
Ask HN: Can you help me with my hosting solution - jamesDGreg
Hey everyone,<p>I currently run a website that delivers a monthly mailing list. It has over 15k subscribers and is doing ok. apart from one issue: The server is intermittently going down. When I asked my host provider they told me that there are too many resources running and that is causing the site to crash. I had no idea why until I read that a shared host is worse for sites that have a lot of visits.<p>I&#x27;m not terribly technical minded and only know what I have read. So this brings me to two questions<p>1) Is the service I need, called a dedicated Server?<p>2) Can someone recommend a service that is easy to set up for none technical people. I looked at amazon dedicated servers but their site is full of jargon and gives me a headache.<p>It would also be good to not be charged an arm and a leg monthly, at the moment I paying $100 per year - if I could get close to that it would be nice.<p>Much appreciated and thanks in advance.
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iDemonix
If you're not technical enough to know what a VPS (dedicated server) is,
you're not technical enough to run and maintain one. Important software
updates need to be done, backups might now be your responsibility and whereas
your shared hosting has monitoring and teams to keep it up, that team is now
you (oh by the way, you'll need monitoring too).

You need to split the two components, as other HN readers have said. There are
lots of reasons to use something like MailChimp (I use them) and only
financial reasons not to. Find a mail provider for your marketing, and use
shared hosting for your website - unless it's really popular - then either
approach a customer friendly company (MediaTemple have been good to my
previous non-tech clients) or be prepared to pay a contractor.

I'm guessing the fact you have an in-demand site and a 15k subscription list
means your earning at least something, so think of this as investing. Trying
to host/maintain the technology that underpins your business is like using
discount supermarket oil in your sports car.

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rahimnathwani
Hosting and mailing list delivery are two separate things. When you say the
server is intermittently going down, do you mean (i) users cannot access the
web site, or (ii) emails to your mailing list are not being delivered.

If it's (i), then perhaps just move your web site hosting somewhere different.
If it's (ii) then perhaps use something like Sendgrid for your marketing
emails. For 2 emails a month to a list of 15k subscribers, Sendgrid would cost
$360 per year.

You could try running everything on a cheap virtual server, but mail delivery
has quirks, and if you are really not 'technically minded', as you say, you'd
need to pay someone to set up and maintain it, which would cancel out any
savings vs. using a SaaS solution.

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Raed667
Get someone to configure a VPS for you and give you web-based control
tools/panel.

Insist on having backups, you can get them from your Host (for a fee) or you
can get the one person to configure something for you (requires manual restore
process).

VPS prices are reasonable now, and you should not be paying over 10$ a month.

EDIT: As some people said, you server going down and mail delivery
success/failure are 2 different things.

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kelt
Hi there, it could be useful to know what content management system you are
using for your site too. Are there specific requirements for software?

Does the mail content pull stuffs from your website too?

You may probably get by without a dedicated server which will cost more then
$100 a year. Lets hear your requirements, I should be able to direct you to a
solution.

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jasondecastro
I could definitely help you out. Shoot me an e-mail -- you can find it on my
about.

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seanwilson
Do you know what technology your site runs on? PHP? WordPress? MySQL?

