The Pulse Consultancy is an independent web design consultancy that has never worried too much about hosting scenarios as we're design and marketing focused and most of our clients already have hosting arrangements in place - but we do have our own limited server set-up on space at Colt UK and we're wondering whether this if worth bothering with when you look at the plethora of hosting companies, falling costs and new services in the marketplace.
We have several Unix servers and a Windows 2000 Server box but adding new services to Windows, say, seems costly and problematic compared to the "unlimited domains/subdomain" and impressive-looking add-ons/offers from the likes of fasthosts.co.uk.
What bothers me about some of these suppliers is the kind of details we simply don't have to worry about now: We can add sites, services, data connections and so on ad infinitum without costs/hassle but we don't have the time/resources to source professional (top-end) level, email management, control panels, virus checking, web statistics, and so on. Both the fasthosts.co.uk and hosteurope.com reseller offers look very good, for example, but I find it hard to guess where the restrictions will fall for us or how much the extra items will add up to and how these companies compare to similar companies in the marketplace.
We currently manage just half a dozen to a dozen low-bandwidth/usage sites that we also support directly (out of convenience and courtesy) but we have some much larger clients that might prefer us to manage their sites for them too if we could find the right kind of partners/providers to work with.
In fact, we would also be glad to see any feedback from any independent consultants that would be interested in working with us or becoming part of The Pulse Consultancy as we are actively looking to recruit a number of specialists into our fold and this is one of the key areas where we need to improve our offer.
We're based just off the M11 near Cambridge but predominantly work with clients and other independent agencies in London.
Can anyone recommend a really terrific hosting company for the following scenario?, Pulse, 18 Jul 16:38
