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Waterloo Region December Meeting: Drupal Hosting

Submitted by andrew on Sat, 12/06/2008 - 00:26
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Tonight I gave a presentation to the Waterloo Region User Group about choosing a host for a Drupal based site. We talked about the essential requirements on top of the Drupal requirements, types of hosting, and our experiences with various hosts. I think the results of the discussion can be summed up as "you get what you pay for"! I've attached the presentation slides for anyone interested.

The essential features I noted as being important include:

  1. SSH
  2. PHP 5, MySQL 5
  3. suPHP, PHP with CGI (for shared hosting)
  4. Comprehensive Disaster recovery
  5. Reasonable package installation policies
  6. Access to Version Control System clients
  7. Performance
  8. Support!

Have any thoughts about hosting yourself? Feel free to post in the comments any recommended (or not recommended) hosts.

Related Links: 
Waterloo Region Drupal User Group
Related Links: 
Drupal Hosting Forum

Comments

Hello fellow Ontarians :) You

Submitted by John (not verified) on Sat, 12/06/2008 - 20:11.

Hello fellow Ontarians :)

You might want to look at AN Hosting, they meet your requirements list, and I've had good experiences with them.

To clarify the slides

Submitted by andrew on Thu, 12/11/2008 - 22:43.

Sounds good, thanks for the link. I'll be sure to include them next time a client asks me to do a hosting evaluation for them.

I should probably clarify since the slides only contain company names, but none of my experiences with them.

  • So far I've had very good experiences with Korax both in terms of support and performance.
  • For the one site I had with BareMetal, support was excellent but performance looked to be an issue with shared hosting. It was a small site so we never bothered to look into it.
  • TekSavvy was horrific on all accounts. While they have a great reputation for DSL service, I'd never ever do hosting with them. I've never seen a server so poorly managed and a complete disregard for their clients needs.
  • Sentex is great for those who like physical contact as they actually have an office in Cambridge, ON. I've used them with local clients who are skittish about dealing with a company purely over the 'net. Howevery, they are rather expensive. They're great for those who want to colo a box without having to go to Toronto for repairs.