Your web site lives on a server which runs the software necessary to put your site on the web. It acts as storage as well as contains the server side software to display your web pages. There are 3 basic types in use. Dedicated Server (very expensive), Virtual Private servers, and shared servers.
Virtual Private servers partition a physical server into multiple virtual servers that each have a protected and reserved amount of CPU and RAM resources. VPS instances do not compete against each other for these resources. Spikes in resource demand among other VPS instances on same server, will not lead to a performance decline in your website. Shared hosting allows your site and others to be on same server. For low volume sites this low cost alternative to VPS is usually adequate.
Every hosting company offers a suite of products and services you may or may not need. We will guide you in selecting the best hosting company for your site. Or you can visit the links to the right to find the one that fits your needs. We advise not to select a hosting company until you speak with your developer since that choice will great impact their ability to create your site.
For those of you who do not wish to maintain a relationship with the hosting company, eSearing Creative will set up an account for you, for an additional fee 0f $50/year.
Hosting Prices
Hosting prices have become competive for those with similar features and server sizes. Most companies are charging between $5.95 to $9.95 per month paid annually for shared hosting plans. Virtual Private servers run $15-200 per month for customers that have high volume.
Our Preferred Hosting Companies
BLUEHOST.COM – Our preferred Hosting company
Excellent customer service, quality products, full featured hosting, minimal downtime. Support for Ruby, and PHP 5 applications including ecommerce, blogs, forums, CMS, Joomla, etc… Uses CPANEL for backend management and Fantastico for application installation.
HOSTGATOR.COM – Unlimited domains.
Good customer service and full featured hosting. CPanel backend. This hosts claim to fame is unlimited domains. If you need to host multiple sites this may be the best choice.
If you need a virtual private server to handle larger volumes or more control of your server for special applications we can research who has the best offering at the time. These are more expensive options but allow maximum flexibility.
We are no longer recommending IPowerWeb or PowerWeb due to poor customer service. Overtime this company has deteriorated.
GoDaddy is by far the worst. It has a clunky user interface that makes it hard to figure out how to edit your site, where your databases are, if your domain is hosted by them or elsewhere, and getting to email is a real challenge. They do offer coldfusion servers if needed.
