Moving to Cloud Hosting: Good Idea? Ranking Issues?

[ubound]

My website needs a better home so I was considering my options and came across cloud hosting. It is still shared hosting, but they actually do have limits on bandwidth and disk space and it is "cloud". The IP is in the US just like I have now with my current host.

Is it a good idea? Any possible ranking issues? Experiences? Warnings? This site has decent traffic, don't want to lose it.

Thanks!

[lucy24]

they actually do have limits on bandwidth and disk space

How do the limits align with your current usage level? Do they offer a grace period where you can work out how much you need, without a whopping charge for changing?

Perhaps equally important, what are the limits on RAM? Not a big issue if you're strictly static html. But if you have dynamic pages, or if you do anything involving commerce, memory limits may be even more important than bandwidth.

Does the bandwidth limitation include your own FTP or only web access?

Generic advice: When you're looking at new hosts, don't only go in with a checklist of things you don't like about the old host. Also look at everything you do like, and most importantly look at the things you never even thought about. Rock basics, like full-service htaccess and, heck, even being able to FTP in the first place. Look at your current htaccess file and ensure that every single mod you use will be available at the new site. If you use any server-side stuff (php/jsp/asp), make sure the new host has at least the same version if not newer. Find out how they handle multiple domain names.

Et cetera.

[ubound]

Much appreciated!