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Which UK web hosting company?

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Little Flower

Free Member
Dec 5, 2011
24
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Hi all,

I have been looking for former posts about web hosting but can't really find what i'm looking for in a simplified way.

I am now ready to buy hosting for my website, however if only it were that easy! Can somebody please recommend a good UK hosting company? I am swaying between 123 Reg and Vida host however cannot understand the difference between Linux Hosting and Windows and how different hosting packages can affect SEO and where I come up in Google.

I have about 40 images on my website, customers will also be redirected from my website to an online shop.

Any thoughts, suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks again!

I am so not technical! :(
 
don't, don't, don't use 123-reg as the support is pants, and the servers are really poor, they "content stuff" meaning they overfill the servers to get as much money from each server as possible.

I am with Vidahost (along with a few UKBF members) and can totally recommend them, support is top notch and servers are really fast and this morning they had this review posted (was retweeted by one of my twitter followers).

Which hosting platform depends on your website platform, but generally most websites will run better on a linux package (and be cheaper) than a windows package.
 
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You are welcome to check out our services, we have a great coupon deal for UKBF members if you look in my SIG.

As for the difference between Windows and Linux, it honestly does not make much difference unless you need a specific service only available on a particular server type, in our case if your website is ASP or Microsoft .NET then you need Windows, if it is written for ruby on Rails then you need Linux.

If your site is static html or php or needs mysql then either will do. Personally I like our windows hosting as I prefer the control panel and webmail system to our linux servers.

We have a comparison page for people to understand the differences. https://www.servwise.com/en/windows-hosting-versus-linux-hosting.htm

I would disagree with Faevilangel in his assumption that linux will run faster than windows, we haven't found that at all and our packages are priced the same for the same amount of resources so there is no difference (at least with us).
 
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ServWise said:
I would disagree with Faevilangel in his assumption that linux will run faster than windows, we haven't found that at all and our packages are priced the same for the same amount of resources so there is no difference (at least with us).
Click to expand...

In most cases, Windows will be dearer as you have the license costs to add on, which aren't cheap, when I was looking at Windows hosting a few months ago for a client, the windows package was generally around £5-£10 a year more expensive but it will depend on each individual host.

Speed wise, again from my limited use of Windows packages, I find the windows hosting slower than the linux but again it's all down to the individual host and user.

Personally I am not a fan of Helm either, it's far too chunky and isn't as polished as cPanel but it's down to each individual needs.
 
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Faevilangel said:
In most cases, Windows will be dearer as you have the license costs to add on, which aren't cheap, when I was looking at Windows hosting a few months ago for a client, the windows package was generally around £5-£10 a year more expensive but it will depend on each individual host.

Speed wise, again from my limited use of Windows packages, I find the windows hosting slower than the linux but again it's all down to the individual host and user.

Personally I am not a fan of Helm either, it's far too chunky and isn't as polished as cPanel but it's down to each individual needs.
Click to expand...

Thankfully Helm is not the only Windows Hosting Control panel.

We use WebsitePanel (Formaly DotNetPanel) and as for licence costs well WebsitePanel is Free and and we pay a small monthly fee for the windows server licence per server, then considering Cpanel for Linux with RvSkin and Fantastico alone is in the region of $25 a month (VPS version) then costs are pretty closely matched allowing us to offer them at the same price.

There is a demo if WebsitePanel if you are interested @ http://www.websitepanel.net/demo see if it suits you better.
 
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Run as fast as you can from 123-Reg and that abortion of a control panel they use.

From the perspective of web visitors and search engines, there's no real difference between Linux and Windoze.

It's really a personal preference, particularly if you don't have technology which requires one or the other. For me, linux hosting with cPanel to make administration easier, is the only way to go for my websites.

Just make sure you find a company that'll be around for awhile. Check the reviews... don't buy the cheapest thing you can possibly find.

Pretend hosting is the tires on your Formula 1 car [business]. You really wanna depend on them in that hairpin corner?
 
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123 reg is not great, for anything. I use LCN for all my domains, however i've not tried their hosting products. In the years I've been dealing with LCN, I can recommend them in general for reliability
 
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that 123 Reg thing.... they just spend WAY too much on advertising to be good value. That's the reason I don't fancy them.
 
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Personally, I use Hostgator - a US-based hosting company but superb service. After having used 1and1.co.uk, I was not prepared to try another UK-based hosting company.
 
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Personally I have always used EZPZ Hosting, great support and a great attitude to hosting.

EvoHosting are another company I've tried in the past and been impressed with.

Good luck!
 
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I have to say 123-reg are fine for domain names but they are the last company i'de go to for hosting.

I recommend looking for a proper hosting company who actually give you a good amount of space. (Try to stay away from Unlimited Plans because unlimited basically means, "who knows...").

I've never used vida host but i've heard they are good.

As for windows vs linux, I recommend using linux because there is more software available and seeing as it would be shared hosting you wont have to deal with any of the technical stuff. In my opinion linux runs better too and windows tends to be more expensive.
 
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I am a bit too late to respond if you have already signed up to another host provider, but I am with Godaddy. Yes they are a US company, but to be honest, as long as the company is reputable then I would go with who ever offered me the best deal. I currently get a free static IP and SSL cert. These are needed to secure your site when your customer registers their details. If you dont have this, the savvy customer who dosnt see a cert will shop elsewhere. Email address's are unlimited as are MYSQL database's unlimited everything for about £7 a month. I have also used justhost and hostgator in the past. All offer pay monthly and no tie in cancel anytime terms. To be honest, you wont get the deals offered in the UK for a low price as what the US can offer. All use Linux or Windows servers.

Hope this helps.
 
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Little Flower said:
however cannot understand the difference between Linux Hosting and Windows
Click to expand...
Which you need depends on what "scripting" language you're designing your site with (if any) or what development language (if any) you're using.

If it's an off-the-shelf application / open-source product, it'll have recommended minimum specification.

Basically, you need ...
Windows/IIS Hosting if it's in ASP or ASP.net or uses M$-SQL
TomCat hosting if it's in JSP/Java
Linux Hosting if it's in PHP/MySQL/Ruby/Rails
and more-or-less any hosting if it's all static HTML.

Little Flower said:
and how different hosting packages can affect SEO and where I come up in Google.
Click to expand...
The hosting operating system doesn't impact Search Engines.
The hosting provider server location can impact it - geo-location is an issue
The performance of the hosting definately impacts things - faster the delivery to the SE's is better - and you cant get fatser than direct peering with them

Little Flower said:
I have about 40 images on my website, customers will also be redirected from my website to an online shop.
Click to expand...
Is the shop going in the same hosting ?
Are you taking orders online ?
Are you taking payments online (and on your site) or passing off to a gateway ?

These impact what kind of hosting you need, as there are legal requirements regarding security, issues with PCI Compliance, etc
 
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I have experience with about 20 different hosts both in UK and US. By far the best one is Hostgator, their live chat support is amazing, sometime it feels like you have your own programmer available at hand. Their servers are superfast with no down time. They are based in the US but they are by far the best. Also if you use a cashback link you can basically make the first year free.
 
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It doesn't really matter if you go for Linux or Windows hosting in terms of SEO however a lot of hosts charge more for Windows hosting.
 
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Recommend Rackspace for awesome speed, reliability and security over the last 4 years. BUT they are a bit pricey.

Have also been exploring cheaper hosting options for some other sites and have a shortlist of about 15. Selection criteria used:

i) moderate monthly bandwidth
ii) cpanel hosting
iii) fantastico script (which some are a bit sniffy about because it's 'so last decade' haha)
iv) UK-based datacentres/servers

Nothing you couldn't do yourself with a couple of hours to spare but if it saves you time then PM me.

Best Regards
 
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I have to say I would stay away from 123-Reg and 1&1. After past experiences with both, they were not great for me.
 
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