UK Symfony Hosting

[martyn.mahmoud]

Hi All,

I'm looking for hosting with the following features:

<ul type="circle">
<li>PHP5
<li>MySql 5
<li>Unlimited MySql DBs
<li>Ability to create MySql users (granting privileges to them)
<li>Ability to create MySql triggers
<li>SSH Access
<li>mysql access from SSH shell
<li>UK Based Hosting
<li>Apache with mod_requite (of course!)
</ul>

Who do you guys use for this? I've used php4hosting dot co dot uk and streamline dot net but unfortunately, dont tick all the boxes above. Here's a summary of the 2:

<ul type="circle">
<li> PHP4HOSTING / STREAMLINE
<li> php5 / php5
<li> mysql4 / mysql5
<li> unlimited mysql DBs / limited mysql DBs
<li> can create mysql users / cannot
<li> triggers not supported in mysql4 / no privilages
<li> ssh access / ssh access
<li> mysql access from ssh shell / no access
<li> uk based / uk based
<li> apache mod_rewrite / apache mod_rewrite
</ul>

Does anyone use any hosting package that can tick all boxes or at least most of them?

[halfer]

These days I'd recommend you get a VPS - you can guarantee to be able to do all of that, for around 10-15GBP per month.

I use this one and it's pretty decent:

http://uk.layershift.com/linux-vps.php

[eljwc]

Definitely go for a VPS, I use Cpanel and have it up and running in no time: Compiles PHP5 with a click ~ ~

Try

http://www.a2b2.com/hosting/vps

or

http://www.memset.com/index.php

John

[martyn.mahmoud]

Great stuff. Thanks.

Take layershift for example ... with a VPS, do I have to set up my own Apache server?

If so, do they provide a recommended apache config? with all the appropriate security settings switched on?

[halfer]

I believe my Layershift account came with Apache configured already. That said, to misquote Spiderman, "with great flexibility comes great responsibility". That is to say you should be prepared to do some config yourself. I don't know if there is any such thing as a "recommended Apache config" as the configuration will necessarily vary from one situation to another.

I think this came with Centos, so you can always install it on your own machine, and play with installing stuff like PHP.

[halfer]

(Since I am a masochist I compiled my own version of PHP on the box. For production stuff however I am more recently of the mind that this is not a good idea.)

[martyn.mahmoud]

ok great - so for layershift, I guess I need the unmanaged VPS?

Additionally, what is Plesk and would I need it for the requirements i put together above?

[halfer]

Yes, although you can pay for it to be managed if you wish. Personally I think it is better to manage yourself, but it does depend on your requirements. ("Managed" may mean box alerts being dealt with 24/7, which you yourself may be unwilling to deal with - so it could have its advantages.)

Plesk is a commercial non-free web-based control panel, and IMO not worth it unless you are reselling hosting (and even then I wouldn't bother). If you want a control panel then install Webmin, which is free.

[halfer]

Incidentally do shop around. I think Layershift are OK, their uptime has been good, but find a decent cost/features point that you like yourself.

[martyn.mahmoud]

Thanks - has been helpful.

Uptime isnt my top priority for this. I'm looking for some hosting for my personal website and a test environment for other projects i'm involved with.

I might give tagadab.com a go as they have a £1 trial for a week. I'll see how far I can get with them in terms of requirements and familiarising myself with VPSs.

Do you know of any other places that offer free/cheap trials?

What about this lot? http://www.cheapvps.co.uk/plans. With ubuntu (which I already use at home), i could just apt-get apache, php, mysql and could be up and running fairly quickly. A fiver a month seems pretty good.

[martyn.mahmoud]

What's the difference between OpenVZ and Xen?

Is there one better suited towards symfony apps?

[halfer]

What's the difference between OpenVZ and Xen?

Is there one better suited towards symfony apps?

In the general case, none at all. You should primarily be looking to get your preferred combo of RAM, disc space and bandwidth. If you have a lightweight site with large traffic, get big bandwidth at the expense of RAM. If you have a very dynamic and interactive site, perhaps with large columnsets, get more RAM and less bandwidth. If you're hosting lots of photos, get lots of disc space, and so on.

Also see if your server location is near your customers - quite a few UK hosts purchase space in US hosts, which tends to be cheaper, but slower for UK users.

[martyn.mahmoud]

If i want to have ability to have URLs such as a.domainname.co.uk and b.domainname.co.uk, do I need to install a DNS server on the VPS?

[halfer]

No, that's the job of your domain registrar, who in most cases will do your DNS for you. You should be able to edit your records with them (and you should check that the people who look after your domain registration will let you do this yourself, either free of charge or for a reasonable fee for as many changes as you like).

For example when I purchase .uk domains from my registrar they throw in DNS editing tools free of charge, other domains are £10/year each. That is not bad.

Then all you need to do is to set up ServerName aliases in your Apache virtual host configuration(s).

[manilodisan]

The only host I found so far to support mysql triggers on shared packages is at placehost.net. I hope more will come. This is probably because hosting providers wait for plesk or cpanel to support such versions of PHP/MySql and those two are moving slower than anything else. PHP 5.2.9 came out recently and a lot of bugs were fixed yet nor cpanel or plesk supports this version. Mysql releases 5.4 soon so triggers will no longer need the super user privilege to be added, but, as always, how much time will the control panels need to support it?

[superhaggis]

Just my 2p here, apologies if the context seems slightly off-topic.

Instead of developing or testing on a VPS box, why not set up a local VM then lease a VPS once you are ready to go live? You could end up wasting money each month, if the project is delayed or other mitigating circumstances.

Check out Thoughtpolice's VM collection - http://www.thoughtpolice.co.uk/

I personally use their FreeBSD 6.2 VM with VMWare Server and it runs like a charm. When I'm ready to shift to a production environment, I organise the server lease and then rsync over SSH.

[halfer]

This topic has changed a great deal since it was started. You can now get a VPS of decent (but not top) quality having 512MB of RAM for around 5GBP per month (that's around 8-9USD). I recommend this hobbyist site who helpfully lists all sorts of deals. Some of them might be worth avoiding - of course be careful - but some of them are excellent value.