Recommendations etc. please?

parakeet · 2nd March 2004

I was advised to post this in here to get your quotes/advice/etc.

Hello,

My .co.uk domain name was due to expire on 3 February and I have another 30 days from then before final expiry, according to a letter from Nominet requesting £80 for renewal. Which, by my calculation, gives me a day or two.

I'm looking at switching hosting provision from Supanames and am looking for a cheap but fully-featured alternative (yes, I know that's not, let's say, common - but let's have a go).

1. My current providers lets me use anything@mydomain.co.uk for my e-mail addresses and I would like this to continue. Does this mean I need to choose a host with a "catch-all" system? Would all hosts offer this or, if I chose a host with, say, 100 mailboxes, would I have to create a "foo" mailbox for every foo@mydomain.co.k I wanted?

2. I want to use the TrackBack feature of MovableType, which is Perl/MySQL-based weblog production software; this feature lets you send a ping, from an entry you create, to another, related entry on someone else's weblog. Supanames says it does not allow this because it has barred port connections to other servers on security grounds. Could I use this feature on most other hosts?

3. I would like to have access to server logs.
4. It would be great if the host would add any Perl/Apache libraries required by any scripts I may add.
5. Customisable error pages?
6. More than a couple of MySQL databases. Preferably without having to pay a fortune extra for the privilege.

I've looked at eUKhost but, on reviews from here, will probably stay well clear.

I've looked at Web-Mania but that seems similar and I'm not clear on whether its "Unlimited POP3 mail@youdomain.com" means correspondents can use anythingtheydamnwellchoose@mydomain.co.uk and mail will still get through - or whether mailboxes must be created beforehand.

How about CheapUKHosting? They have a limited number of mailboxes and databases, but other features seem good on the Home and Beginners packages I'm looking at.

Also looked at ValcatoHosting but they're another one I haven't had a response from to my sales query email. They don't answer the phone either, but they're own site seems alright.

Any comments or suggestions please? I suppose I'm looking for something decent and reputable, but up to £60.

Thanks.

Cranky · 2nd March 2004

Hi,

We should be able to offer everything you require on any of our shared hosting packages other than Shared Basic:

http://www.coderedhosting.com/pages/sharedhosting1.html

Quote:

1. My current providers lets me use anything@mydomain.co.uk for my e-mail addresses and I would like this to continue. Does this mean I need to choose a host with a "catch-all" system? Would all hosts offer this or, if I chose a host with, say, 100 mailboxes, would I have to create a "foo" mailbox for every foo@mydomain.co.k I wanted?

We offer both catch-all and a number of POP3/IMAP mailboxes on all services other than Shared Basic so something@you.com and somethingelse@you.com should get to the destination you configure for catch-all.

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2. I want to use the TrackBack feature of MovableType, which is Perl/MySQL-based weblog production software; this feature lets you send a ping, from an entry you create, to another, related entry on someone else's weblog. Supanames says it does not allow this because it has barred port connections to other servers on security grounds. Could I use this feature on most other hosts?

I don't see any problems running this, if it is problematic for you simply drop our support guys an email and it'll be sorted for you, no problem there.

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3. I would like to have access to server logs.

Standard feature on all our packages, accessible via FTP or the control panel.

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4. It would be great if the host would add any Perl/Apache libraries required by any scripts I may add.

Subject to approval and testing. We can accomodate most scripts by default though, and are willing to work with clients to get to a full resolution.

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5. Customisable error pages?

Standard service, simply upload via FTP to "error_pages" directory or configure via a .htaccess file (we will assist if necessary).

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6. More than a couple of MySQL databases. Preferably without having to pay a fortune extra for the privilege.

A varying number of databases are available across our range of packages.

If you have any questions please contact us via sales[at]transnexis.com or me directly via andrew[at]transnexis.com.

Fanatical · 15th March 2004

Hi There,

After looking through your requirements, we should be able to provide everything you need without any problems.

1. Catch all email comes as standard with every hosting package from us.

2. Most scripts can be installed on our servers without any problems. If you experience any difficulty, just send the script and we'll install it for you free of charge.

3. Server logs can be accessed 24/7 from your user control panel.

4. Again, just send over the libraries to our scripting team, and we'll be glad to install these free of charge.

5. All error pages can be customised from the user control at the click of a button.

6. Select the package that's right for you, and if there isn't enough MySQL databases there, let us know, and we'll add as many as you require free of charge.

None of our monthly plans exceed £9 per month, and you can save over two months of hosting, by purchasing a yearly package from us, from as little as £9.99

If this appeals, feel free to call our sales team on: 08717 11 33 55, quoting the name of this web site, and we'll be happy to set up the hosting package over the phone within a matter of minutes.

Kind Regards,