Saturday, July 18, 2009

What do I need from my web host

So in case someone is following my posts [1][2], about me looking for a new web hosting provider, here's the list of my requirements:
  • PHP 5 (I need to be able to set PHP memory limit to 64M for Drupal)
  • MySQL (w/ ability to create multiple databases and users)
  • secure shell access, I do all my installation and configuration in the shell
  • ability to create symbolic links
  • ability to create/modify .htaccess files
  • SFTP/FTP for file transfer
  • cron
  • ability to host multiple sites/domains (I think cPanel's term is "add-on domains"), I need at least 5
  • ability to create sub domains (preferably without limitations)
  • has to be Drupal friendly, my CMS of choice
  • ability to send out at least 500+ emails a month per domain, I have a couple of small size announcement-only mailing lists
  • some DNS control for simple records creation like CNAME and MX
  • about 5 GB of storage and at least 1-2 GB of bandwidth a month
  • I'm OK with shared hosting as long as it's not overloaded/oversold
  • simple way to create e-mail accounts/forwarders
  • properly configured spam filter (like SpamAssassin)
  • under $10 a month
If you have some good, extended experience with specific providers, let me know in the comments. Shills and blatant advertisers are NOT welcome.