ryan (the owner) several times via emails, and I think they're doing some really cool things with their cloud panel. Unfortunately, I've not had time to test them out, but I'd be surprised if they turned out to be anything other than excellent. There are a lot of things I look for when pre-reviewing a host, such as their level of professionalism on forums and their on-site content/documents. I've seen nothing would suggest anything outside of excellent. LiquidWeb: They have a Windows VPS plan that already includes MailEnable -- you may need to check on the version. LiquidWeb is a lot like EuroVPS in that they are what you'd refer to as a "premium" hosts. Their tech support is quite excellent. KickAssVPS: They have some SmarterMail packages. Not used these guys (yet) either, but like I did with Gearhost, I've been in contact with the owner in the past. At worst, I've read about issues with support being slow, so keep that in mind when making your selections, should these be mission-critical type systems. The offer unmanaged VPS, with some pretty high-cost management add-ons ($80/hour). This would be my second choice to EcoVPS (the EuroVPS unmanaged brand) for an unmanaged Plesk VPS. JodoHost: A host that's on my short list, should I need them. I had a plan some years ago, cancelled after a few weeks because I decided to use EuroVPS instead. They have a number of unique offerings that keep them within my purview; for example, ColdFusion hosting. BurstNET: While I think Burst is a good host, this is not who you would want to use. I don't believe it's a good fit for your background, or your desired use. I've not used Burst for my own projects either, for this very reason -- it's just not a good fit for the projects I have at this time. Maybe someday. JaguarPC: Another great VPS host, and they have a Los Angeles location. ServerIntellect: This is another cloud Windows host, similar to GearHost. I'd also call SI a "premium" host, along with LiquidWeb and EuroVPS. SoftsysHosting: The online reps for this company have demonstrated their knowledge, professionalism and quality of service a number of times, at several hosting related forums. If I needed an unmanaged non-Plesk/Vz Windows host, this would likely be my first choice due to price balanced with reputation; I'd select BurstNET second to these folks. ServerComplete: This is a relatively new host that I've noticed; meaning their website or online presence are professional and non-stupid. (There are far too many hosts that appear to be represented by giblet-heads, with ToS/AUP documents that are the stuff nightmares are made of. This host doesn't have that typical problem.) Not used them yet. CyberhostPro: This is another host that presents itself well online. If I needed a UK based Windows VPS, I'd look here first. Not used them yet. HostNexus: Decent host; I left due to high costs compared to other hosts. They're on my short list. ServerPoint: Another host on my short list. Not use them (yet). More Hosts ? If you have any other hosts on your short list, let me know who they are. If I have an opinion, I'll let you know. :2cents: |
Thank you KP,
It is nice going down memory lane with you. I see that we both were DOS users before DOS 5 when DOS Shell came about. I remember my mother had a program called 8-in-1 pre DOS 5 where you could list your favorite programs in some sort of directory. Sad to say my mother is not anymore computer savvy today as she was then. I am going to look at all the hosts you listed. For development I don't require managed. I do know how to apply updates (I never have auto-update and I wait a week to see if there are any problems from other users with the update before applying it to my server(s)) I would however require the production servers to be managed. I am still in the process of figuring out my business plan in regards to payment to the hosting company, whether I pay from my fees or the client pays directly. I am sure I will figure that out before I even solicit any potential client. I do agree with you on Burst, I looked at them and my intuition told me not to go with them. I would say 99% of the time my intuition is correct. I can't say that I listen to my intuition 100% of the time :P I do believe I should be doing a bit more research prior signing up with a host. Like the different types of visualization software. I do need to learn more about creating a network for my development. While I do understand that many hosts will create a VPN for me, I would like to understand how and why things were done. I take security very seriously and if I don't know how a network works at it most basic level, I am doomed to fail. This is why I have "Networks all in for dummies". That is going to be my starting point and going up from there. I am weird in that I love to read technical books. :P I do read Wikipedia quite often these days and I have no problem researching. My friend google and I are currently on good terms and in the past 5months we have been spending a considerable amount of time together. I guess it's all my years in IT where I was constantly doing R&D that I try and know everything before committing just because someone says it's great. Kind of like all those stellar cPanel self promoted linux professionals over on a certain forum. As a matter of fact I just left a comment in the programming section where a "programmer" was asking if data would be better in a php file array(!) or a mySQL database. I left the thread with a line from one of my old t-shirts I wore on casual Friday - "SELECT * FROM users WHERE clue >0... 0 rows returned" That statement says it all in regards to my spending much time in the programming forum. I do want to say that I had a few of those host on my short list. JaguarPC, SolarVPS and SI. I have been looking at SoftSys, they seem to have a good price in their economy section. I have talked with the owner and he would be happy to work with my specs. I do like that they have raid 10. I was wondering what you thought of them? So, my short term goals right now are: Read up on different visualization software, study networking, ask and read up on reviews. Anyway, rambled on a bit too much. I hope you have a wonderful holiday. Don't worry too much about my questions. I would rather have well thought out answers then short quick one. And from what I have read (in your posts) you seem to be a well thought person. That is why I asked for your thoughts in the first place. :) |
I've added SoftsysHosting, ServerComplete, ServerPoint, HostNexus and CyberhostPro to my previous post. :)
At the late hour I wrote the other post -- and in a rush -- those hosts had been left off. In addition to a list of Suggested Hosts... ______ ...here's a list of Hosts To Avoid! Lunarpages: Stay away. Some of the most incompetent Windows techs I've ever met were at LP. Granted, that was a few years ago, but I still don't view hosts favorably when they start offering services they don't even understand. Lunarpages shifted from a low-end "unlimited" type host (competing with EIG) to high-end/high-cost cloud setups in the recent past (past year?). Godaddy: This is easily one of the most horrible Windows VPS hosts there is. If Godaddy was the only web host, I'd go offline and stick to print work. If something can be screwed up, these folks will find a way to do it. eUKHost: They outsource their support to India and Pakistan. Blech. 3essentials: An off-and-on website partner and myself tried this host twice within the past 5 years, for some projects. Both times, we were disappointed. My partner was the one who did most of the interaction with this host, as the ASP/ASP.NET dev, and he was dumbfounded at least a few times. And this is a guy who knows at least as much about Windows as I do. ________ I have a neutral opinion on these hosts: KickassVPS and BurstNET could probably be here, too. They've barely skated into the land of suggestions. TurboVPS / Webxxpurts: Once upon a time, either in 2006 or 2008, this host was on my "maybe" list of potential hosts. However, in the past 3-4 years, I've read a few things that made me cringe. Sometimes it's hard to know what to think about a host. Arvixe: I think the owner's attitude sucks. However, the Arvixe techs do well enough, and the servers do run well. So you have to gamble on never needing to interact with the owner. For shared hosting, I think it's okay. For a VPS, I just don't feel that confident about them. BodHost: I've seen some feedback that varies from heavy praise, to downright weird (#source). I just don't have the time or patience to mess around with something like that. myhosting.com: I'm always wary of hosts that try to offer everything, to cater to every possible demographic. As I've mentioned many times, hosts have (at best) two or three specialties. When a host supposedly offers every kind of service you can imagine, I generally steer clear. ________ One Most of us Windows admins just stick together online. You'll find IIS.net to be a wealth of knowledge. Same for Windows-related communities that are app-specific, such as the Windows Parallels forums. Most books, including any online/printed official documents from Microsoft, drone on about things you and I would never care about. They're over-detailed, and seem to be written for corporate or university type settings (LDAP usage, Exchange integration, etc). Some of them are so jargon filled that even I can make it past the preface or intro chapter, without having to research WTF the author is talking about. It's really borderline ridiculous. I've not really addressed the topic of books (as asked in your first post) before this post, because I was looking around again. It's been at least 15 months since I last went looking for a good Windows Server 2008 IIS 7 web hosting admin book. While I don't "need" a book like this, I'm always open to tweaking my knowledge, considering new ideas/methods. I'll be hitting some local book stores in January, if I can find the time. I'll try to go to Microcenter and Fry's, too, on an upcoming day trip. I'll grab a stack of candidate books, and go flop down on a couch in the store. At the time, considering the time it takes to go from idea to publish (at least one year, sometimes two), I think 2008 was still too new. Now that it's matured a bit, and enough time has passed, there may be some great books that I just don't know about yet. Unlike Linux, Windows does come usable "out of the box" (at default install). It's not a security nightmare like Linux is. As much Linux bobbleheads love to put down Microsoft, a term like "rooted" comes from Linux. Most DOS (denial of service) is against that craptastic webserver Apache, which handles requests quite poorly (and is the reason it's so susceptible to DOS attacks). Not to say that you don't need to secure Windows, but that you don't have to get bent out of shape always worrying about it. Even something as mundane as Windows Update helps to alleviate some of the worry. Inversely, with Linux updates, I sometimes have no idea how my servers will get screwed up until I test the releases. While this is true with Windows, too, it's never been as bad as it is with Linux. Tip: NEVER use automatic updates for Windows Server. Browse what each one is supposed to do, and then manually install them -- preferably one-by-one, for any updates that are not security fixes. I have more commentary for you, and I'll keep adding more as I find the time. :) Have a good holiday weekend. |
Hi Kp,
I hope you had a Merry Christmas! Were you a good boy this year and did Santa come to fill your stocking? I wasn't able to give Zachary a video camera for Christmas as I became utterly confused and quite frankly I took too long to purchasing his gifts. What area here at digitalFAQ should I post? So back to the hosting. I have come down to 2 host that can meet my needs. Either SoftSys or myHosting. I think it will be SoftSys. Just kind of a gut feeling ya know? I really do appreciate all of your suggestions and advice.I need to get caught up with technology and brush up on my coding skills. I feel like I have so many starting points but I don't know which way to go. I do have a nifty tool that I use for planning and organizing my thoughts, plus it will export to a .doc outline. http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki....php/Main_Page But even with that tool I need to start one to find a place of where to start! I am going to give myself a few days to slowly ease back into work mode. It's going to be difficult at first to start a new schedule, but i am pretty disciplined in that regard. I do best when I can work independently and not having someone breathing down my neck. I do have a little bit of a favor from you. I do not want what I say open and searchable on the internet. Is it safe to send you a pm? It's about a provider and I will leave it at that. :P I hope you are enjoying the holidays and I wish you nothing but a happy prosperous New Years. I really do appreciate all the information and direction you have given me. I am starting to gain more confidence now that I decided to start my own company. How it does is up to me. As long as my body continues to heal I am happy. I am only 43 and I should not be in the condition I am in. Last year at this time I was diagnosed with some liver problems and I ended up with Ascities (sp) , which is fluid in your abdominal cavity. I was given about 3-6 months to live. I was in three different hospitals (continuously) from mid January until the later part of March. My weight went down to 77lbs and I was happy to see at the Drs I am now 107 YAY!! But anyway... I know you don't want to hear about this. I am just glad I was able to fight like heck to beat the odds. It wasn't easy and could be downright debilitating from the pain, so I have been quietly celebrating knowing that I am still alive. Okay enough is enough. Again, thank you for all of your help! I hope someday I can repay you. Christi |
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(And use this link, too, if you don't mind. I think I might get $10 from it: SoftsysHosting. Woo-hoo, bringing in the big bucks now!) Quote:
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(Too many people have been PM'ing and emailing tech questions lately, which is getting rather annoying, as the person PM'd isn't always the best qualified to answer, which is why we have policies to post tech questions in the forums! It then takes time for Site Staff to move the question to the forum, etc. Asking how to do or fix ___ isn't a private conversation. But I digress...) Quote:
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Premium Membership ($20), using our affiliate links, etc. It's all peanuts, but enough peanuts does make a nice jar of peanut, after all! :P Ask whatever you need to, and I'll answer as honestly as I can. Take care. |
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