Multiple outages over a 3 week period, unstable VPN connections, and server configuration problems has plagued a high-traffic/high-profile site I’m managing. Their customer service is responsive, and the staff very knowledgeable, but unfortunately it can’t make up for constant service issues. At this moment, I’m on my 6th attempt to deploy code updates because I keep getting kicked off of OpSource’s VPN.
Tag Archive for 'hosting'
Dreamhost - my web hosting provider had another hiccup today. A file server crashed and had to be rebooted which resulted in all of my domains displaying a “bad_http_conf” error. They were quick in resolving the issue but I also had to go into each domain configuration and re-save the settings in order to get my domains back up and running. What a pain in the ass. Before Dreamhost I was hosting all of my domains at Aplus.net and never noticed any interruptions in service whatsoever, but they are overly strict with security on their domains and forbid certain things such as cron jobs and outside server connections. They also don’t offer as much as Dreamhost does. But I’m getting sick of all the service problems I’ve had at Dreamhost. I really want to switch to MediaTemple’s (dv) dedicated-virtual hosting plan but it would cost me twice as much and MediaTemple only offers 20gb for the entry level (dv) plan whereas Dreamhost offers 317gb of disc space - not that I even necessarily need all that much storage on my web server, but it’s nice to have. The big advantage of MediaTemple is that their (dv) servers are supposedly rock solid and have plenty of high-profile clients which trust in their uptime. But Dreamhost does offer more options per hosting plan. So for now I’m reluctantly staying at Dreamhost.
This morning I discovered that my websites were down again. That’s 3 times in the past two weeks that I’ve experienced service interruptions. I immediately emailed Dreamhost support about my “bad_httpd_conf” error. Ten hours later I received a phone call telling me that my service interruption was due to the fact that my plan had been switched to a more reliable server and the new DNS entries had not yet propagated. I didn’t buy it. Well an hour later I received an email stating that they discovered a configuration error on this new machine. Not good. Their only saving grace at this point is that they are friendly and respond pretty quickly to support requests. I came so close to switching to MediaTemple and their (dv) dedicated-virtual plan. But I know that MediaTemple has been having a lot of problems with their infrastructure as well. So I’m sticking with DreamHost for now. Hopefully this Dream will get better from this point on.
Sometimes you have to shake things up and try something different. That’s what’s happening on this site right now. A complete overhaul from the ground up starting with my hosting provider. I’ve happily moved to Dreamhost from Aplus.net. I’ve hosted many sites over at Aplus and they have proven to be difficult to work with over the years because of their strict security restrictions. Also, their data center was infected with a Windows virus last weekend and two of the production servers that run the mobile application that I helped develop and deploy was knocked out of commission without any notification. So bye, bye Aplus. I’m loving Dreamhost already with their awesome packaged hosting plans and easy to use control panel.
So this site is under major reconstruction for the next few days. Please ignore the current mess.