Server spec

[alexwren]

Hi,

I am looking into a dedicated server to run 4 client actinic sites with hopefully more on the way.

It seems Unix is the way to go for speed so I am doing some comparisons. I will probably host in the US as the prices are more realistic for bandwidth!!

- What are the memory recommendations? Is 256Mb too small?

- Is apache server best?

- Does anyone have a list of recommended (ie tried and tested with actinic) providers who charge a reasonable monthly fee?

- Would a shared service be ok for 4 sites or am i likely to run into loading issues?

Thanks in advance.

Alex

[I-CC]

To be honest it all depends on what level of competence you have with the server in question.

As a client of a hosting supplier, then you only really have to worry about your sites, maintaining them and all that normal site owner stuff.

But, as the owner of the server then you will need to be able to control every aspect of the server, best within a control panel, but more often than not at the command line of the server. You would also need to keep it fully up to date with patches and tweeks that will need manual installation in most cases requiring compiling of modules together etc etc.

Your own low spec server might be cheapest option, maybe in the short term, but in the long term if things go wrong and you need to call in external assistance could end up costing you big time..

[pinbrook]

I will probably host in the US

There is one issue with hosting in the US if you have a com domain. The UK search engines filter on domain and IP address, thus a .com hosted in the US will only ever get into .com SEs

[paulh69]

there's no reason you couldn't host ".co.uk" domains on a server based in the USA.

at least if the .com domain name you use for the server itself and nameservers are registered at a modern electronic registrar like godaddy.com

rackshack.net are probably one of the best US hosts for dedicated servers i.e. choice of plain redhat (if you like the unix command line) or front end management software (ensim,plesk,c-panel) network speed (more than capable of broadband speeds, server to server they manage 8-10MB/sec), network reliability, included bandwidth, reboot response times and most helpful user forum - if you have never configured and managed your own server before.

to host .co.uk domains on a server based in the USA you need to ask your hosting provider for reverse PTR records for your nameservers - they seem to be optional for .com domains but .co.uk domain registries seem to need them

[pinbrook]

I didn't say you can't host co.uk sites in the US.

I was just pointing out that if you have a uk client with a .com domain, you will have great difficulties getting indexed in UK search engines.

For some people this will be an issue, for others it won't.