Simon Jude wrote:
Thanks to everybody who has posted suggestions about web hosting. I have temporarily set the domain we have to redirect to one of my websites. In the longer term I may take up one of the offers of low cost hosting, although a broadband connection and a linux box may be an option. Is this latter option easy to do and which broadband suppliers allow static ip addresses??
Bear in mind that your upstream speed on ADSL is only 256kbs, regardless of your downstream speed. SDSL is different (but not available outside London yet), as is a leased line (which is what we have here: 2mbs each way).
You should also bear in mind the possible consequences of "low-cost" hosting. I've been there, which is one reason I started running an ISP. I get almost all my business by referral, and a large proportion of that is people who've been burnt by the various problems of low-cost/US-based hosting.
I've seen outfits offering hosting for less than 2 quid a month. I fail to see how they can offer any support at all in that, or how there can be any semblence of service in it. When I got quotes for my line, they ranged from £12Kpa to £35kpa. It would be cheaper to go to some outfit like rackspace and have a Cobalt RAQ (yuk) or a Dead Rat box (double-yukk) in the US, but there's no hope of service or knowing they are secure.
One reason I won't do "low-cost" hosting is that I offer secure, fast, UK-based hosting, with personal service and support, based on Gentoo Linux. If I charged less than 2 quid a month, I wouldn't survive in business more than 5 minutes.
YMMV.
Cheers, Laurie.