Ask HN: Can you help me with my hosting solution

Hey everyone,

I currently run a website that delivers a monthly mailing list. It has over 15k subscribers and is doing ok. apart from one issue: The server is intermittently going down. When I asked my host provider they told me that there are too many resources running and that is causing the site to crash. I had no idea why until I read that a shared host is worse for sites that have a lot of visits.

I'm not terribly technical minded and only know what I have read. So this brings me to two questions

1) Is the service I need, called a dedicated Server?

2) Can someone recommend a service that is easy to set up for none technical people. I looked at amazon dedicated servers but their site is full of jargon and gives me a headache.

It would also be good to not be charged an arm and a leg monthly, at the moment I paying $100 per year - if I could get close to that it would be nice.

Much appreciated and thanks in advance.

Hosting and mailing list delivery are two separate things. When you say the server is intermittently going down, do you mean (i) users cannot access the web site, or (ii) emails to your mailing list are not being delivered.

If it's (i), then perhaps just move your web site hosting somewhere different. If it's (ii) then perhaps use something like Sendgrid for your marketing emails. For 2 emails a month to a list of 15k subscribers, Sendgrid would cost $360 per year.

You could try running everything on a cheap virtual server, but mail delivery has quirks, and if you are really not 'technically minded', as you say, you'd need to pay someone to set up and maintain it, which would cancel out any savings vs. using a SaaS solution.

If you're not technical enough to know what a VPS (dedicated server) is, you're not technical enough to run and maintain one. Important software updates need to be done, backups might now be your responsibility and whereas your shared hosting has monitoring and teams to keep it up, that team is now you (oh by the way, you'll need monitoring too).

You need to split the two components, as other HN readers have said. There are lots of reasons to use something like MailChimp (I use them) and only financial reasons not to. Find a mail provider for your marketing, and use shared hosting for your website - unless it's really popular - then either approach a customer friendly company (MediaTemple have been good to my previous non-tech clients) or be prepared to pay a contractor.

I'm guessing the fact you have an in-demand site and a 15k subscription list means your earning at least something, so think of this as investing. Trying to host/maintain the technology that underpins your business is like using discount supermarket oil in your sports car.

Get someone to configure a VPS for you and give you web-based control tools/panel.

Insist on having backups, you can get them from your Host (for a fee) or you can get the one person to configure something for you (requires manual restore process).

VPS prices are reasonable now, and you should not be paying over 10$ a month.

EDIT: As some people said, you server going down and mail delivery success/failure are 2 different things.