I joined Winhost yesterday, and I really like what I've seen so far. Everything was a breeze to set up, and the support team responded to my queries in minutes. Very impressed. The only feature I didn't like was the sub domain implementation. I had to set up url rewriting (thanks google) to get it to function as it did with my previous host. Not ideal, but workable. However, I've just noticed that all of the plans are very light on database storage space. Just 200mb for the basic package (the one I'm currently on) is the lowest of all of the web hosting providers I'd considered (most are unlimited for the same money). I must admit that when I was reviewing the packages, I thought I'd read 2,000mb, which is far more reasonable. So, it's my own fault for not reading the feature list correctly, but I'm now faced with a difficult decision - stick with Winhost's miserly 200mb database, or get a full refund and go elsewhere. If the rest of the service was poor, this would be an easy decision, but I really like what I've seen so far. As and when/if my site gains in popularity, the plan was to move up through the packages. The trouble is, the next package up only has 1,000mb of database storage, and that is shared across (up to) 10 databases. The rest of the Winhost feature list is more than reasonable for the money (although the 100mb of RAM is also a little light imo). I guess I'll play around for a week or so, to see how quickly it fills up...
You can upgrade to the Max plan or Ultimate plan to get more database space. You can get more memory allocation when you upgrade too. As for unlimited plans, we don't offer them because its dishonest. We don't want to oversell our services like those others. And we host SQL on different servers - not on the same server as websites like many hosts. Thats not secure or reilable hosting.
FWIW: I've been a customer for almost a year and I'm getting ready to spin up another site under the ultimate plan. I couldn't be happier with Winhost. The downtime is sometimes a bit more than I'd like but it's not outside of what they advertise. Support, as you've found, is very good too. My complaint is the lack of support for automating and downloading database backups. It would be awesome if we could initiate a backup programatically and download the backup file. Doing this manually is painful for maintenance purposes. Alas, no host provider is perfect. But these guys are pretty damn close for the price IMO. -Chad
Thanks Chad. There are a few problems with automating database backs, we've talked about them in other threads. But we know it's a feature that a lot of people would like, so it isn't permanently off the table.
I know... I know. I've harped enough about it. Seriously though, this is the only thing I think that stands between Winhost and an almost perfect shared hosting offering. I understand the complexity and bandwidth considerations if this functionality were exposed but maybe consider it for the ultimate plan only (or as a paid add-on). I'd definitely pay for it. (Sorry for thread hijacking -- carry on)
