Do I Need a Dedicated Server?

[Paperboy]

Just looking for some advice on when is the right time to start thinking about moving up to a dedicated server. I don't have any sys admin experience and obviously in the current climate cash is at a premium so I'd like to stay on a shared plan as long as possible but I'm increasingly having problems finding a reliable host who can satifsy my hosting needs. My site thepaperboy.com puts out about 50GB a month and runs on Cold Fusion.

Some Background:

Over the weekend my host Media 3, who I have been very happy with over the last 6 months, pulled the plug on my site - no notice or even an email to let me know they were suspending the account, I only found out when users emailed and asked what was going on. When I rang to see what was going on they said that the site had been crashing their Cold Fusion server - but as I haven't made any changes to the site over the past few days I can't see why. They were also unable/unwilling to send me an extract of the Cold Fusion error log so I could see what the problem is. My suspicion is that my site is just consuming too many resources and they would like to get rid of me - I am however on a $200 pm enterprise account limited to 24 sites per server so I didn't think this would be a problem yet.

Am I being unrealistic to think that my site can be hosted on a shared server (even a high end plan), and if so can anyone reccomend a good host offering a dedicated NT/ Win 2000 box with Cold Fusion and 50GB+ transfer.

Also, is managing my own server likely to cause me a whole series of new nightmares?

Lots of questions I know but I would really appreciate any insights/advice anyone can offer.

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The Paperboy

[singloon]

50GB/month would bring along considerable cpu/server resource consumption i'd think

I'd say it's time for the move up http://geekvillage.com/ubb/smile.gif I have no experience with Coldfusion or NT hosting so really don't have that much advice.

A few months back i posted about my problems with my delayed revenues and immediate costs for hosting which were a problem for me.

Someone reading the post contacted it was an Aussie host called http://m6.net/ who i have seen pop up lately at www.webhostingtalk.com as well

m6.net seems to special in NT hosting so maybe contact them ? seeing as you're in Oz as well http://geekvillage.com/ubb/smile.gif



------------------[*]Australian Neon Genesis Evangelion[*]film - writers - reviewers - reporters - designers[*]FanBuy.com indevelopment[*]PHP, MySQL, vBulletin, hosting and server admin info, tips & tidbits

[singloon]

NT hosts = Win 2000 hosts ?

if so you can also check out http://www.dtwebworks.com/dedicated-1.html



------------------[*]Australian Neon Genesis Evangelion[*]film - writers - reviewers - reporters - designers[*]FanBuy.com indevelopment[*]PHP, MySQL, vBulletin, hosting and server admin info, tips & tidbits

[Naramation]

Another good one could be Adgrafix (I hate the name though http://geekvillage.com/ubb/smile.gif). They have shared and dedicated Win NT and 2000 plans. Here's the link:
http://www4.adgrafix.com

HTH

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Mike Bourne
Owner & CEO of Naramation

• http://www.naramation.com - Helping you get your business on the web. Under Construction