Hosting questions

[chmatt]

Re: Hosting questions

Thank you for the testimonial Nordic! It's nice to know we're doing a good job. :)

As far as a hosting controller, we do offer shared and dedicated packages with the Plesk control panel if you are interested. Just e-mail matt /at/ cybrhost.net or PM me if I can provide any further info on that.

Matt Whitted
Hosting Manager

[Dan - Glendale Designs]

Re: Hosting questions

Does anyone have experience or feedback on Apollo Hosting or OLM? Those are the two I've been looking at since my host does not support MIVA. tia

Client feedback has not been positive on these two hosts.

[JustinBR]

Re: Hosting questions

Client feedback has not been positive on these two hosts.

Thanks for the heads up.. I spoke with Apollo both by phone and 24/7 online chat and was very impressed. I'm pretty sure I covered all the possible issues that could arrise and I was pleased with everything except for the lack of direct support from MIVA I would receive if I hosted with them (like others). No offense, but my only concern with some of these other hosts is that they seem mom-and-pop to me. Not to mention their prices are pretty rough in comparrison. The main three everyone talks about are Cybrhost, WolfPaw, and Hostasaurus. None of them really rub me the right way AND all of their prices are higher featuring less bandwith and transfer per month..

[Synergee]

Re: Hosting questions

This is perfect timing for this thread for me. My host hosting4less.com decided that it is okay to upgrade their servers at Midnight last night without telling anyone about it. My site went down in the middle of processing an order. I actually went back and forth via email with their tech support about debating whether its okay to have a scheduled outage without notifying anyone that it was going to take place. They stated that upgrades only occur every 2 years and the process only takes 40 minutes. They also stated that this is within their 99.9% uptime guarantee. Unbelievable!!!! Needless to say I awoke today to find my site not only down again but theirs as well. I'm still down right now.

How difficult is it to Migrate a MM5 site to a new host?

[Synergee]

Re: Hosting questions

By the way, they are also a Premier Hosting Partner

[Dan - Glendale Designs]

Re: Hosting questions

I had a similar experiece with a host about six years ago, but the downtime ended up being two weeks. Unacceptible!

With the proper host, a MIVA Merchant site tranfer is an extremely easy process.

[Vic - WolfPaw Computers]

Re: Hosting questions

We could have you moved over within about 4 hours. We do all the work for you.

This is perfect timing for this thread for me. My host hosting4less.com decided that it is okay to upgrade their servers at Midnight last night without telling anyone about it. My site went down in the middle of processing an order. I actually went back and forth via email with their tech support about debating whether its okay to have a scheduled outage without notifying anyone that it was going to take place. They stated that upgrades only occur every 2 years and the process only takes 40 minutes. They also stated that this is within their 99.9% uptime guarantee. Unbelievable!!!! Needless to say I awoke today to find my site not only down again but theirs as well. I'm still down right now.

How difficult is it to Migrate a MM5 site to a new host?

[Vic - WolfPaw Computers]

Re: Hosting questions

If your main concern is price, then you can certainly find cheaper hosting with non-MIVA Specialists.

However, if you want the best - there is a higher cost associated with higher quality. That is nothing new in any industry. You have your bargain brands, you're so so brands, and your high end brands. Each step up is an upgrade in quality and you pay accordingly.

I can tell you from many years of experience in E-Commerce, business that operate solely on bargain priced vendors and operate on a shoestring, dont last long.

Thanks for the heads up.. I spoke with Apollo both by phone and 24/7 online chat and was very impressed. I'm pretty sure I covered all the possible issues that could arrise and I was pleased with everything except for the lack of direct support from MIVA I would receive if I hosted with them (like others). No offense, but my only concern with some of these other hosts is that they seem mom-and-pop to me. Not to mention their prices are pretty rough in comparrison. The main three everyone talks about are Cybrhost, WolfPaw, and Hostasaurus. None of them really rub me the right way AND all of their prices are higher featuring less bandwith and transfer per month..

[Dan - Glendale Designs]

Re: Hosting questions

prices are higher featuring less bandwith and transfer per month

It is just like going to Home Depot or Walmart compared to a small mom and pop hardware store. Home Depot and Walmart will have the better prices hands down, but their customer service and knowledge of the product is usually less than desirable. The mom and pop shop will cost more, but they usually know the product well and customer service is much better than the big box stores.

In my experience the cheaper, less MIVA knowledgable hosts, end up costing the client more due to downtime or the lack of service and support.

[integrity]

Re: Hosting questions

"The main three everyone talks about are Cybrhost, WolfPaw, and Hostasaurus. None of them really rub me the right way AND all of their prices are higher featuring less bandwith and transfer per month.. "

This is what I learned when asking questions on http://www.webhostingtalk.com/

"Usually when the host offers lots of bandwidth or space for a very small price compared to the other ones they are overselling a lot, and that can bring bad service to the clients when the server starts to get full."
"Some hosting companies / resellers 'oversell' their bandwidth or offer unmetered (unlimited) bandwidth. Usually this would not be a problem but since you share a server with others, if everyone decided to take advantage of this, you (your site) might be a bit slow."

I havn't heard anything bad about Cybrhost, WolfPaw, and Hostasaurus. Here on the forum (where you need to be hanging out if your site is using miva...try managing a site without this site and these wonderful people) You can check out their uptime stats at WebHostingStuff.com.

[JustinBR]

Re: Hosting questions

It is just like going to Home Depot or Walmart compared to a small mom and pop hardware store. Home Depot and Walmart will have the better prices hands down, but their customer service and knowledge of the product is usually less than desirable. The mom and pop shop will cost more, but they usually know the product well and customer service is much better than the big box stores.

In my experience the cheaper, less MIVA knowledgable hosts, end up costing the client more due to downtime or the lack of service and support.

I understand what you're saying.. I just don't get why MIVA would need so much support? Honestly X-Cart is a mess but I still haven't had a single ticket issued.. The prices from Apollo to say Dotcomhost are only 5$ different.. Dotcomhost has a few extra fees here and there but overall with the cheaper annual PCI fee and the SSL break they make for a nice deal. I just don't like the lack of bandwith, storage, and the nickle and diming many MIVA hosts seem to practice.

[Vic - WolfPaw Computers]

Re: Hosting questions

This is precisely what my lecture session at the MIVA Conference 2006 was focused on.

http://smallbusiness.miva.com/confer...ting_myths.pdf

"The main three everyone talks about are Cybrhost, WolfPaw, and Hostasaurus. None of them really rub me the right way AND all of their prices are higher featuring less bandwith and transfer per month.. "

This is what I learned when asking questions on http://www.webhostingtalk.com/

"Usually when the host offers lots of bandwidth or space for a very small price compared to the other ones they are overselling a lot, and that can bring bad service to the clients when the server starts to get full."
"Some hosting companies / resellers 'oversell' their bandwidth or offer unmetered (unlimited) bandwidth. Usually this would not be a problem but since you share a server with others, if everyone decided to take advantage of this, you (your site) might be a bit slow."

I havn't heard anything bad about Cybrhost, WolfPaw, and Hostasaurus. Here on the forum (where you need to be hanging out if your site is using miva...try managing a site without this site and these wonderful people) You can check out their uptime stats at WebHostingStuff.com.

[d_host]

Re: Hosting questions

How difficult is it to Migrate a MM5 site to a new host?

Not difficult at all. As long as you can provide us with the logins for your current hosting account, we do all the work for you - transfer all your files, your store, modules, customizations, databases, etc. All you really have to do is change the Name Servers at your domain registrar, and even with that we help you to ensure Zero-Downtime transfer so you don't have to check two servers for any new email or new orders. The process can be made completely transparent to you and your visitors.

[Rosathia]

Re: Hosting questions

Thanks for the heads up.. I spoke with Apollo both by phone and 24/7 online chat and was very impressed. I'm pretty sure I covered all the possible issues that could arrise and I was pleased with everything except for the lack of direct support from MIVA I would receive if I hosted with them (like others). No offense, but my only concern with some of these other hosts is that they seem mom-and-pop to me. Not to mention their prices are pretty rough in comparrison. The main three everyone talks about are Cybrhost, WolfPaw, and Hostasaurus. None of them really rub me the right way AND all of their prices are higher featuring less bandwith and transfer per month..

I went with Apollo originally because of its excellently formatted and informational website (compared to others that are, well... poorly designed and lacking in info.); its prices and seemingly good tech support for MIVA.

Glad you're having luck with them so far. I just switched from Apollo because they were simply clueless via phone re: MIVA; and they were not avail. ever for the online chat support, which would be fine by me if they didn't show in green "online" or "available." Plus, I had to setup my database and store myself. Hostasaurus did this for me. I waited a few days for Apollo to get the site setup; Hostasaurus had it up within a day.

[Dan - Glendale Designs]

Re: Hosting questions

Rosathia,

Excellent example, this has been my experience with the mentioned host as well. While I have received a lot of complaints about the from my clients about the low tech looking sites of WolfPaw and Hostasaurs (hint, hint) their service is hands down the best you will find. I can rely on Hostasaurus to back up my MIVA Merchant client sites with quality service 24/7. (true 24/7 supporty, not that "our MIVA expert is not in right now" kind of support)

Bottom line, bandwidth and disk space mean nothing when your hosting company cannot support MIVA Merchant or your site is down completely.