Bryanboy shares his experiences with MidPhase. It’s a case of the Shared Hosting scam striking again, the one where by so-called high use shared hosting packages aren’t really because usually buried somewhere in the fine print (never in an easy place, nor disclosed up front) is a clause about CPU/ server usage which states they can cut you off for using too much of a server, usually without warning and with no redress. It’s not just MidPhase, most hosting companies are in on this in one form or another, they sell their high use packages on the basis that most people will never use those levels, and when they do they get suspend accounts, or terminate them: the exact problem I had with Site5 back in 05.
Dreamhost is the only company I’m aware of at the moment that has an open policy on CPU usage where they promise NOT to disable your account, but where necessary to talk to people hosting with them about alternatives should issues arise.
To any people in the hosting business reading this: I’m not anti-shared hosting, and I do understand that you guys have to balance your server loads on shared accounts, but it’s the fraud in promoting memory and traffic levels that could NEVER be met without using a decent portion of CPU on a shared box that I’m against, exactly what has happened here with Bryanboy. If you want to be an honest hosting company, disclose upfront straight away (upfront, not in the fine print) any limits you put in terms of server usage for shared host accounts, and most of all, promise never to suspend or take off line an account without first discussing options with your client (ie talk first, instead of acting first). If you’re doing this, or plan to, let me know, and I’ll happily give you a plug.
Tags: Midphase
Aw crap, I was shortly going to move everything over to MidPhase on the basis of Brian Clark’s (CopyBlogger / Tubetorial) very strong recommendations.
I guess I gotta look real closer now before committing.
I use MidPhase and there have been a few minor burps but overall I consider them top rate. Who would try to serve a high bandwidth site on a shared account? It’s rock stupid.
You really do get what you pay for. I’m currently on a VPS and I’m honestly looking to upgrade to a dedicated server. So that I can monitor bandwidth issues a bit better now that I’m hosting podcasts and I plan to start hosting video so that becomes even more an issue.
Again its about what you pay for.
I consider MidPhase top rate.
We’re about to move to Dreamhost for CPU reasons. It was getting a bit tetchy with our old host and we moved late last year to Routhost. It’s been an absolute nightmare ever since – all CPU load related. I 100% agree about how misleading it is. If they give you a crapload of bandwidth and you are using that bandwidth it’s reasonable to expect you’ll use a fair bit of CPU resources as well.
If Dreamhost doesn’t work out I guess that its a dedicated server – if we can afford it – or else I guess it’s time to call it a day.
@Caz — if you are moving to DreamHost for CPU reasons, then forget about it. It is still a shared hosting with heavily loaded boxes. They provide great storage and bandwidth, but a few busy dynamic sites (say 10k unique a day on WP) can still get you into trouble.
Try a good VPS company if you can’t yet afford dedicated servers. They are still shared, but are having far less accounts on each server. Much cheaper as well.
Partially true Scott, yes you’ve got the problem with shared boxes, but they don’t strike you out if you’re using too many resources, they at least talk to you about it, and there’s no actual limit (per a post by them) which is a whole lot better than the others.
Thanks for sharing
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