Which Hosting Package?

[ryetek]

Hello,

I have definitely decided that I want to go with EukHost for web hosting. I have written a content management system (CMS) using ASP.NET so that firmly ties me to Windows based hosting. I am now trying to establish which type of hosting package would best suit my needs.

What I'm looking for is this:

1) Both a friend and myself want to use the CMS I have written (for separate purposes).

2) We both have our own separate domain names with an existing domain registrar.

3) We don't want to transfer the domains but would prefer to alter the name servers to point to our EukHost web space.

I guess the questions are:

1) Using Windows shared hosting would it be possible to point two different domains to two separate areas of the same web space (using different virtual directories for each person for example)? The "Domains to Host" on your list of shared Windows hosting features tends to imply that this is possible.

2) Assuming the shared hosting is good enough I guess we would need to share the same SQL Server database? For example I'm assuming you can only have one SQL database per account.

3) Also assuming the shared hosting is good enough how would e-mail work with regards to being delivered to the correct domain? For example an e-mail sent to my friend's domain would need to be collected (or forwarded) to his domain while an e-mail for my domain would need to be collected (or forwarded) to my domain.

4) Would I just be better off with a Windows reseller package?

At this point I think a Windows VPS is too expensive for my needs unless I can get more people to take up the use of my CMS.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Paul.

[Ryan]

Hi Paul,

You can indeed use your existing domain names with one of Windows Hosting plans without transferring the domain names to our registry. In order to do so, you will only need to update the nameservers to point to your new hosting account with us.

You will also be able to host two different domain names on one shared hosting account.

The web space allocation to each windows shared hosting account is for files and databases together. You can have more than one SQL database on a single shared hosting plan. The number of allowed databases depends upon the plan you choose. You and your friend can indeed have separate SQL databases hosted on the same plan.

As far as email accounts are concerned, you can create multiple email accounts such as xxxxx@yourdomain.com and xxxxx@yourfriendsdomain.com

A Windows Reseller would be a good option to consider if you prefer to keep your hosting and your friend's hosting completely separate. Your friend will get a separate control panel interface to manage his website and you will get your own.

Please feel free to post if you have any more questions.

[ryetek]

Hi Ryan,

Thanks for the quick reply.

You will also be able to host two different domain names on one shared hosting account.

How does that work roughly? Presumably I need to:

1) Change the name servers in the online control panel provided by our domain registrars to point to the name servers given by EukHost when I join.

2) Register each domain name in the control panel EukHost provide and then this somehow redirects web page requests to the relevant directory depending on the domain requested.

Also I assume the URL in the browser does not change to the primary domain regardless of the domain requested. For example if someone goes to my friends domain, say myfriendsdomain.com, the browser's URL will still reflect this. Likewise if someone visits mydomain.com the browser URL will still reflect that also. I ask this because I have seen some providers where it changes to the primary domain or wraps the page in an IFRAME. This causes all kinds of problems.

The number of allowed databases depends upon the plan you choose. You and your friend can indeed have separate SQL databases hosted on the same plan.

Can you confirm that you mean SQL Server databases as opposed to MySQL databases because my CMS only works with a SQL Server database. When you read the features list for Windows shared hosting it does not mention allowing multiple SQL Server databases per account.

As far as email accounts are concerned, you can create multiple email accounts such as xxxxx@yourdomain.com and xxxxx@yourfriendsdomain.com

Does that mean I can use multiple POP accounts at EukHost to collect e-mail for the different domains?

A Windows Reseller would be a good option to consider if you prefer to keep your hosting and your friend's hosting completely separate. Your friend will get a separate control panel interface to manage his web site and you will get your own.

For the time being it does sound like I could manage to achieve my goals with your Windows shared hosting accounts and I'm not too fussed about not having separate control panels for each of us. However if I could get more people to take up the use of my CMS I would consider the reseller hosting as there would be more people to help pay the hosting costs.

Thanks in advance,

Regards,
Paul.

[compserv]

Hi Paul,

Just thought I'd add a few comments here as an eUKhost customer. I started with a Windows shared hosting hosting and I'm in the process of upgrading to a Windows re-seller package.

You can run multiple websites on the shared hosting (basic Copper hosting allows up to 5) and they're quite independent. You can also use either SQL Server or MySQL (or both). Does you system uses SQL Server 2005 or 2008? I think you'll find 2005 comes free but you may have to pay a premium for 2008, but that may depend on whether you've got Standard or Express installed.

Can't pass on any advice regarding email support as all mine was forwarded to my own Exchange Server.

Start with the shared Paul, it's easy to upgrade later.

[jennifer]

Hi Paul,

Let me try and answer your questions:

How does that work roughly? Presumably I need to:

1) Change the name servers in the online control panel provided by our domain registrars to point to the name servers given by EukHost when I join.

Yes you are correct, you can keep the domain names with your current registrar and have them point to the nameservers you receive in the Welcome Email.

Don't forget to have your domain registrar point your add-on domains to the same nameservers as used by your primary domain.

2) Register each domain name in the control panel EukHost provide and then this somehow redirects web page requests to the relevant directory depending on the domain requested.

To host multiple domains, all you will need to do is add the already registered domain name as a separate website from the control panel that you will be provided by eUKhost. With shared plans there is only one Control Panel for all the domains. You could give your friend FTP access to only his domain, but not a separate Control Panel.

Also I assume the URL in the browser does not change to the primary domain regardless of the domain requested. For example if someone goes to my friends domain, say myfriendsdomain.com, the browser's URL will still reflect this. Likewise if someone visits mydomain.com the browser URL will still reflect that also. I ask this because I have seen some providers where it changes to the primary domain or wraps the page in an IFRAME. This causes all kinds of problems.

From the browser, the add-on domain is an independent domain name. An add-on domain is just like having a separate web site. So to your visitors, each domain will resolve to it's own name and content like a separate website, though they share the resources of the account with the primary domain.

Can you confirm that you mean SQL Server databases as opposed to MySQL databases because my CMS only works with a SQL Server database. When you read the features list for Windows shared hosting it does not mention allowing multiple SQL Server databases per account.

Windows Servers support both; MsSQL & MySQL.

Does that mean I can use multiple POP accounts at EukHost to collect e-mail for the different domains?

Right, you can create multiple mail accounts.

For the time being it does sound like I could manage to achieve my goals with your Windows shared hosting accounts and I'm not too fussed about not having separate control panels for each of us. However if I could get more people to take up the use of my CMS I would consider the reseller hosting as there would be more people to help pay the hosting costs.

Of course, I understand.. You can upgrade quickly and easily to a higher plan at any time with us.

I hope that answers all your questions

[ryetek]

Hi compserv, Jennifer,

Thank you both for your replies.

compserv, my CMS works with both SQL Server 2005 & 2008 from the Express version upwards. Therefore the free SQL Server 2005 included with the Windows Gold package will be sufficient.

One thing I'm still a little unclear with is can you have more than one SQL Server database using the Gold package? I know you can for MySQL because it says this in the feature list however it does not say if you can use more than one SQL Server database per package. Ryan said you could have more than one database but he just said "SQL database" and I'm not sure if he meant SQL Server databases or MySQL databases.

jennifer, thanks for pointing out the tips with the domain. I have full control of both domains via my registrars control panel and can do all the switching of name servers myself. Also it's also nice to know that you can upgrade to the reseller easily as I might need to do that in the future.

If you can use more than 1 SQL Server database per package then I'm going to go with Windows Gold shared hosting package for now.

Thanks for bearing with me on this.

Regards,
Paul.

[jennifer]

Hi Paul,

You can have more than one database for both; MySQL & MsSQL on a Windows Shared Plan. Each database however cannot exceed a size limit of 400 MB.

Any questions, feel free to post

[ryetek]

Hi Jennifer,

You can have more than one database for both; MySQL & MsSQL on a Windows Shared Plan. Each database however cannot exceed a size limit of 400 MB.

That's great. Now all I need to do is get signed up. Thanks for your time.

Regards,
Paul.

[jennifer]

Hi Jennifer,

That's great. Now all I need to do is get signed up. Thanks for your time.

Regards,
Paul.

You're most welcome

[ryetek]

It's taken a while but I've just signed up to Windows Shared hosting, Platinum Plan. Thank you all for your help.

I'm now looking forward to uploading my CMS and watching it all fall apart (my CMS that is).

[jennifer]

It's taken a while but I've just signed up to Windows Shared hosting, Platinum Plan. Thank you all for your help.

I'm now looking forward to uploading my CMS and watching it all fall apart (my CMS that is).

Glad to know that . Please let us know if you require any further assistance.

[zenaire]

Your discussion clear out lot of things and thanks guys...