Top Hosting Center
Let me start by saying that this is not a paid post or paid review. This post is based on appreciation for the help Top Hosting Center has given me. I only recommend companies, services or features that I use myself and/or feel will be of benefit to you the reader.
While this blog is relatively new, I have other blogs in the stable, one of which is very successful in its niche; so much so that it has been killing the VPS it is hosted on.
I started this other blog, back in 2006 on a normal shared hosting plan, with the usual features of large storage, large traffic and guaranteed uptime. All worked well until it began to get too much traffic. Without warning, the site was taken offline by the host and I was unable to even access it by FTP to get my files off.
After much discussion, about how, when I hadn’t come anywhere near my guaranteed service levels the site had been taken offline, I was informed about my site using too many resources on the shared server and how this had been killing other sites. I was given reasons for why this could be, none of which actually appeared logical to me, but I followed along with it. I was told the only solution was to upgrade to a VPS and everything would be alright.
After still being denied access to my cpanel, I eventually negotiated access so that I could remove the offending file, that was causing the problem, as they saw it. I removed one MP3 file, and cleaned up as much other things as I could and all worked well for a while without having to upgrade to a VPS.
They Had Me Over A Barrel
Not long after this though, the site was taken down again, for the same reason and this time they would not put it back up without upgrading to a VPS. With no access to my site to even transfer it to a different host, I was left with three alternatives, fight it, walk away, or upgrade.
As walking away was not an option and fighting it would have been a waste of time; I had already tried this and having the site down for a few days kills it big time, I chose to upgrade to the VPS. I was guaranteed that this would solve all the problems and that they would never occur again. What a load of crap.
The site kept growing and soon the guaranteed never fail VPS, started falling over. the next solution was to upgrade to the highest VPS. I refused, as the reasons being given for the VPS problems were not totally honest. The problem I identified was a DNS issue. This was denied, but it later turned out to be correct and blamed was put on a junior admin. Anyway, before this error was identified, I was placed on the highest level VPS as a ‘trial’ to solve the problem. Now, as the problem was with a mis-configuration, this upgrade had no effect until the actual fault was rectified.
When the actual problem was rectified though, the site remained on the highest level VPS. It has remained this way since, with only minor issues until recently. As before, the site has continued to grow and once again, started killing the VPS. This time the problem is due to the site’s popularity. Obviously, this has a very negative effect on the site, with it going down anything up to 40 times per day. Checking the logs, in some time periods, it was failing every 7-9 minutes.
Not good at all. This time the only solution was to go to a dedicated server, which the host was pushing for very strongly. The problem with this, was, that with this host, the entry level dedicated server costs $200 per month. Now, based on my past experience, with this particular host, I was not felling particularly enthusiastic about shelling over more money to them. Enter Eric, the CEO of Top Hosting Center.
I spoke with some other people about my problem and was advised to talk with Eric. I knew that some other large sites has recently switched to Top Hosting Center, which made me think it must be pretty good. I took their advice and contacted Eric. Let me say, from the outset, Eric and Top Hosting Center have been great. I explained my situation and Eric was only too happy to help.
Top Hosting Center acted very quickly and handled everything for me, setting up a new dedicated server and migrating all of my sites from the existing VPS.
Read The Fine Print
During the migration, some things that I was not aware of with the previous host came to light. I had assumed and was lead to believe that the VPS was on a 100Mbps connection. It was, kind of. While it was on a 100Mbps connection, it was actually 100Mbps burstable. In reality, it was only operating on a 10Mbps connection speed. Here I was trying to figure out why the site was always so slow on the VPS. At Top Hosting Center, this is a full 100Mbps, so the site is much faster.
A Blogger’s Friend
Another great thing about Top Hosting Center is that they are friendly to bloggers. Rather then trying to constrain your requirements, they actively promote the blogger. Top Hosting Center was a sponsor for SOBCon07 and are a sponsor again for SOBCon08, so you can see they are serious about bloggers and blogging as a business.
THC Hosting Plans
Whether you are looking to start a blog, or transfer to a host that understands your needs, Top Hosting Center has some of the best, if not the best hosting plans available. Their features are too numerous to mention, so just go here and compare for yourself.
Excellent Support
Great hosting deals are ok, but without good support, things can quickly turn sour. The support staff at Top Hosting Center are a great bunch, queries are answered promptly, with none of the waiting normally associated with hosting support. The staff seem to know their stuff and go out of their way to assist and make the experience a good one.
Dedicated Hosting
If you are at the stage where you are looking to upgrade to a VPS or dedicated server, then you wont find better deals then at Top Hosting Center’s dedicated hosting plans. If you are thinking about upgrading to a VPS, you will probably be better served going straight to a dedicated server, as this will help you avoid many of the problems that I have suffered.
So thanks to Eric and the crew at Top Hosting Center, my sites are online and doing what they are meant to do, allowing me to concentrate on blogging, without having to worry about whether the site is going to fall over.
Nurdz Deal For You - 15% Off
I was speaking with Eric again today and asked him if there was any way he could help Nurdz readers and give them an even better deal then they would normally receive. Eric, being the good guy that he is, came to the party again and created a special discount just for all the aspiring Nurdz. To take advantage of this great discount, all you have to do is click here and sign up for a hosting package, then enter StarHostMe in the relevant box and you get a massive 15% off the already cheap prices. This special discount is only available to Nurdz readers who click here, so if you are serous about getting the best hosting deal you can, go and grab it now.
3G iPhone June Launch Confirmed?
Gizmodo is claiming that the 3G iPhone is set for a global launch beginning on June 9.
“We all suspected it, but now it is confirmed: someone very, very close to the 3G iPhone launch has told me that Apple will announce their new model at the WWDC Keynote on June 9th. The second-generation iPhone will be available worldwide right after the launch, and not at year’s end, as previously thought. The new model will also herald new sales policies in some countries.”
This has been speculated for quite a while; the earliest I can remember reading about a June release was, I think, January 2007 on AppleInsider. The rumors have ramped up recently though, with images such as those above from XSKN showing the shape of their new 3G iPhone case.
NOTE:- their site is giving errors at the moment, so they must have been getting hammered.
Some of the interesting points about the release include that carriers are free to price the phone in their packages, rather then simply for a fixed price, something that should enable the iPhone to scale even greater sales figures.
Having just signed up to a new carrier, I am going to have to buy my 3G iPhone outright (bummer), but can’t wait to get my hands on one.
Microsoft - Yahoo First And Then Facebook
Last night I saw a tweet come in on twirl by Robert Scoble about some serious speculation on the importance of the Microsoft Yahoo deal. His post reports that Microsoft will buy Yahoo’s search and then move on to acquire Facebook for $15 to $20 billion.
Reading the first two lines of his post, I quickly messaged Robert and said that, that is an insane amount, irrespective of the market speculation of its value. However, by the time Robert responded, which was pretty quick, because he seemed pretty worked up about the matter. I had finished reading the entire post I realised what a good strategy it is; definitely something I had not expected from the likes of boring Ballmer.
So what are the issues here?
Well Microsoft needs Yahoo and it looks like, after all the flack the Yahoo directors are taking from the shareholders, Yahoo needs Microsoft pretty badly now as well, so I would expect that deal to be progressing quite rapidly and at a more favorable price for Microsoft.
Now the Facebook strategy is quite interesting and harpers back to the Microsoft tradition of locking everyone else out and keeping everything for themselves. Most people are aware of how Facebook locks everything inside the site and does not share any of the data with anyone else, if you are not, go and check out Scobe’s post and see an example. As a further example, Robert posted an update, with this in it:
“Someone on Twitter (Soulhuntre) says that it doesn’t matter as long as HTTP keeps working. That’s just the point. Facebook BLOCKS HTTP if you aren’t logged into its system and it can remove you at a moment’s notice. @irinaslutsky (former employee of mine) was removed last week from Facebook. This is a scary company and if it gets in the hands of Microsoft will create a scary monopoly.”
If Microsoft acquires Facebook, it will have direct and competition free access to 60 million users. It can use the resources of Yahoo search and Google will have no way inside this walled garden.
I am actually impressed with the strategy of this move, if not the outcome; the Yahoo deal was always ho hum, but in light of this, it puts it in perspective and let’s face it, fits with the Microsoft MO.
Robert takes a definite dim view of the future of the Web should this come off and I can see where he is coming from. The way I see it though, is that this will effectively be Microsoft’s last role of the dice as far as being a relevance on the Web.If this all comes to play, one scenario would be to strengthen Microsoft in the short term. It will be able to swell its online coffers more effectively then it is able to do so at present.
One advantage would be an improvement to Facebook, which is in dire need of some major surgery. I could see MIcrosoft actually improving many of the features here for the end user, although maybe not initially.
In making these acquisitions, Microsoft is going to burn a large amount of cash, although even here, this may end up being not too much more then their original Yahoo offer. they will also have to spend more cash to make the necessary improvements to Facebook, so more money gone there, although this will be a drop in the ocean compared to the $40 - $50 billion they are likely to spend on the Yahoo and Facebook purchase.
As I said, I can see where Robert is coming from with his views on this matter, and I agree to some extent, but the way I see it is that, this is something we have no control over, so as much as we may not like it, there is very little we can do about it. Saying this though, all is not negative; people are very transient and will move to the next ‘IN THING’, just as they have done previously. If anything, today’s user wants more openess and less restrictions. The type of practices that Microsoft has used in the past do not translate as well on the Web and this will only become more common as the mobile Web takes off and becomes more mainstream.
Let’s face it, innovation has never been Microsoft’s strength and this strategy may actually restrict them from embracing the next platform as quickly as they should.
Mac’s Dominate High End Pc Sales
eWeek reports on Apples increasing growth in computer sales, with Mac’s now commanding 14% of the retail market.
However, if you look at the figures for PC’s over $1,000, the situation is even brighter, with Apple dominating the sector, with 66% of the market. Now, it should be noted that these figures are limited to retail outlets and do not include online or enterprise sales.
“In notebooks they’re growing two times the market,” said Stephen Baker, NPD’s vice president of industry analysis. “Windows notebooks are pretty much flat right now.”
Windows powered notebooks had zero percent growth, while Apple notebooks grew at 50% - 60%.
The desktop market is similar, with desktop Macs up 45%, while Windows take another hit.
Macrumors asks whether Apple’s target market of +$1,000 computers will eventually limit their market growth due to saturation of their target market. This could be a problem to some degree, but the other possibility is that Apple could do what it does best, bring out more high-end premium products above their present line and move some of their target market up, rather then move down to grab market share.
At this stage I don’t think Apple needs to play in the cheap end of the market and correspondingly dilute their brand. I still think that many of the people in the low end PC notebook market may eventually see the value in having a relatively trouble free notebook, rather then having to constantly wrestle all the issues associated with a Windows box.
