Reasons I Chose WiredTree as our VPS Web Host (part 2)
[Continued from previous page » Selecting a Good VPS Web Hosting Provider.]
• Nightly back-ups. I was unwilling to sacrifice this feature. Some hosts (like Lunarpages) charge extra for this "service". Plus they only give you 1-measly-GB of back-up space. What good is 1-GB when their VPS servers come with 20 gigs (disk space)? Lunarpages charges extra for more than 1-GB back-up storage space. (I hate being nickel-n-dimed.)
• 4 IP addresses. While not something I need right away, this standard feature tells me WiredTree isn't cheap or skimpy. (No nickel-n-diming here.)
• RAID-10. I would've preferred (low latency) SCSI drives, but their SATA drives will work okay.
RAID-10 = RAID-1 (redundancy) plus RAID-0 (speed). Lack of a SCSI-based storage system was my only disappointment with the hosting package offered by WiredTree .. cuz I know first-hand what a difference (!) SCSI drives can make.
RAID-0 improves sustained transfer rates (STRs), but does nothing to improve seek/access times, which is really what servers need .. cuz the read/write heads of their hard drives are always jumping around, retrieving files from all parts of the disk.
Rarely will a server need to sustain a long file transfer from disk storage. Big files, such as audio or video, are really where RAID-0 shines. HTML and CSS files however, tend to be small (usually less than 50-KB) .. so the benefits offered by RAID-0 are rarely appreciated.
But SATA drives are much less expensive than SCSI drives. RAID controllers, likewise, are less expensive than SCSI controllers. And that's why you see many servers configured with SATA, even tho SCSI drives (with their blazingly fast seek/access times) perform better.
If your server is outfitted with an SATA disk-storage subsystem, RAID-10 is good as it gets » you get both speed + redundancy. (The term "speed" used here refers to — as previously mentioned — improved transfer rates, not seek/access times, which is the time it takes for the read/write heads to locate the data, once the command is given.)
• cPanel/WHM. I did not want Plesk .. for reasons outlined at the bottom of this page » Managed vs unManaged VPS Hosting.
• No hidden charges. This was actually my very first question. WiredTree plans are billed month-to-month, and can be cancelled at any time .. by submitting a ticket 7 days prior to the next billing cycle.
I like the way they seem to take the position » "If you don't like us for any reason, feel free to leave." This suggests confidence in their ability to retain customers. (Easy to understand why, once you start working with their support staff.)
You can't pay for a year up front even if you *want* to. In fact, you can't even pay next month's bill more than 3 days prior to your anniversary date.
• Worth noting » WiredTree moved my site, and restored the back-up file (*.tar.gz) at the new VPS. Joe did this for me via WHM, which creates an exact "clone" of your old account on your new VPS. I didn't even have to ask. Indeed, I didn't know this level of support was available from a VPS host. Joe's email:
"Give me the FTP information of your other server and I will transfer the backup to your server here and take care of restoring it. It's a cPanel backup, right?"
This was one of the reasons I decided to host with Lunarpages a few years ago .. (cuz they offer to move your site for you).
Everything transfers with the backup clone .. all your subdomains, MySQL databases and add-on web sites. Everything. Only difference will be your files residing on a VPS, instead of a Shared web hosting server .. and now you'll have ROOT access, plus access to WebHostMgr (which you can't get from a Shared web host).
Basically, I created a back-up using the cPanel Back-up module (takes ~ an hour). Gave Joe my log-in info at the old server. An hour-or-so later, the site was up-n-running at the new server. Too cool. Too easy. This is where WiredTree first exceeded my expectations.
I should add that this level of service is not a given, but rather available only as time permits. Tech Support might be busy with more pressing issues.
Restore cPanel Backup at New VPS
I'll also add here (so I don't forget later) .. that if you do this yourself (something I haven't), you need to ensure the cPanel back-up file (*.tar.gz) is located in the /home directory. (And it must've been created with cPanel module at your old host's server.)
The script is executed in WHM by clicking the icon labelled Backup, then clicking the link for option labeled » Restore a Full Backup/cpmove file. (Let the VPS party begin.)
You can even instruct the old server to automatically upload the file to the new server (in step 2), which is nice .. especially if the file will be large.
Saves you from having to download the file to your local PC, then upload it to the VPS. Again, I've never actually done this myself, but WiredTree tells me it's a piece of cake. (And I'm sure they've done it a few times.)
Rad Referral
Unfortunately, WiredTree does not have an affiliate program (like Lunarpages did). So if you decide to host with WiredTree (based on what you read here) tell Zac (president of WT), and ask him to comp me a free month ($45).
Maybe he will; maybe he won't. (He seems like a nice-enough guy.) And it can't hurt to ask, right? Either way, I still feel comfortable recommending WiredTree.
My only concern is they might eventually grow too big to continue offering such great service & support. You know how succe$$ can sometimes ruin a good company. Or perhaps their networking infrastructure might fail to keep pace with their hosting growth.
The guys at WiredTree however, assure me they have the experience necessary to grow the company without neglecting the principles which make them such an impressive VPS host.
On the next page, we'll prepare for our upgrade (to VPS) by exploring the differences between the three types of web hosting solutions available » Shared, VPS & Dedicated servers. Understanding these differences will help us ensure we're making the right decision.