Just bought some hosting (linux developper package) via fasthosts. Went for it because it offers the usual linux goodies, including some SSL storage, MySQL databases and an ssh shell login.

One of the reasons was to be able to run JIRA, but after some playing around, I think I've realised I don't have the level of control I need with fasthost's web hosting offering. It looks like whilst I have simple user rights, I can't run any .sh scripts, which means I can't configure JIRA to work.

The other extreme is getting some dedicated server. But it costs a lot, around £50pm for a basic package.

I really don't need that - only say 1 or 2 GB storage at most, MySQL DB with Perl, Python, etc, running, bamdwith usage will be low (maybe couple of hundred megs/month at most).

I guess I'm doomed with the fasthost package I have at the moment? A bit peeved really as it's £100 odd a year which I've paid and they do say ssh shell access and title it "developper", so being able to run simple scripts would seem logical :S

But as it's (initially) for personal use, I certainly don't want to spend 50 quid a month.

I would run it from home, but speeds are an issue...

So is there something in between a simple "website only" package and full blown dedicated server whilst still being cheap(ish)?

Thanks

Just bought some hosting (linux developper package) via fasthosts. Went for it because it offers the usual linux goodies, including some SSL storage, MySQL databases and an ssh shell login.

Dump it now while you can still get your money back easily enough. Fasthosts are dire. To save you the hassle of writing your own, feel free to adapt my cancelation mail...

My support pin is nnnn. I opened account nnnnnnnnnn on nn/nn/nnnn with the Linux Developer package. I wish to close this account and be given a refund for the cost of the hosting.

Your description of this package is 'Advanced Linux website hosting - ideal for web developers - Ideal for expressing your web skills and experience. Includes advanced scripting, plus SSL secure web space and password protection for private pages or ecommerce ventures.' I have found this statement to be misleading.

When I came to set up my site, I found that your servers are configured to reject virtually all .htaccess customisations, causing internal server errors in my site. Worse still, the configuration and level of restriction does not seem consistent between your servers, so it is impossible to reliably work around the restrictions. This level of restriction is not industry standard amongst shared hosting providers and it makes it totally impossible to set up my php application properly and securely. This extraordinary restriction is of course not mentioned in your advertising and signup process so it was impossible to make a fully informed decision when choosing your service. It is also not stated anywhere before signup that the ssl web space is hosted on windows.

I find the service I purchased to be unfit for purpose and hereby request a full refund for the cost of the hosting less the cost of the "free" domain name for the duration of two years (£5.90) which I wish to keep. I think my paying for the domain name is reasonable as I appreciate you will have incurred a cost on it.

I look forward to hearing from you promptly.

This was a couple of years ago. I only went for them because you got (and still get) a huge cashback from quidco for them.

Edited 29 January, 201016 yr by wega3k

Well, my other annoyance which will support my request to close is that they have a load of documentation detailing how everything is set up. But you can only get access to this once you've created your account. I phoned them up and whilst the chap I spoke to seemed to know the technical side, I asked if I could read up on the guides to see how it's set up and he refused saying "well, if you have any questions, ask me!"

Initially I was quite impressed, but the apparent limitations (which aren't listed before you buy) are putting me off..

edit: I didn't even think about quidco either :(

Edited 29 January, 201016 yr by tfboy

http://www.linode.com/

I cannot vouch for them personally but ColinD has just bought us a VPS to host the sponsors ads. They are very cheap for what you get. You can effectively do what you like and run whatever software you want, so long as you are comfortable with terminal.

edit: I didn't even think about quidco either :(

Whoops - IIRC, you save nearly 50 quid.

EDIT - btw, I still got my quidco cashback, even though I cancelled and got my money back!

Edited 29 January, 201016 yr by wega3k

Well, I'm going to cancel it.

Despite calling their package "developer", and providing ssh login, the ssh account doesn't have any privileges and so can't install anything. Java SDK isn't installed and I can't do anything about it.

So looking at a proper VPS now.

Alex, thanks for the linode pointer. Looks a bit too techie for me, although would no doubt work. I've had a recommendation for bytemark.co.uk on hexus, and will carry on searching for potentials out there.

Jump in at the deep end, there are plenty of tutorials!

http://www.howtoforge.com/perfect-server-ubuntu-9.10-karmic-koala-ispconfig-2 or http://www.howtoforge.com/perfect-server-ubuntu8.04-lts for example, or you could install ubuntu and then install something like webmin which is a single command.

If you're just looking to run JIRA then the other option to a VPS is to find somewhere that offers Tomcat hosting which you can then deploy JIRA onto - that way you won't need to run an shell scripts to install it.

Rob.