Rad's Criteria for Selecting a Good VPS Web Hosting Provider
• TECH SUPPORT: Good tech support is similar to sex in that you rarely pay much attention .. unless you're not getting any.
WiredTree provided me with quick responses to my emails inquiring about the details of their hosting plans .. even after normal business hours. (Well after.)
I appreciate not having to wait until the next business day (like I did with Spry), or until after the weekend was over (like with ServInt Sales) .. to get my questions answered.
When I'm ready to begin researching a web hosting provider, I like to find a human on the other end .. be that by phone, email, live-chat, whatever. (I don't care what method they use.)
I suggest you send your prospective web host an email (or two), asking some basic hosting question. Better yet, send it after midnight on the weekend, to identify potential gaps in their support.
If they respond to your questions after midnight on the weekend, you can feel reasonably confident they'll be there whenever you need them.
At WiredTree, the president of the company (Zac) frequently covers support shifts, both on the weekend and after-hours. (Impressive.) When the president feels support is important enough that he himself gets involved, you know you're in good hands.
Indeed, WiredTree has provided me with the best sex, uh, I mean technical support I've ever had. (From any company. Ever!) And if you knew how many questions I ask, you'd be impressed, too. =) And many geeks would argue good tech support is better than sex, anyway.
The Sales & Support staff at WiredTree seem to be one and the same. They seemed genuinely interested in answering my questions. (Especially Joe.) Whereas techs/sales people at other hosts sometimes acted (not always) as if my questions interrupted them from doing something more important.
Again, I admit I ask many questions. And I can be uh, 'persistent' if my questions receive only vague replies.
• CURRENT WEB TECHNOLOGIES: WiredTree employs current versions of popular web technologies. For example (as of January 2011):
- the GNU/Linux operating system (via CentOS 5.5, which is upgraded automatically + Linux kernel 2.6.18)
- Apache web server v2.2.17 (you need to request this upgrade or do it yourself via EasyApache. I suggest you let WiredTree do this for you.)
- MySQL database server v5.1.52 (Upgrades to MySQL are limited by what cPanel supports. You need to request this upgrade or do it yourself. I suggest you let WiredTree do it for you.)
- PHP scripting language v5.3.4 (you need to request this upgrade or do it yourself via EasyApache. I suggest you let WiredTree do it for you.)
- Perl scripting language v5.8.8 (yes, this is the most recent version supported by cPanel)
- Ruby on Rails (I don't use RoR, so I am not up on the most recent version supported)
- WHM/cPanel v11.28.64 (upgraded automatically)
- Fantastico (.. to name but a few).
You might think (as I did) that *all* web hosting providers today would be using current web technologies. But (surprisingly) this isn't the case. The hosting packages of some VPS providers that I researched weren't even close to being current.
If a web host did not offer (as a minimum) default installations that included PHP 5.x, MySQL 5.x and Apache 2.x, I would not even consider them (automatically rejected) .. no matter how attractive their prices.
• LOCATION: A Chicago-based data center makes WiredTree's servers centrally located .. for all US visitors, which represent the bulk of my reader-base.
I would've preferred a web hosting provider located here on the West coast (since I live in SoCal), ideally in the San Francisco Bay area, cuz that's one of the places where the 'Net originated, and many major providers run backbones thru there, providing excellent connectivity.
I did not however, want a VPS host located on the East coast (such as ServInt, Virginia/DC area), which would've handicapped me with slower response times. If however, you live on the East coast, a provider located there would be preferable.
• SECURITY: WiredTree takes security seriously - even more than I do. This is nice to know, since getting hacked is never much fun.
• REGULAR UPDATES: As previously mentioned, WiredTree starts you off with up-to-date software .. and they also keep you current.
This includes regular updates for things like the operating system, cPanel/WHM, and patches for newly discovered vulnerabilities.
Other things, such as updates to the latest version of PHP, are done upon request, since these updates can affect the function of your currently-employed scripts.
Also note » your control panel (and version) can limit your software options. For example, our server currently runs MySQL v5.0.x.
Upgrading to version 5.1 however, is not possible .. because the current version of cPanel (as of December 2008) does not support anything beyond MySQL 5.0.x (currently v5.0.67).
UPDATE January 2011 - cPanel now supports MySQL 5.1.x. I am using 5.1.52, which I upgraded to just last month.
My reasons for choosing WiredTree as our VPS web hosting provider continue on the next page. See below for linkage.