BitronicTech hosting review - shared/reseller nginx+Varnish servers [PRE-REVIEW]
 

This is a pre-review of Bitronic Technologies hosting.

A final version will be found on The Digital FAQ (in the reviews section of the main site, not the forum), after all testing has been completed, and we've had time to monitor the server. This post is our initial impression only.

And our initial impressions of Bitronic Tech are quite decent. :congrats:


Vetting — aka Is Bitronic A Legitimate Host? (Yes!)

Bitronic Tech (bitronictech.net) is a small-yet-good host that strikes me as similar to Stream101 or a younger/earlier Veerotech or Crocweb. (It's actually just as old or older than those companies, but hasn't focused on growth as much as the others. It can be verified via a Wayback lookup as far back as 2008.)

It's not a reseller host, and has it's own servers at the SingleHop datacenter.

It's owned by a post-college-age adult (25+) -- it's not a kiddie host run by teenagers or college kids.

When it comes to vetting, we're thorough, and BitronicTech passes our tests. :read:


Easy Sign-Up Process

As always, we monitor a sign-up process for upsells, hidden gotchas, errors, etc.

Like most small- to medium-sized hosts, BitronicTech uses WHMCS for new customers sign-ups, billing and tech support. It hasn't been customized to pester potential customers with upsells, which is always nice. Simply select the plan you want, specify the primary account domain, configure additional options*, and checkout (enter your email, address and billing info).

See attached images.

* Bitronic has a optional "Basic Managed Package" available -- which wasn't explained anywhere on the site that we could see! As always we give hosts feedback, and they're going to fix this. For $30/monthly, you'll get 2 hours of advanced assistance -- managing your DNS records, creating new accounts, etc. It could be a great option for hands-off users, but they'll need to more clearly specify what it entails.

Based on the delay we encountered between signup and receiving the email with login details (~90 minutes), new customers are manually verified. So spammers and malicious users need not waste their time here! It's not an instant approval, which is always good for existing customers. I'm not fond of porous hosts that easily let spammers in, and thus ruining the email experience for everybody else.

WHMCS is available for reseller hosting clients, but given WHMCS issues in the past, I'd actually suggest resellers use Blesta. It can be found at LicensePal for $10/monthly.


Bitcoin Payment Accepted

Although I'm not a fan of the volatile and legally-murky online currency Bitcoin, this is one of the few hosting companies currently accepting it. In fact, the only hosts I'd ever consider, that accept Bitcoins for payment, are Namecheap.com and BitronicTech.net.

(Yes, yes, lists of "Bitcoin hosts" can be found online, but many of those "hosts" are run by amateur/kiddies or foreigners in near-lawless lands [the Middle East, Eastern Europe, etc]. Unlike credits cards or Paypal, you cannot file a complaint against hosts that simply steal your Bitcoin money! Actual customer reviews for most of those hosts are beyond horrible. Beware!)


nginx + Varnish Servers!

The most enticing part of Bitronic is the server configuration -- cPanel, nginx reverse proxy Apache, and Varnish cache. Most hosts do not offer this! They're using the excellent Unixy.net Varnish nginx plugin for cPanel.

(There's a reason of course -- this configuration is less compatible with all scripts, and may require manual server tweaks for those domains. In other words, more work for hosting admins at those hosts. So it takes a really good/non-lazy host to offer this setup!)

This is an excellent setup for most websites, WordPress especially. :idea:

Other settings include Apache 2.4, PHP 5.4, MySQL 5.5, CloudLinux (lve 2.6), Softaculous (1-click installers), decent 1024 RAM limits for shared accounts. This server is very up to date!

(Though take heed if you still use old or outdated software to run your site -- which, of course, you probably shouldn't be using! Older sites may not like newer MySQL or Apache, so be cognizant of this fact. PHP versions are selectable via CloudLinux in cPanel, so PHP is not really an issue.)


Conclusion

At The Digital FAQ, we take servers very seriously. We're a business and these are one of our most important tools. It's no different from the high-end VCRs, TBCs, proc amps, professional video sofware, and similar tools that we use on a regular basis.

We want to locate good hosts, both for ourselves, and for others. Right now, that means hosts like Arvixe, Site5, Stablehost, Veerotech, WebhostingBuzz, Namecheap, Stream101 and others. But BitronicTech could the next addition to our list of quality hosts. This is exactly the kind of host we look for -- not just price or specs, but everything from the owner's age/philosophy to the quality of the datacenter. Again, we're thorough!

We'll keep monitoring and testing it for the next 12 months, updating this monthly (at minimum) and reporting anything we see (good or bad -- hopefully good!)

If you're in a gambling mood, willing to try an unknown hosting company, this is a good bet to make.

More will be added to this pre-review as needed. :2cents:

Here's the other hosts we suggest...

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