Well, after all these years it may finally be time for SFC to move host again. The service myself and other Smoove customers at SFC have been receiving has not been up to their old standards over the past couple of years. Downtime has increased, errors are on the up and with the credit crunch it would be nice to have a lower bill too.

Smoove has always had its benefits and in some respects I am loathe to move because despite downtime, I know SFC is safe here as regards my hosting of Shining artwork and other such ‘copyrighted’ (but now rather unlikely to be causing anyone any losses) materials, the hosting of the translation project, linking to MP3s etc. They’re also very good about bandwidth, space etc and will usually increase it if needed – no risk of the site being closed.

But, with downtime increasing and tech support not being what it was, I really do need to consider a move.

So, I’m looking for recommendations for a new host. Here’s what I’m looking for:

– at least 2.5GB of space (more preferable)
– at least 50GB bandwidth per month (200GB+ preferable)
– php, mysql (probably 10 databases or so would do)
– subdomains (at least 5)
– fairly relaxed rules on content
– fast tech support, reliable server
– monthly cost of US$30 per month at most

It would also be nice to be able to offer sub-hosting on SFC to other Shining fansites – for free or a minimal cost I’d imagine.

I’ve looked around online and most of the places I’ve found which seem to fit the bill have very mixed reviews and often it seems those who seem to offer a lot (eg, ‘unlimited’ bandwidth/space) for a low price actually don’t like it if their hostees really use that much. So, I’d like recommendations if possible from people who have similar size sites on a good host.

Or, perhaps you run a server yourself and can offer the above?

There are also a number of other Smoove hostees looking to jump ship at the moment who may well be interested in hosting – possibly something comparable to the Smoove basic hosting package.

For full details of the Smoove packages for comparison to your own suggestions, click here.