2008 Internet New Year Resolution - Changing Web Host
Here are some of my Internet plans for 2008. I expect to consolidate my various web sites with a single host - probably Dreamhost. This means moving web sites and domain names as well as a phpBB forum and at least one database. [More in the next pane... ]
Technorati Tags: Axion, emcwebhosting.com, NeoOffice, Neureal, OpenOffice, phpbb, Uniserve
Frustration with web hosts
Yes, I know it means putting all of my eggs in one basket. It will also save me money. I also hope that by choosing a host with lots of backroom toys, the range of services I can offer my clients will improve.
My main web site has been with Uniserve in Canada ever since the giant bought Axion. When my first ISP, Cyberstore, gently asked me to leave because they were no longer hosting, I searched for a service that was demonstrably fast and had folks I could visit if I had a problem. I found Axion, and I’ve been pleased with their service. Uniserve bought them. The service at Uniserve has been much less personal, but adequate. My main problem is that $15 buys 50 MB of space. That limit has been reached and I need more space. Every time I want to post a picture, I stash it at Allyoucanupload or flickr. I am also using the free blog subdomains at Wordpress.com instead of making blogs part of my site.
In addition, I have two web sites at a single account with Neureal. There was a time, if I had a problem, it was the CEO of Neureal who would both respond to me and solve the problem. Service was very prompt as well as personal.
Recently, some outfit called EMC seems to rule the shop, and problems are managed by trouble tickets. Problems are solved over a period of days instead of hours. No one ever bothered to let me know about the changes - but the situation is worst than that: I see that if I try to access Neureal.com, I am bounced to emcwebhosting.com. At the EMC site I see that EMC offers 10 GB for $4 while I am still receiving Neureal invoices for $8 which buys 250 MB. So, I am receiving half-baked goods from the supermarket, while paying for boutique service.
EMC and Uniserve have me as their client, but probably not for much longer. Have I ever talked to them? EMC have proven that they are not worthy of a followup from me. Twice I’ve called Unserve to see if they could improve their offering. Frankly, I don’t think that hosting is Uniserve’s core business. Can anyone in business today allow their customers to walk away?
Moving Domains, Forum, Database
Much as I dread the process, over the next two months I will plan to move three domains and all of their contents to a new and better site. I run a small phpbb2 forum which means moving the database too. I don’t know what will become of the blogs.
Since Deepak and I have been working with databases, I’ve been experimenting with NeoOffice (the Macintosh version of OpenOffice) and especially its built-in database module. I am trying to use it to create a MySQL database that is stored at one of these websites. I’ve not been too successful in spite of hours of work — but stay tuned for developments.
UsingIweb.com is not part of this move.
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