Hello there. I have been recomended to go with a2hosting.com reseller package. Browsing their website I have noticed that they offer semidedicated as well. Value of money mean nothing for me.
Here is their semi dedicted offer:
http://www.a2hosting.com/semi_dedicated_hosting.php
And reseller
http://www.a2hosting.com/reseller_hosting.php
Are there any difference btween semidedicated and reseller package.
I have neve heard before about semidedicated as web hosting package at all.
Thank you.

Originally Posted by timbre

Hello there. I have been recomended to go with a2hosting.com reseller package. Browsing their website I have noticed that they offer semidedicated as well. Value of money mean nothing for me.
Here is their semi dedicted offer:
http://www.a2hosting.com/semi_dedicated_hosting.php
And reseller
http://www.a2hosting.com/reseller_hosting.php
Are there any difference btween semidedicated and reseller package.
I have neve heard before about semidedicated as web hosting package at all.
Thank you.

Usually with a semi dedicated, the server has a limited number of resellers on it, each with a high amount of resources..

Personally I would recommend you go straight for a managed VPS rather than going for a semi-dedicated..

I would recommend that as well if money isn't a problem. If you go with a shared reseller you will soon hit the wall of complication. What sort of indicated budget do you have?

What type of site do you have or what would your requirements be?

Thanks and please let us know.

Well if you are just starting you should go for a reseller as your requirements won't be very high in the beggining. But as you grow you should work you way up (semi-dedi/vps, dedi, etc)

Starting from a semi-dedi is a right way. Later when your site grows, you'll be able to change it for a dedi.

A2hosting.com seems to be a company providing modern solutions. Nice deal. I think that personaly semidedicated will be enough to get started.

I don't see the point in semi-dedicated any more. There are plenty of VPS providers around now, and the virtualisation software is very good.

I'd recommend that taking a VPS (perhaps managed, depending on your availability and technical knowledge etc.) would be a much better option. With a semi-dedicated offering there isn't much difference to shared hosting - you're still sharing the environment with others, and are still limited in the same respects in terms of what you can/can't do etc.

With a VPS you have the entire environment to yourself, meaning you can potentially use any software versions (PHP, MySQL etc.) you wish, and upgrade (or not) your control panel software when you wish etc.

In terms of upgrade path, a VPS can make things much easier for you - not entirely sure about some of the other virtualisation platforms, but with Virtuozzo you can perform a live migration between physical servers (nodes) without ANY downtime (even IP addresses move). This means that you can go from your small VPS to a full dedicated server (DDS - Dynamic Dedicated Server) where you have a VPS which occupies the entire server.

Virtuozzo also allows you to upgrade resources (memory etc.) without the need to even reboot - something which obviously isn't possible with a physical server (downtime to physically install new memory), and I also believe isn't possible with some of the other virtualisation platforms - e.g. Xen.

Hope that's useful to you.

I'd agree with Damien. There are many, many vps providers out there these days, however I'd recommend that you certainly go with a well known provider that uses Virtuozzo. I personally use powervps, and I'd highly recommend checking them out. Knownhost, solarvps are both good as well.

Hi, timber. To answer your question one should know how a2hosting.com understands "semi-dedicate" plan, as I suppose each host offering semi-dedicated plans may put a different number of sites on the server, and having, say, 15-20 accounts on a server defeats the idea of semi-dedicated.

It must be very wise to start from semi-dedi and than change it for something that will be good for you.

In general VPS looks better for me. And i'd better consdr their VPS offers: http://www.a2hosting.com/vps_hosting.php

Originally Posted by juio

It must be very wise to start from semi-dedi and than change it for something that will be good for you.

You need to consider the disruption involved in changing between different types of hosting plan.

In general, it's unlikely you'd be able to move from a semi-dedicated to a VPS/dedicated without some kind of downtime/migration and all of the associated fun (even if you're upgrading with the same provider).

VPS's tend to be quite flexible, and (technically speaking) there's usually no reason why you can't upgrade your VPS from the smallest a provider offers to the biggest they offer without any downtime at all - the biggest they offer may even include upgrading you to a dedicated server of your desired specifications.

Each migration which involves changes in IP addresses (which is usual if you're moving between servers/services etc.) will cause some kind of problems - even if just DNS propagation related.

Each migration which involves changing server will potentially cause a lot more problems (e.g. change in filesystem paths, php config. etc.) and therefore you should definitely look to reduce the number of times you may wish to do this in the lifecycle of your site(s).

A decent VPS provider should be able to support you from a tiny VPS up to an advanced clustered (dedicated) server solution, and be capable of explaining their approximate upgrade path and associated downtime which may be incurred.

If they can't do this (or the downtime sounds like it would cause a problem for you) then you'd best find out what the alternatives are...

Just excellent post, damien, thanks!
So, starting from a tiny VPS plan and upgrading your site once you need seems to smooth over upgrading process.
a2hosting.com VPS plans start from 4MB of disk space and 4000GB of monthly transfer. Does it fit your needs at the moment?

Originally Posted by icyblue

Just excellent post, damien, thanks!

Thanks, nice of you to say so

Originally Posted by icyblue

So, starting from a tiny VPS plan and upgrading your site once you need seems to smooth over upgrading process.

This is technically possible, although I would definitely check with your prospective provider about that in your pre-sales questions - the exact process will depend on the provider's own knowledge and ability, as well as the virtualisation platform they are using.

I can't see any mention of the virtualisation platform a2hosting are using - which is a potential concern for any likely customer, as it *should* be a selling point... unless they have something to hide?

As I touched on in an earlier post, some platforms aren't flexible enough to allow you to "grow" your VPS plan - particularly without downtime, and then of course some hosting providers lack that flexibility too

Originally Posted by icyblue

a2hosting.com VPS plans start from 4MB of disk space and 4000GB of monthly transfer. Does it fit your needs at the moment?

I presume you meant their "value package" which is actually 4,000MB space (~ 4GB), and 40GB transfer (not 4000!) - and only 64MB memory; for $24.95/month.

Now is it me or is that expensive for an unmanaged VPS of this spec?

In contrast, Layershift's managed VPS:5 plan (including Plesk control panel) offers 5GB space, 75GB transfer, and 128MB (512MB bustable) memory; from $22.95/month.

Note, the above is an example for comparison only - I'm not trying to sell anyone anything here!

My point is that why would you want to pay so much for an unmanaged VPS that won't even run any useful control panel software? (Plesk/DirectAdmin won't run with that amount of memory, and cPanel needs even more)

You could get an unmanaged VPS (and from a number of decent providers) starting from between $10 - $15/month. You would benefit from knowing that the provider you were buying from had plenty of experience in dealing with the complexities of VPS hosting (haven't heard of a2, particularly with respect to VPS's), as well as have enough spare change left to pay for control panel licencing (if required).

In short, I don't see why anyone would want to take a VPS from a2 (at those prices alone) - but if there's something I'm missing then please feel free to enlighten me...

damien, have just added to your talkupation, should have done that before.

Originally Posted by icyblue

damien, have just added to your talkupation, should have done that before.

Very kind of you - thanks... now how do I fit through this door? My head used to be smaller I think..?

Since damien has sort of said what I would've said, the only thing I want to touch up on was the pricing scheme. Why $99/month for a semi-dedicated when you can easily spend 50-75 dollars more on a dedicated [managed] server with a better AUP, TOS, SLA? Not only that but you'll have more space and bandwidth alloted to you, and actually pay and receive something that's worth the pay.

Do you need to go with a VPS/Semi-Dedi/Dedi? What will you have on the account (eg: high volume website, or a small volume personal site, etc.)

Surely your choice of a VPS/Semi-dedi/Dedi depends on the volume of the sites but how can I count it? Is there any formula for it? Anyway, A2hosting.com may offer any of these services IMO.

Hello guys! Thank you for your suggestions!
Yes I see that a2hosting.com offers all services as well. I think that maybe their VPS suits me fully. I want to have forum hosted there. One more question: are their prices for VPS right?
http://www.a2hosting.com/vps_hosting.php
Thank you.

Originally Posted by timbre

One more question: are their prices for VPS right?

I guess you missed my