Looking for web hosting recommendations

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dclegg

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Topic # 109983 1-Oct-2012 11:32

I've got a project in mind which would work best with a hosted REST web service, and this has got me thinking its about time I got myself set up with a web hosting solution. I'm self-employed, so could benefit from having a web presence anyway.

As such I'm looking for recommendations for good web hosting solutions. Ideally I'm looking for a provider that will support custom ISAPI DLLs, and ASP.NET apps. I'd also really like to be able to install my own database server, although I'm somewhat flexible on that if they provide access to some other RDBMS.

As this will initially be used for a hobby project as I make a foray into mobile app development, I'm looking for good value for money.

Ragnor

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Reply # 694384 1-Oct-2012 17:24

Signup for Microsoft Website Spark or BizSpark, gives you a bunch of good stuff for next to nothing, including some free Windows Azure hosting. Servers will be overseas of course though.

mattwnz

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Reply # 694406 1-Oct-2012 17:49

You probably want a VPS so you can install your own software.

Ramsu

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Reply # 694408 1-Oct-2012 17:51

If you are after a windows platform, take a look at the Windows VPS offered by SiteHost:
http://www.sitehost.co.nz/hosting/windows-virtual-private-servers

Ragnor

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Reply # 694410 1-Oct-2012 17:57

Ramsu: If you are after a windows platform, take a look at the Windows VPS offered by SiteHost:
http://www.sitehost.co.nz/hosting/windows-virtual-private-servers

Yep they are good, so are Openhost
http://www.openhost.co.nz/windows-vps

.. but NZ based Windows VPS hosting is so expensive.

dclegg

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Reply # 694531 1-Oct-2012 21:46

Thanks for the advice, guys. Looks like VPS is what I was asking for, but it also looks like that may be a little too pricey for now. I will dig into Bizspark a bit further, as well as consider scaling back on my plans so I can find a cheaper hosting solution.

mattwnz

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Reply # 694539 1-Oct-2012 22:01

dclegg: Thanks for the advice, guys. Looks like VPS is what I was asking for, but it also looks like that may be a little too pricey for now. I will dig into Bizspark a bit further, as well as consider scaling back on my plans so I can find a cheaper hosting solution.

You can get NZ based shared windows hosting for about $30 a month that has unlimited disksapce/traffic, but it may not offer you the advantages of VPS, where you can install your own stuff.

jasontomasi

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Reply # 694659 2-Oct-2012 09:57

NZ web hosting can be fine if you don't mind paying for the excessive fees associated with using NZ Internet (namely the monthly cap on traffic).

iPage.com is an American hosting site which has high customer ratings, and just about unlimited everything.

They also offer a very lucrative affiliate program.

Kind regards,
Jason Tomasi
Wellington, NZ

dclegg

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Reply # 694675 2-Oct-2012 10:08

jasontomasi: NZ web hosting can be fine if you don't mind paying for the excessive fees associated with using NZ Internet (namely the monthly cap on traffic).

iPage.com is an American hosting site which has high customer ratings, and just about unlimited everything.

They also offer a very lucrative affiliate program.

Tx, I'll look into it.

Now this may seem like a really dumb question, but please indulge me as I've never hosted my own content before. Is it possible to have a .co.nz domain name redirect to a server outside New Zealand?

TBH though, I'm really digging the idea of applying for BizSpark and using the Azure services that come along with it. I just need to investigate further exactly what that will allow me. Pretty sure I'll be able to deploy ASP.NET applications and services talking to a SQL Server DB, but I'm curious to know as to whether it will also allow me to deploy other binaries. In particular, I'm interested in ISAPI dlls.

I know that Azure caters for VM hosting, which would give me whatever I want, but I'm not sure the BizSpark benefits extend to that.

Ragnor

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Reply # 695270 3-Oct-2012 02:01

Yes DNS allows you to point domains or sub domains anywhere you like. A records point to ip addresses, CNAME records point to other domain names.

Q: What sort of things do you need to do with ISAPI filters/dll's that you can't do with http handlers or modules or other features of ASP.NET/ASP.NET MVC?

dclegg

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Reply # 695296 3-Oct-2012 08:27

Ragnor: Yes DNS allows you to point domains or sub domains anywhere you like. A records point to ip addresses, CNAME records point to other domain names.

Thanks for clarifying. I assumed it was possible, but we all know how dangerous assumptions are :-)

Q: What sort of things do you need to do with ISAPI filters/dll's that you can't do with http handlers or modules or other features of ASP.NET/ASP.NET MVC?

In a practical sense, absolutely nothing. :-)

I'll try to explain without getting all "sales pitchy". I contract to a company called Embarcadero. They are the developers of Delphi, and one of the more recent features this product brings to the table is a data access framework that simplifies the creation of HTTP REST servers. Among other things, these servers have built-in support for generating proxy client classes for various languages, including the ones used by all the popular mobile platforms. I've already successfully developed an Android application using these technologies, and I was hoping to do the same for my latest project, which will be targeting iOS, Android and possibly even Windows Phone. While there are various deployment options for these REST servers, my favourite is to host an ISAPI dll under IIS.

Just in case you're interested, heres a video of this in action.

I intended to use ASP.NET to host a long overdue website for my company, but I'm flexible on that. Theres no point re-inventing the wheel if I could easily use an off the shelf CMS to do the job for me. But you know how us developers like to build our own things. :-)