By x3ja on

I'm currently working on developing a website using drupal, which I'm hosting on a shared server which I have access to. In the long run this server won't be appropriate to host the website, so I am looking at other options. The dilemma comes from this: I want the flexibility of being able to customise my drupal install (more than just installing modules - maybe editing some core files) but without the hassle of having to maintain the server (Apache, MySQL etc).

If I go for just plain Drupal hosting, I assume I lose some control over what I can do to the Drupal source.
If I go for a dedicated / virtual server, then I have to set up and maintain all the software required for Drupal to run on.

I'm thinking a shell account might be a good way forwards, where I can install & edit Drupal myself, but somone else takes care of maintaining the server software (other than Drupal of course).

Has anyone else had similar experiences to this? Any recommendations on specific companies that offer something like this in the UK?

All advice & experience appreciated :)

⋅ Categories: Drupal 6.x

Comments

silverwing’s picture

silverwing commented

If you upload Drupal yourself (and not rely solely on Fantastico-type auto installers) you can modify the code any way you want to. It doesn't matter if the host is shared, VPS or dedicated.

(I have to say that modifying the core code is NOT recommended and as such you may not get the help you need in the forums.)

~silverwing

uzbekjon’s picture

uzbekjon commented

Silverwing is right. Changing the core code leads to long maintaining hours and extra work, not to mention the upgrade problems.

Anyway, regarding drupal hosting. I'm on dreamhost and happy with their service so far. Also they've introduced "Dreamhost P.S." virtual private servers on very affordable prices just in case your site grows faster then you expected :)))

Anyway, here we go

Edited by silverwing - see Forum Hosting Guidelines sticky post - specifically no tinyurls.

seanray’s picture

seanray commented

For virtual hosting and dedicated hosting, they usually provide a default installation which include almost everything you need for a Drupal site. Very few effort on setting up Drupal.

You also can consider so call Managed dedicated server (VPS server is usually managed:)), which with the operation in data center will help you out in case you meet environment issue.

For UK company, UK2.net should be a good choice. For dedicated Hosting, 1&1 is also pretty good, I have a Root server from them, and work quite well for me (but certain level of Unix knowledge is required).

=============================================
Want to setup a Drupal site, find the best Drupal Hosting for it now.

hollybeary’s picture

hollybeary commented

Not a UK company, but Hostgator - non affiliate link (or my affiliate link) is one of the best host I've run across. I have about 30 Drupal sites running on my hosting account now, been with them for over a year now, and not once have I ever had to deal with my sites loading slowly or going down. They are phenomenal. I wrote a blog about my experiences with them as well which you can read here if you like: http://hollyhopper.com/blog/hosting-drupal-hostgator

I highly recommend them to everyone I meet looking for a good hosting solution for Drupal sites.

edited by silverwing - added non affiliate link and changed wording indicating affiliate link - see the "Hosting Forum Rules post in this forum" regarding affiliate links.

advo_jj’s picture

advo_jj commented

What you are looking for is LAMP stack managed hosting. LAMP stack is Linux Apache mySQL and PHP. Managed hosting will run a bit more than some of the other providers out there, but you will tend to get better support response times, greater flexibility, and more reliable service from a managed host than you will from the non-managed hosts. If you aren't on a shared platform you should be able to mess with Drupal as much as you like. At least thats the case with our Virtual Private Server product as well as our Colocated boxen.

Having said the above, lots of folks base their hosting decisions on the dollar. If cheap is your goal, you are going to have a hard time finding managed hosting for cheap.

I am not sure who does managed hosting in the UK, sadly.

Drop me a line if you have further questions.