Bill Mason
Gold Membership
Nuke Newbie
Posts:7
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| 10/04/2006 7:49 PM |
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| I can't say enough good things about WebsecureStores. I have signed up myself and also 3 clients so far. (all using scotts ref code!)
They are quick and responsive. The web sites perform well. I love that I have enterprise manager support for my databases. They backup the databases regularly and you have easy access to the backups!
They even have a place where you can choose many different versions of DNN to install automatically. I have done this a number of times and I have never had it fail yet. They also have a few other self installing templates but I haven't tried them yet.
I started out on GoDaddy but now I cannot understand why anyone would even consider a hosting site like that. WSS is cheaper and 1000 times better! |
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Scott McCulloch
Administrators
Nuke Master
Posts:12450
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| 10/04/2006 9:20 PM |
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| Thanks for sharing! I've had a similar experience with WSS. |
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Scott McCulloch
Site Administrator |
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GlenWin
Gold Membership
Nuke Master
Posts:711
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| 10/05/2006 3:00 AM |
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My fisrt hosting was with WSS. Well, I did not know anyone else then so i trust Scott who gave me the referal ... I must say that i have a few problems along the way , but they were more to do with the DNN versions i was using. In my case WSS tech. support was not very helpfull when it come to DNN problems . However, I do agree that their prices are very fair compare to others . Want to know how their site loading speed? I did some speed test on site loading time and It definitly as good or faster than most other host I know - even for my $9.99 hosting plan! |
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GlenWin
Gold Membership
Nuke Master
Posts:711
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| 10/06/2006 3:31 PM |
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I am recently somewhat frustrated with WSS support.
I have been with WSS for over six months now and thier server uptime was generrally good (over 90%) . Then all of a suden my site was experiencing outage many times lately with with no warning or explainations from WSS support! Now they told me that should find another host and they blame the fault on something to do with my DB  ?? or that my location (Melbourne Australia) is too far away from their server!
These are the server error mesages i am getting when trying to load my site :
Unhandled Error
Error
Details
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File |
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Error |
Timeout expired. The timeout period
elapsed prior to obtaining a connection from the pool. This may have occurred
because all pooled connections were in use and max pool size was
reached. |
or second error
Unhandled Error
Error
Details
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File |
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Error |
An error has occurred while
establishing a connection to the server. When connecting to SQL Server 2005,
this failure may be caused by the fact that under the default settings SQL
Server does not allow remote connections. (provider:
TCP Provider, error: 0 - No such host is
known.) |
I dont have much experience with server and hosting... but Can someone help explain to me what those error mean??
I am thinking of changing host ..Have anyone got some experience with www.Dotnetpark.com or any other reliable host?
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Jason Honingford
Registered Users
Posts:10
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| 10/09/2006 12:35 PM |
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Glen, these errors CAN happen when SQL Server is overloaded with too many connections. It's *probably* a problem on their end, presumably they have too many websites using one database.
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GlenWin
Gold Membership
Nuke Master
Posts:711
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| 10/10/2006 2:50 PM |
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Portvista, Thanks for the feedback 
Even though i dont have much experience with server but anyone could have guess the outtage problems were to do with WSS server!! But what can you do when WSS dont want to say its their problem??? Somehow, lately i dont have the same problem so I will tick arround a little longer untill i find another host .
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Cliff Simpkins
Registered Users
Nuke Addict
Posts:71
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| 10/10/2006 5:35 PM |
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I had really liked my time with WSS, but there was an issue where my portal was pegging the CPU and I was promptly and unceremonially asked to leave the service.
It turned out the issue was with Active Forum's 'Recent Posts'/'Top Posts' module, but I'm leary to take anything back to WSS.
While I think it's great that they're mindful of the other users on the box, but the line of 'we don't know why your site is causing performance problems; we've shut down your IIS instance. Please take your site elsewhere' made me sad as a consumer with a module gone bad. They seemed helpful, but quite unresponsive (but I think that's common across almost all of the shared hosting community - at least at the $10-$20 services - small fish and all that) and not the most knowledgable on the application front (but that's also not the reason you're using them; it's because they keep the servers running). |
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Jason Honingford
Registered Users
Posts:10
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| 10/10/2006 5:51 PM |
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I had a website down for 3 days due to that Active Forums module -- the worse part is they KNEW about it and did not inform their customers!!
Also, unrelated to Active Forums, EasyCGI shut me down after a DNN site reached 60% CPU. So much for them supporting DNN. They even prorated me and charged me 45 days for the couple days it was actually online -- no money back.
I'm dedicated server all the way now.
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GlenWin
Gold Membership
Nuke Master
Posts:711
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| 10/10/2006 7:52 PM |
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Since i dont get much support from WSS... I think sooner or later I will have o leave WSS share hosting. So I am interested to know more about dedicated server-
- what are the advan...?
- cost....?
- How easy is it to manage the server...?
- which hosting provider
I run a church site and a community site , Does anyone interested in sharing the cost of a dedicated server ?
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Jason Honingford
Registered Users
Posts:10
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| 10/10/2006 8:09 PM |
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Only do it if you know how to manage a server. You need to be able to set-up IIS, app pools, FTP, Email, SMTP -- install DNN manually, SQL Server (Express is fine). Also have some knowledge of DNS and your PTR. I like being able to troubleshoot and fix anything. I recommend ServerBeach. Use the $129 Windows plan (near the bottom), it's plenty fast. I've used them for 2 years and upgraded to a new $250 server.
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Gary
Silver Membership
Nuke Addict
Posts:66
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| 10/11/2006 5:17 AM |
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I also played the Shared Webhost game for about 3 yrs. I then tryed a virtual dedicated server from godaddy for about 6 months, which was pretty good except you only got 512mb of memory. I am now on a dedicated server colocated in chicago and couldnt be happier.
Glenwin, I would be interested in sharing my server. You can email me if you are interested at Gary-Hunter at SBCGlobal.net and tell me about what kind of requirements you need. I have been thinking of taking in a few others to help cover the costs as it does get expensive.
You can visit my site at www.fsalliance.net to see how it runs. |
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Gary |
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Cliff Simpkins
Registered Users
Nuke Addict
Posts:71
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| 11/07/2006 4:19 PM |
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Hey Gary - you still looking for a couple people to share the server? I have been seriously thinking about going the dedicated route, but shudder at the thought of paying for an entire dedicated server.
If it helps, I get MSFT licenses at a serious discount, being an employee. :) |
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Chris McCandless
Gold Membership
Posts:10
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| 12/19/2006 9:10 AM |
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I am also using WebSecureStores, and so far for me, so good. However I have some questions that I would like some input on.
I currently have one domain on my WSS account, which is their $9.95 ASP Advanced plan. Unfortunately, I don't know a lot about shared hosting, domain aliases, etc.
What I would like to do is continue using my current DNN installation (3.3.7) and SQL Server database with them, but add at least 4 other domains. In other words, I'd like to run at least 5 domains off one DNN code base and database. I don't expect any of the 5 sites to receive a great deal of traffic.
What is my best option, especially if I want to stay with WSS? Should I get a Reseller plan? |
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Scott McCulloch
Administrators
Nuke Master
Posts:12450
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| 12/19/2006 2:11 PM |
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Posted By cmccand on 12/19/2006 9:10 AM
I am also using WebSecureStores, and so far for me, so good. However I have some questions that I would like some input on.
I currently have one domain on my WSS account, which is their $9.95 ASP Advanced plan. Unfortunately, I don't know a lot about shared hosting, domain aliases, etc.
What I would like to do is continue using my current DNN installation (3.3.7) and SQL Server database with them, but add at least 4 other domains. In other words, I'd like to run at least 5 domains off one DNN code base and database. I don't expect any of the 5 sites to receive a great deal of traffic.
What is my best option, especially if I want to stay with WSS? Should I get a Reseller plan?
I had a reseller plan before I upgraded to dedicated, you might be better to ask WSS this question, I'm not sure how they handle domain alias's at the moment.
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Scott McCulloch
Site Administrator |
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Bill Mason
Gold Membership
Nuke Newbie
Posts:7
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| 12/20/2006 3:25 AM |
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| I just had that need recently. You can add additional "aliases" which is what you need for additional domains using DNN. Aliases with email support are $3.90 per month additional and without email support are $1.95 per month.
Bill |
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Gary
Silver Membership
Nuke Addict
Posts:66
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| 12/20/2006 6:54 AM |
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Posted By csimpkins on 11/07/2006 4:19 PM
Hey Gary - you still looking for a couple people to share the server? I have been seriously thinking about going the dedicated route, but shudder at the thought of paying for an entire dedicated server.
If it helps, I get MSFT licenses at a serious discount, being an employee. :)
Hi,
Sorry for the late reply. I wasnt subscribed to this thread.
I would definately be interested. You can catch me on MSN Messenger or Email me at Gary-Hunter at SBCGlobal.net with any questions and what your needs are.
Thanks |
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Gary |
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Chris McCandless
Gold Membership
Posts:10
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| 12/20/2006 12:25 PM |
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Posted By wcmason on 12/20/2006 3:25 AM
I just had that need recently. You can add additional "aliases" which is what you need for additional domains using DNN. Aliases with email support are $3.90 per month additional and without email support are $1.95 per month.
Bill
Hi Bill,
Thank you for the info. I think I am going to add an additional domain alias and see how that goes. I guess if I add more domains in the future, I can always look at upgrading to a reseller plan or a dedicated server.
Chris
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Scott McCulloch
Administrators
Nuke Master
Posts:12450
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| 12/21/2006 3:04 AM |
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| Thanks for helping out Gary, much appreciated.. |
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Scott McCulloch
Site Administrator |
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Wes Clyburn
Registered Users
Nuke Newbie
Posts:9
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| 4/29/2007 3:16 AM |
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They are a great, reliable host. I was very skeptical of WSS. The only other low-cost shared hosting I've ever used was WH4L, and I regretted that within 48 hours. Horrible experience, and I will never, ever use WH4L again. Ever. Some people have had no problems, but if they can't provide consistent service, then there's a fundamental problem with how they manage their resources, and it's just a matter of time. I don't like relying on luck.
But I heard good things about WSS, so I tried them out with a single client for a few months. I had zero downtime, and the site was always fast, so I decided to get a reseller account and slowly and carefully move a few more clients one at a time.
Still no problems with uptime or performace. My only issue has been flaky FTP, which is exacerbated because Helm 3 doesn't have a real file manager.
What I like:
- Solid uptime
- Solid performance
- Handy installer and backup/restore tools
- Excellent price/quality ratio
- They don't hover in forums pimping their company at every opportunity. They support DNN with proper advertising, keep their mouths shut, and let their customers do the talking.
What I think they can improve:
- SSH or VPN tunnel to SQL Server 2005 to allow use of Management Studio
- Newer control panel. I'd like start/stop, NTFS, and file transfer at least.
- Offer more domain aliases and sub-domains. Aliases use almost no resources-- just a host header entry in IIS and a DNS record. I can think of no good reason for their current plans, especially considering how useful aliases are to DNN and that DNN is their primary focus. It's their decision, but I think they're losing clients because of it.
- Offer Medium Trust. If I need more than write access to my directory and originUrl=".*" (or a proxy) for outbound connections... then I need dedicated and shouldn't be on shared hosting.
- Isolated app pools. In my opinion, ALL shared hosters should simply always do this. It shouldn't be an "extra", but a "well they'd BETTER, or why would I host there?!" I realize that ultimately this means they can't put as many sites on the same server, but that's not my concern as a customer. Rather than charge $5, factor the cost into the plans and simply always do it.
- Stabilize FTP.
I have no idea how good their support is because I've never used it. I've asked sales questions and they responded quickly. I don't expect or want them to support my applications-- including DNN-- and I don't blame them if DNN bombs after an upgrade. My apps are not their problem.
They are not perfect, but they keep their servers up and keep them fast, which trumps everything. I like WSS a lot, and am very happy to have some sites there and to give them my business. They do a good job and deserve it. I'd recommend them as a very reliable host if they meet the requirements of your project.
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MCTS, MCPD |
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Scott McCulloch
Administrators
Nuke Master
Posts:12450
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| 4/29/2007 6:59 AM |
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| Thanks for the summary wesclyburn, I've had a similar experience. |
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Scott McCulloch
Site Administrator |
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