[LINK] RFI: Australian Web-Hosting Services

[Roger Clarke]

I'm checking out Australian ISPs' web-hosting services for simple (PHP / CSS / HTLML) SOHO/SME-sized web-sites - 5GB storage and 25GB p.mo. traffic.

There are lists and comparison sites for broadband, but I haven't found such things for web-hosting.  (Is it too old-fashioned already??).

I've been underwhelmed by the quality of ISPs' web-sites.

Gory details of requirements and ISPs' web-sites are below.

Any pointers much appreciated, off-list unless of general interest.

Thanks!  ...  Roger

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My rogerclarke.com site is 3GB, currently growing at 0.6 GB p.a., and in normal circumstances generates about 18-25GB of outbound traffic per month.

I've tripped a threshold with my current supplier, and am checking whether the prices that he's charging me are in line with the competition.

I have a strong preference for storage within Australia, and a preference for a provider other than Telstra and Optus.  I would have been a natural Internode or iinet user, but, whenever I've looked, their offers have not been a fit to my needs.

For some years, I tried using small, local ISPs (Apex, Grapevine, Infinite), but they all ultimately proved unsatisfactory.

2 years ago I moved to SublimeIP aka GoWeb aka Justnet.  Justin Sullivan has been in the industry since the early 1990s, originally with DIALix:
http://justin.justnet.com.au/. 

(Justin's been the sponsor of the Australian Privacy Foundation's web-site since 2002, saving APF a great deal of money.  We've attract noteworthy support:  our sponsor 1998-2002 was Michael Malone, until he started adding non-exec directors on his Board and iinet's rapid growth began).

Below is my quick summary so far.  Thoughts and info greatly appreciated!

______________________________________

(1)  SublimeIP:
http://www.sublimeip.com/services/hosting/economy-web-hosting/
Lack of detail (incl. no info about the cost of traffic overruns), and a lumpy, self-made panel rather than CPanel, but reliable and pretty responsive
-  $600 p.a. for 4GB storage and 20GB traffic p.mo. + $1 per GB thereafter
-  $800 p.a.     8GB             40GB               + $1

If I ran 25GB every month, I'd pay 12 x $5 = $60 excess, so $660 p.a.

For $800 p.a., I'd need to reach 36GB p.mo. to reach breakeven.  And the higher fee gives me very little insurance if I get surges as happened Jan-Mar'15.  (The story of that little interlude is at the bottom).

(2)  Much-vaunted Internode:
http://www.internode.on.net/business/hosting_and_content/business_web_hosting/pricing/
Totally inadequate space and max 10GB p.mo.
$600 p.a. + $5 per GB (calculated at 0.5 cents per MB)  = $1200 p.a. for 25GB
And each add-on costs:  5 mailboxes and 1GB = $100 p.a., Mail Relay with Email Protection (and no explanation what the options mean) = $184 p.a.;  so probably $450 p.a. on top, and maybe 'and counting'.  That's $2250 p.a.
(No wonder they were profitable).

(3)  iinet:
http://www.iinet.net.au/business/small/website-solutions/web-hosting/
$300 p.a. for 20GB Storage, 200GB Traffic (but no mention over what period??)
After going halfway through sign-up, I can't see email-address info.
It could fit my needs, but it'll take time to find out.

(4)  TPG:
http://www.tpg.com.au/products_services/web_hosting.php
Fails - tiny space and no info at all re traffic

(5)  Digital Pacific:
https://www.digitalpacific.com.au/hosting/business-web-hosting/
25GB storage, 100GB traffic p.mo., unlimited email accounts
$150 p.a. or $15 p.mo.
Extensive information available on the web-site.
Seems great, but ...
-   the 'Order Now' button fails in my browsers
-   the '30 Day Free Trial' button gets a 404
(Is this company just a marketing front with no back-end?)

(6)  ApexTelecom/NetSpeed:
http://apextelecom.com.au/
Web Site Hosting page hangs.
$540 p.a for 50MB storage, unknown traffic limits, only 5 email-addresses.
Previous performance a bit muddling, maybe different now?

(7)  Infinite:
https://www.infinite.net.au/cloud-managed-hosting/website-hosting/
Now about as clear and straightforward a web-page as you could ask for.
$450 p.a. for 10GB space, 100GB monthly, 10 domains, no limit on email-accts
If they'd been (a) reliable enough and (b) responsive, they'd still have my business.

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Requirements:

-   3+GB storage
-   25+GB p.mo. traffic (current range 18-30MB)
-   rogerclarke.com (maybe 10,000 files in nested directories)
-   rogerclarke.com.au to point to rogerclarke.com
-   support php headers and footers, and css
-   xamax.com.au - a separate, small and simple web-site
-   about 30 redirects
-   xamax.com.au as the target for all of my many email-addresses
-   POP (maybe IMAP) for email-download
-   occasional webmail use when on a remote network that blocks ports

I was the subject of an odd attack by Google's Search Engine in mid-Jan to mid-March 2015.  It generated c. 120GB of spurious outbound traffic until SublimeIP tech support assisted me to work out and implement a means of stifling it.  (I assume it was yet another Google bug rather than an intentional attack).  That cost SublimeIP and me an amount of time and confusion, and me c. $120.

Might such things happen again, I wonder.

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-- 
Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/
			            
Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
Tel: +61 2 6288 6916                        http://about.me/roger.clarke
mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au                http://www.xamax.com.au/

Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law            University of N.S.W.
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University