The EEVblog server is currently running on a HostGator dedicated server.
Dual Xeon linux thingo in a basement in Texas somewhere, 1TB RAID1, 32GB, and when operating correctly it handles this forum (which is a big forum) and all the website and other database stuff with ease.
Gnif (
https://hostfission.com/ who kindly donates his time to manage this server) has put untold hours into getting this server working correctly and smoothly for this forum and other needs. So apart from the occasional screwup causing some down time, I'm very happy with it, and there are zero complaints from users about speed or anything else.
But for those who have followed along, Hostgator screw up occasionally, most recently last night when they configured an IP without telling me that took the server down for 12 hours until I alerted them it was down. They also changed a bunch of stuff because they saw that the server had been changed "significantly from how they provisioned it". No kidding, it's a dedicated server, we are supposed to tweak it.
But to be fair, it's a fully managed dedicated server that Hostgator offer, so I guess it's no surprise that they played with it, and will do so again.
gnif has asked (again) whether I want to move to another dedicated server he recommends (I won't name them, and PLEASE, I don't want host suggestions), it's based in Utah.
Specs:
Dual Xeon L5630
96GB RAM
1 x 2TB HDD
1 x 120GB SSD
1 GBps Port
30TB Monthly
5 IPs
They also provide IPMI access to the server which means that when outages like this occur gnif is able to directly manage the system without the Data Centers involvement.
He couldn't do anything with the recent HostGator screwup, I had to contact them to reboot the server. (Granted they did it within 10's minutes)
Also, we would ditch cPanel which gnif doesn't like for various reasons I'm sure are valid
Now normally I am totally adverse to changing web hosts, as IME it is absolutely no guarantee at all that I will have no or fewer problems than Hostgator. The "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" attitude.
And given that there are zero complaints from users about the server, and it only goes down when there is some big screw up, I personally see little value proposition in switching hosts.
As I see it:
Advantages to switching:
- No one will screw with it again, gnif becomes the only manager.
- A bit cheaper (but I don't care about that)
- More resources and potentially faster (although the forum is already lightning quick, so I don't expect to see any real improvement there)
- gnif will be as happy as a pig in mud
Disadvantages
- It will take time and effort
- There will likely be a downtime period and maybe some bugs to fix, either public ones that affect the forum and website, or private ones that only affect my own services (email, ftp etc)
- I will no longer have the knowledge to be able to access it personally, as it won't be running WHM and cPanel which I know fairly well and can actually do stuff with myself (reboots, ftp & email setups, phpMyAdmin database stuff etc). So unless I want to put untold hours into learning some command line thingo, I'll have to rely upon gnif and/or others entirely for anything operational. gnif already handles all the hard stuff, but I like the warm fuzzy knowing I can get into cPanel and WHM and do stuff on my own.
What say you?