Arvixe + hosting industry tech shortage
For the last few years, there has been an industry-wide scarscity of techs. Why? Well, instead of working for others, too many semi-qualified people are trying to start their own "hosting company" (not a real business, in most cases). They know enough to be a tech elsewhere, but not enough to run a whole company. In many cases, it's the stupidity of youth that's to blame (high school and college age). The whole industry suffers as a result, and what you end up with is lots of bad hosts. Some lack the support techs needed, while others are poorly managed as a whole.
Arvixe has had some bouts of issues, always from lack of staffing. In most case, however, it was temporary, lasting a few weeks at most. In an ideal world, it would drop them in rankings below other hosts. However, sadly, all hosts are experiencing this. Most recently (Q1 2014), I'd grumbled about
Namecheap support being too slow, a situation now resolved.
Jobs are plentiful -- but usually for on-site techs only. Major "hosting cities" like Phoenix and Dallas have lots of hosts, and the qualified applicant pool is quickly exhausted. You would think off-site techs would be an obvious fix, but most hosts don't seem to agree.
The issue of poor pay (avg $10/hour) is also a problem, which is itself caused by stupid Taco Bell budgets that consumers are willing to pay for hosting -- something most consumers don't understand. Skilled techs don't want to work at those crap jobs.
EuroVPS and Stablehost are the only two hosts that appear immune to this to date -- mostly because they're medium-sized hosts, not large ones like Arvixe. It's like the three bears!
- Smaller hosts always struggle, as its hard to both maintain infrastructure and troubleshoot it; not enough dedicated people for each task.
- Medium hosts are "just right".
- Large hosts can get too many customers, and that overflows their ability to respond to them in a timely manner.
This field is not alone. For years, there was a nursing shortage. (I'm not sure if it exists anymore.)
Arvixe does try hard, as do several others. And in years past, this issue did not exist. So for now they get a pass; empathy, not scorn. If it were a constant downhill like EIG, I'd suggest against them as well. But it's not. It's mostly good, with a few dips here and there.
JaguarPC, by contrast, didn't fair as well. After months of non-stop complaints, I've quit suggesting them. It's sad when a host has been around since the 1990s, and their reputation goes into the toilet in the 2010s. They had a 10-15 year streak of being a good host. And it wasn't even caused by buyouts, just turmoil in the industry.
Unlimited hosting
"Unlimited" hosting is just shared hosting without a space or bandwidth quota. Most times, the bandwidth is so generous elsewhere that it may as well be "unlimited". Bandwidth is cheap in the 2010s.
In many, many cases, the large "unlimited" hosts have more hidden limits than the medium-sized hosts that specify your bandwidth and space allocation. Other system resources like CPU, RAM, MySQL connection (also RAM), and I/O -- the most important resources for PHP applications like WordPress -- tend to be hidden in fine print at the "unlimited" hosts. So honest unlimited hosts, like Site5 and
Namecheap, try not to hide this information. Their limits are not unreasonable, either.
So watch for that.
Rose Hosting
Rosehosting.com is a gamble.
For a host that's supposedly been around for years, they curious lack any feedback online -- good or bad. The only issue I see online is lack of communication on their part, which is also observable by their online participation. When they do participate, it's usually about their affiliate program or new sales. That's never a good sign.
The only "reviews" I see are fake affiliate crap.
I'd suggest you find something with a known reputation for your business.
My Suggestion for You!
Based on what you've said so far, I'd look at 3 hosts:
1.
WebhostingBuzz (Atlanta)
2.
Veerotech (Dallas)
3. Stablehost (Phoenix)
If you feel you need more resources than a typical host would, look at the Stablehost "enterprise" (semi-dedicated) plan. It's only ~$25 monthly.
Another option is the Site5 or Namecheap managed VPS. Those are like reseller accounts on steroids, and you can set you own per-accounts usage limits. Granted, this costs more, in the $50-100 range, depending on the VPS. It also costs more because you don't have to managed anything -- they do all the heavy lifting here, so all you can focus on your business.
Note: This is a business! Match you phone bill for budget, not a Taco Bell receipt!
If you have more questions, ask.
