hosting solution for small site

[chiyo]

Dear All,

We have a domain name that we would like to use for a smallish 100 page site and around 20 PDF files. Academic/research in nature.

We already have 4 sites hosted with one US based ISP, but the feeling here is that we should use a diff IP because of perceived advantages re link popularity of having a separate host. (The web sites are all related in theme, but with different designs and targets eg: one is a daily ezine, one has lots of static reports, one has reference material for one target group etc).

Our current provider allows us to add domains just for a set up fee and doesn't require us to pay for a minimum server space of traffic. ie we pay for server space and the new domain pages would just count as part of the total of space used by existing domains and the new one together. This would be great as the new site will be very small and it means we dont have to pay for space we dont need.

What we are looking for is the best way to host this new small site on a different host provider without breaking the bank. (Breaking the bank is quite a small amount for us being in a South East Asian country and small company with limited funds).

Can anybody suggest the best way forward? eg: Any hosts that cater specifically for small sites with little demands other than ftp upload, text log files, and perl? Better still, anybody want to offer space on their own server for reasonable cost? <cheeky grin>

[Marcia]

chiyo, I don't know what you consider reasonable. If you're talking about one of two hosts that I can think of, they're $39.95 a month for unlimited domains up to total of 100 meg - and one of them actually offers a unique IP with new domains added - with only a setup fee. I wrote to confirm this.

Where I host, with one hosting account you automatically become a reseller - which I don't do unless they're sites I do or maintain because I don't want the responsibility of the passwords, etc. Plus, I'd be bombarded with HTML questions. I could be re-selling them left and right, right now, paying $2.50 more for the shopping cart.

The lowest package has everything but shopping cart - FTP, logs, ssh, pgp - the works. It's $7.95 for 50 meg, 3 gig of transfer. After that, they're half price for each new site-each has it's own IP number.

[mivox]

chiyo, from what I've seen around here lately, having multiple sites hosted on the same host/IP doesn't much affect link pop.

Most SEs are now keeping records per-domain-name, rather than per-IP-address. Especially since hosts started having limits put on the number of IPs they could use (ie: had to start hosting on shared IPs)... so as long as each site has their own domain name you should be OK.

I remember when my employer's host updated their IP system. Scared the cr@p out of me, because our office DNS server hadn't updated it's records yet, and we couldn't 'find' our own website anymore...

[chiyo]

thanks marcia and mivox. Mivox you make me feel better about just using the same host.

Marcia yes 40 US per month is out of our range for a non-revenue generating site with maybe only 10 -20 MG of material and very sparse traffic (highly specialised audience) the 7.95 deal sounds better. Can youlet me know the host you are referring to via stickymail?

If anybody else can confirm Mivox's comments re link pop and hosts I will feel even better

Thanks again both

[Marcia]

Sure will chiyo, and you might also want to check out www.pair.com which is a bit less. Someone here uses them and has recommended them. I know they have FTP and I assume they have logs available or he would not use them.

I do the 7.95 because of the half price option for additional domains. There's a host that charges 36 a year with unique IP, but I emailed, and no, they do not include logs, and it took a week to get a response - so they are off my list of possibles.

For the confirming post about the IP not being currently significant, I will have to dig around and find the thread - I even remember who said it.

[Marcia]

Here's the thread about IP numbers [webmasterworld.com]

[Brett_Tabke]

I really don't see it as a major issue any more chiyo. If there is an issue, it is short lived. All the majors are now requesting properly with http 1.1 and the "host" header. If you can get a separate IP on your current setup, that would be good, but I really doubt that there are "blanket bans" on c sub blocks like Alta tried to do last winter. I'd worry more about building a quality site.

[lizzie]

I have been looking for a host for a long time. I found one called Blue Gravity that charges $25 a month. It is virtual hosting , each domain with a unique IP address. (I don't understand how this works but I know it is true, I checked out blocks of their IP
addresses and each address is for a different domain.) The nice part is, once you sign up a domain you can add additonal domains for only a flat $5.00 setup fee, no additional monthly charges.

I am also considering Hypermart for $100 a year. I need to be able to edit my pages on the hosts server so I want a file manager. Chat would also be nice. Have not found exactly what I am looking for. Marcia could you please stickymail me that hosts name you use? I forgot the name but I remember you told me before.

[Marcia]

lizzie, you mentioned needing to edit the site on the host's server. I don't know if that's because you need to edit when not having access to your own computer, but there is a free FTP program that also has built-in facility for editing on the site's host computer.

You would, of course, need access to the computer with the program installed, but not knowing the situation, I thought you might want to check this FTP program out, just in case:

[ftpeditor.com...]

It is supposed to function as a text editor right on the server when you're connected.