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Old 11-26-2014, 03:24 AM  
DamageX
Marketing & Strategy
 
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Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Former nomad
Posts: 14,293
The two primary factors for me, are stellar support and as affordable a price as possible, without affecting the support part.

In terms of support I also expect, in addition to fixing the mundane stuff that may arise, competence to customize my server environment to my needs. I.e. scripts that may, as you're saying, be outdated. They should be able to patch holes in old packages, in order to minimize security issues as much as possible, if not eliminate them completely.

Additionally, I expect my host to set up things in such ways that my content, both static and dynamic, is served extremely fast to any geo demographics. This is in order to increase the chances of my visitors sticking around and looking at whatever offers I throw their way, while they browse through my sites and the content served.

I should also be able to upgrade/downgrade/move to a different server seamlessly, according to how my needs change.

I expect full management, in order to further eliminate holes in various control panel softwares. Some things, like adding a domain or creating a db, I could probably do in less than a minute myself in a control panel. While it may take a couple more for the host to do the same. But anything more complex than that would require more time for me to do it, so the host gets to take care of that. Not to mention that not using a control panel usually means a faster server, if you have a big load of traffic.

Mind you, all the above applies to dedicated servers. I have tons of shared accounts across 15 hosts or so as well, but the sites I have on those are not critical at all. I just use them for backlinking my money sites.

My host offers all of the above, as well as any extras I may need. They also install scripts for me, when needed (trading scripts, TGP/tube scripts, CMS's, you name it), set up crons for them when applicable and make sure everything runs smoothly.

I've had dedicated servers with this host, XXXHostIt.com, for 11 years, since 2003. They've always bent over backwards to make sure everything runs the way it should. I've sent lots of people their way over the years and none of them had any complaints and never moved elsewhere. As I said, STELLAR support. They'll also beat pretty much all the "reputable" hosts' pricing, so that's always a plus.

Anyway, if anyone may be interested in giving them a whirl, hit me up and I'll put you in touch directly with the owner so you can haggle.
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